COBBLESTONE SOFTWARE

Contract Insight — User Guide

2. Adding An Approval Group

Document Templates Management › E-Approval Flow/Groups › 2. Adding An Approval Group

Note: Each procedure in this guide begins at the Contract Insight homepage, so any section can be followed on its own. Custom fields are configurable, so the exact field list on a contract category record may vary between environments.

1. Overview

An approval group is one step in a template's approval flow. Groups are managed on the template's Approvals & signing step (step 3), E-Approvals tab, under Who approves, and in what order: "Approvers are invited group by group - within a group they act in parallel, across groups sequentially." Each group has a name (for example, Vendor Review or Final Document Clean Up), a sequence number, and one or more participants. Each participant has a title (the approval placeholder), a source, an approver, and whether their approval is required. Adding a group adds another step to the flow; the document cannot move past that step until its approvers have acted.

2. Key Elements

• Approvals & signing step → E-Approvals tab: where a template's approval groups are listed, numbered in the order they run.
• Add group: opens a form with Group name (required), Description, Sequence, For version, Accept tracked changes on complete, and Set record status on complete.
• Group buttons: Edit, Participant, Rules, Copy, and Delete on each group's header.
• Participants: added with the Participant button. Each needs a source (Employees, Roles & Groups, or Vendor/Customer Contacts), an approver, and a unique Title.
• Participant row tools: When this approval is required (filter icon), Content controls this approver may edit (shield icon), and Remove this approver (trash icon).

3. Navigating to a Template's Approval Groups

1. From the Contract Insight homepage, click the Administration icon at the bottom of the left navigation bar.
2. Search for or click Document Templates.
3. Click Open on the template you want to work with (see Template Overview).
4. In the wizard at the top of the template editor, click step 3 Approvals & signing.
5. Make sure the E-Approvals tab is selected. Existing groups are listed under Who approves, and in what order.

Note: Approval groups only route a generated document when Use E-Approvals is enabled at the top of the tab and the settings are saved with Save approval settings.

4. Adding an Approval Group

1. On the E-Approvals tab, click Add group.
2. In the Add group form at the bottom of the list, enter a Group name (required), for example Legal Review.
3. Optionally enter a Description.
4. Review the Sequence. It defaults to the next number after the existing groups; groups run in sequence order.
5. Select For version: All Versions, Initial Version Only, or Additional/Modified Versions.
6. Leave Accept tracked changes on complete selected to accept the document's tracked changes when this group finishes, or clear it to keep them.
7. Optionally choose a Set record status on complete value (for example, Legal Review or Prepare for Signature). Leave -- No Status Change -- to keep the record's current status.
8. Click Save approval group to add the group, or Cancel to close the form without saving.

5. Adding Participants to a Group

A new group needs at least one participant before it can route an approval.

1. On the group's header, click Participant.
2. In the Add participant to "[group]" group form, choose where the Participant is from: Employees, Roles & Groups, or Vendor/Customer Contacts.
3. Select the approver (for example, Select employee → a named employee or Assigned Employee/User).
4. Enter a Title. It must be unique on the template and is used as the approval placeholder.
5. Optionally enter a Reason.
6. Select or clear Required and Locked as needed.
7. Click Save participant, or Cancel to close the form without saving.

6. Reviewing the Approval Flow

After saving, each group appears as a numbered step with its participants listed underneath. The grid shows each participant's Title (Approval Placeholder), Source, Approver, and whether the approval is Required or optional. Use the icons in the Actions column to set when the approval is required, choose which content controls the approver may edit, or remove the approver.

7. Quick Reference Summary