What is a client approval process?
A client approval process is how work gets from "ready for the client" to "signed off". It answers three questions: who has to say yes, how they say yes or no, and where that answer lives afterwards. That's all it is. The difference from how most teams work is that the three answers are settled up front, instead of being reinvented on every project.
For agencies, studios and consultants, approval is the point where projects stall most often. The work is done, but it's waiting on someone outside the team. A good process makes that wait visible and short, and makes sure the answer is usable when it arrives.
Why approvals by email break down
Most approvals still happen in an email thread. That works for one file and one client, and falls apart as soon as there's more:
- Versions get lost. After three rounds there are five attachments in the thread and nobody is sure which one the client approved.
- Feedback arrives everywhere. A comment in an email, a voice note, a screenshot in chat. Someone has to collect it all, and always misses one.
- A yes isn't a yes. "Looks great!" from someone on the client's team is not the same as sign-off from the person who decides.
- Nobody sees what's waiting. How much work is sitting with clients right now? An inbox can't tell you at a glance.
The result is work that ships too early, or sits for days because nobody noticed the client had already replied.
How to set up an approval workflow in five steps
- Decide what needs approval. Not everything. Designs, anything published and anything with a price usually do; internal tasks don't. Write the list down.
- Agree who signs off for each client. One or two names, people who can make the call. Put them in the proposal or the kickoff, so it isn't a debate later.
- Request approval on the work itself. Attach the request to the task or the file, not to a separate email. Then the work, the question and the answer live in one place.
- Ask for changes with a reason. A no without a reason costs you an extra round. Ask the client to describe what needs to change before you revise.
- Only move work on once it's approved. Make it a rule: nothing goes to Done or to the client without a yes. A "Waiting on client" column on your board shows what's still open.
One approver or several?
The fewer approvers, the faster it goes. One decision-maker per client is ideal: they gather opinions internally and give you one answer. If you ask several people, agree that everyone has to approve. It's stricter, but it stops anyone saying afterwards that they never agreed.
Don't ask people to approve when they only need to stay informed. People who need to know follow the work; people who decide approve it. Keeping those apart keeps rounds short.
Getting feedback you can act on
The quality of a change request decides how many rounds you need. Help the client with a few standard questions in your request: what needs to change, why, and is it a must or a preference? A short note with every request helps too: what should the client look at, and what's already settled?
Agree how many revision rounds the price includes. Two is a common starting point. Count them where everyone can see. A fourth round then becomes a conversation about budget instead of quiet scope creep.
Client approvals in Torvany
In Torvany you request approval on the task itself, with Request approval. You choose who needs to approve and can add a message. The approver gets a notification and picks Approve or Request changes. A change request always needs a note. If you ask several people, the task is approved only when all of them have approved it. The card shows who still has to decide.
When you revise the work, you ask again. That starts a new round, and earlier rounds stay visible on the task, with who decided what and when. People who have approvals to give find them in My work.
If nothing should close without a yes, turn on Require approval before Done for the project. A task can then only move to Done once its latest round is approved. The setting is off by default, so you choose which projects it applies to.
Approvals come with every plan. On Free you ask one person per request. On Pro you can ask up to ten people and invite clients as guests without a paid seat. See how agencies put this together in project management for agencies, or check pricing.
Approval terms
- Approver
- The person who decides whether the work moves on. For client work that's someone at the client who can make the call, not everyone who gets to see the work.
- Approval round
- One request for approval and the answers to it. If the client asks for changes, you revise the work and start a new round. Earlier rounds stay on record.
- Change request
- The answer when the work isn't right yet: not a bare no, but a description of what needs to change.
- Approval gate
- A rule that holds work back until it's approved, for example: a task can only move to Done once its latest round is approved.
- Revision round
- An agreed number of times the client can ask for changes within the price. When it's in the proposal, an extra round is an extra cost, not an argument.