Introduction

Vendor approvals provide a documented sign-off workflow for bringing new vendors into your register and for reassessing existing vendors on a regular basis. They support accountability across vendor risk management and replace ad-hoc approval chains with a structured flow tied directly to each vendor record.

Approvals can be used for initial vendor onboarding, periodic reassessments, or smaller re-approvals where only part of the vendor information needs to be re-reviewed. The expiration date on each approval helps flag when a vendor is due for reapproval in line with your review frequency policy.

You can begin a vendor approval by navigating to the Vendor Management tab from the left-hand sidebar in Complyance, then selecting the vendor you want to route for approval.

Opening a Vendor for Approval

Navigate to the Vendor Management tab from the left-hand sidebar and click on the vendor you want to send for approval. This will open the Vendor Drawer, where you can review all the vendor details.

On the right-hand side of the drawer, select the Approvals Tab. Here you can view any past approvals on the vendor or request a new one.

Creating the Approval Request

Once you are in the Approvals Tab, click ‘Request a new approval’. This opens the approval request drawer that you can fill in to send the approval.

To log a new approval request:

1. Select the Approval Reason — Initial Approval, Reassessment Approval, or Other.
   • Initial Approval: use this for a new vendor you are looking to onboard.
   • Reassessment Approval: use this for periodic re-reviews of an existing vendor.

   • Other: use this where only part of the vendor needs to be re-approved.

     

2. Add a Description explaining the request
3. Select the Approvers — you can select one or multiple users.

4. Set the ‘Approval required from all’ toggle: 

   1. ON if every listed approver must approve the vendor
   2. OFF if the approval is complete as soon as any one approver responds (the first approver makes the decision).

   

5. Set the Due Date — this drives reminder notifications for the approvers to approve the vendor.
6. Set the Expiration Date in line with your vendor review policy. For example, if a high-risk vendor requires annual approval, set the expiration date a year in advance so the vendor is flagged for reapproval when it expires.
7. Add an Email Subject and Custom Message — this is included in the notification sent to approvers.

Once complete, click Send to issue the approval request. The approval status updates to Awaiting Approval.

To check on progress, click the three dots on the right-hand side of the approval and select ‘View approvers’. This shows the status of each approver’s response, so you can see which approvals are still pending.

Responding to the Approval Request

Approvers can respond to the request in one of two ways:

• Click the link in the email notification they receive, or
• Open the vendor in the Vendor Management tab, navigate to the Approvals Tab, and find the approval request there.

To respond, click the three dots next to the approval and select ‘Respond to the request’. This shows the full approval request and the available response options.

Available response options:

• Approve: the vendor is approved.
• Tentatively Approve: conditional approval pending further action.
• Need More Information: the approver requires additional detail before they can decide.
• Reject: the vendor is rejected.

Handling "Tentatively approved" and "Need More Information"

If an approver responds with Tentatively approved or Need More Information, they can add comments explaining what they need — for example, “Please lower the risk of the vendor to 'very low.” The request is returned to the person who submitted it.

To action the feedback:

1. Open the vendor and update the relevant details (for example, update the risk level or other supporting information).
2. Return to the Approvals Tab and click the three dots next to the approval.
3. Select ‘View approvers’ and click on the 3 dots next to the approver to ‘Resend approval request’.

The approval status returns to Pending, and the approver receives a new notification to re-review and approve the vendor.

When the approver returns to the vendor and is happy with the changes, they open the Approvals Tab, select ‘Respond to the request’, choose Approve, and click Submit.

After Approval

Once the approval is submitted, the vendor status updates to Approved. You can return to the Details Tab on the vendor to review the approval.

The Expiration Date determines when the approval will need to be refreshed. When the vendor next comes up for review, check the Approvals Tab to confirm the approval is still valid; if expired, submit a new approval request as part of the reassessment.

Still have questions? Reach out to our support team via the Support Center for assistance.