What is a Document Workflow

A document workflow, in essence, is a structured and in most cases a mostly automated process that defines how documents are handled within an organization. It encompasses the entire journey of a document, from its creation or receipt to its final destination, and, where possible, these steps and flow from one step to the other are done based on rules on an automated basis.

Think of it as a well-defined roadmap that documents follow as they move through your business. This workflow is designed to ensure that documents are handled consistently, efficiently, and in accordance with established procedures.

What is a Document Approval Workflow

A document approval workflow is a special type of document workflow that focuses specifically on the review and approval process for documents. It shows the steps a document has to go through to get fully approved, at what steps and stages the document has to be checked, and by who it has to be checked. Apart from the checking and approving of the document, which is a manual process, the actual assigning of the document to be approved and the subsequent actions while approved are in most cases where possible all automated.

In order for a document approval workflow to work, specialized software will be required to manage the workflow. So that the person who has to approve a certain document can easily be notified that they have to do so and also easily approve, disapprove, escalate, comment, or edit the document. After which the document can be put back into the automated workflow so that the document can go where it needs to go based on the result of the approval process.



Who Should Use Document Approval Workflows

Companies with a lot of physical documents

Imagine a business that routinely receives documents in physical form, with a lot of important information such as client information, contracts, invoices, and more. Managing all those documents can be very time-consuming, that is why using a document workflow to scan all those incoming documents using production scanners and then using digital software like OCR or even better AI solutions like Jetstream to automatically detect, extract, and classify documents, will save you a lot of time. That can significantly improve the efficiency of document management.

However, one aspect of that process that is also very important and should be remembered is the approval process. If not all documents need to be scanned using a production scanner then there should be an approval workflow to make sure the correct documents are being scanned. Once those scanned documents are converted into a digital document and the data has been extracted using software that then needs to be verified to make sure that the extraction was successful. This could mean approving some of the software output results or going to documents flagged by the software itself.



Using an approval process like that in combination with a document workflow can potentially really increase efficiency by automating most of the document digitization and only where there is doubt create an approval process. By doing so you could potentially also reduce errors as well as increase efficiency.

Companies that receive large amounts of scanned documents or pictures

On the other hand, companies that deal with a lot of forms or documents in digital form could potentially also benefit from using approval workflows for their documents. The main difference between digital documents and physical documents for a company is that if the company wants to automate their document workflow, with the physical documents they will have to use a production scanner to digitize the documents first. In the case of receiving digital documents as a company, they don't have to be scanned.

Document workflow can still be used to map out and potentially automate the process of a document being received and then going through several steps including software, approval, classification, and storage. An automated document workflow can boost the efficiency of the company. In order to extract the data from the digital documents also in this case OCR, ICR, or AI software will have to be used to try and extract the data from the document. If the type of documents being processed are mainly identity documents, more specialized software and/or service might be required to scan, verify, extract, and store that type of document and data.

Using an approval process for digital documents can be beneficial for example when used to do quality checks on the documents, to make sure that the documents received are the correct documents for example. Alternatively, when the software used to extract the data is not able to get a clear reading an approval workflow can be used to delegate the document to a manual process or rerun the software. And of course, at the end of the document workflow, a document approval workflow can make sure that the document gets approved based on quality, content accuracy, classification, and more before the document enters long-term storage.

Other Benefits of Using a Document Approval Workflow

Quality Checks for Scanned Documents: a document approval workflow can be put in place to check the quality of a scanned document or the quality of a software-based extraction.

• Document Classification: Using an approval process documents can be automatically sorted and categorized in certain baskets before going through the approval process whereby the person in charge of a specific classification can approve whether or not the document belongs there. 

• Document Retrieval: If sensitive documents are stored a document approval workflow can be implemented to automatically ask for approval from a superior when an employee wants to access or retrieve certain files.
  
  
• Efficiency and Collaboration: The benefits of a document approval workflow extend beyond error reduction. It can streamline the document-handling process, reducing the time and effort required for manual tasks. It also encourages collaboration within the organization. Using automation the correct person that needs to approve a certain document can easily be assigned to the workflow and once the approval is completed the document can easily re-enter the overall document workflow.

• Audit Trail and Compliance: Another very important aspect of document approval workflows is that it creates an audit trail. Every action taken on a document is recorded as well as who did it and who approved the document. This can be used to keep people inside of the business accountable. It can provide a complete history of changes, approvals, and rejections. This audit trail could also be very useful for compliance, ensuring that the organization adheres to industry regulations and internal policies.

• Security and Access Control: In a business environment, document security is paramount. A document approval workflow allows for fine-grained access control. You can define who can access, edit, or approve documents. This control ensures that sensitive information is protected and only accessible to authorized personnel.

• Version Control and Document Retrieval: With document approval workflows, maintaining version control becomes a lot easier. You can track changes, roll back to previous versions, and more easily access historical data.
  
  
• Integration and Scalability: Modern document approval workflows would most likely be used together with other workflows and other business systems. Whether you use a document management software or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, a well-implemented workflow can seamlessly fit into your existing infrastructure. Moreover, it's scalable, adapting to the growing volume of documents and evolving business needs.

So Why Use a Document Approval Workflow

In a business that manages a wide array of documents whether physical documents or digital documents, the importance of a document approval workflow cannot be overstated. In the case of physical documents, a business might have to use production scanners to digitize the documents while other companies already receive the documents in a digital format. In both cases, if the company needs to use those documents in any way, a document workflow would be important to efficiently and effectively manage it. One important aspect of that document workflow is the document approval workflow. It enhances efficiency, can help to maintain data integrity, accuracy, and fosters potential collaboration. It can help to provide a more structured approach to document management, reducing potential errors and automating certain tasks.