Approval permissions in Dext control who can create and manage workflows, and who can be assigned as an approver. The same permissions logic applies across Costs, Sales, and Expense Claims workflows. Permissions work differently depending on whether you're in a practice or a business account.
Practices
Approval workflow permissions in a practice account depend on the user's role.
Practice Admins
Practice Admins can create and edit approval workflows at both the client and practice level. They have full access by default.
Client Admins and Standard users
Client Admins and Standard users can access client approval workflows for any client they already have access to.
To create or edit approval workflows at the practice level, they must have the Manage the practice's business permission enabled under their user settings. This is off by default.
Note: All practice users (accountants and bookkeepers) act as Admins when working in a client account, regardless of their practice role. This means they can create and manage approval workflows in any client account they have access to.
Granting practice users approval permissions in client workflows
To allow a practice user to be selected as an approver in a client's workflow, you need to enable approval permissions for that user. There are 2 ways to do this.
From the Clients page (client-level)
Use this route to manage approval access for a specific client across multiple users.
Go to Clients > Manage (next to the client) > Practice access.
Enable the Approval permissions toggle next to the relevant user.
From the Team page (colleague-level)
Use this route to manage a single user's approval access across multiple clients.
Go to Team > Manage (next to the colleague) > Client access.
Enable the Approval permissions toggle next to the relevant client.
Note:
If you don't see Client access for a user, they're a Practice Admin or Client Admin. Admins already have access to all clients by default — enable their approval permissions from the Clients page instead.
Only practice users who already have access to a client can be added as approvers in that client's workflows.
Practice users with access to a client can approve or reject items by default, even if they're not assigned as approvers in the workflow.
Businesses
Approval workflow permissions in a business account are determined by user role.
Business Admins and User Admins
Business Admins and User Admins can fully create and manage approval workflows.
Standard users
Standard users can't create or edit workflows. They can be set as approvers, and can view and approve documents sent to them during the approval process — even if they don't have the Access all documents permission. Once they've approved an item, it's no longer visible to them.