Streamline contract approval process: Routing, thresholds, and workflow templates
At a glance
A contract approval workflow defines who approves contracts, at what thresholds, and under which conditions.
Without structure, approvals stall, creating costly delays and compliance risks.
Role-based routing tied to contract value and risk ensures predictable, auditable decisions.
Moxo embeds thresholds, delegation, and escalations into templates for secure, compliant, and efficient contract approvals.
Why approvals stall
Even when contracts are drafted quickly, approvals often drag. Managers are unavailable, responsibilities are unclear, or documents sit in email chains with no visibility.
According to World Commerce & Contracting, poor contract management costs companies up to 9% of annual revenue, and approval bottlenecks are a major driver.
There are three recurring causes:
- Unclear rules – Who should approve what? Without defined thresholds, teams waste days chasing the wrong person.
- Lack of visibility – Approvers don’t know contracts are waiting, or legal teams can’t track where contracts are stuck.
- No accountability – If there’s no SLA or escalation, contracts languish indefinitely.
Imagine a global sales team sending a $1.2M software deal to the wrong director for approval. The director sits on it for a week, assuming finance will step in. Meanwhile, the customer is waiting, revenue is delayed, and competitors get a head start.
Structured approval workflows eliminate this chaos.
Types of approval models: Role, amount, and risk
Different organizations design approval workflows based on their priorities. Three models dominate: role-based, amount-based, and risk-based.
Role-based approvals
This model routes approvals based on functional responsibility.
- Procurement always reviews vendor contracts.
- Legal always reviews MSAs and SOWs.
- Finance always reviews contracts with financial obligations.
This ensures domain experts weigh in. But without thresholds, even trivial contracts might get stuck in legal queues unnecessarily.
Mini-case: A logistics firm required legal approval for every vendor NDA. By adopting a role-plus-threshold model, they allowed managers to approve NDAs under $10K. This freed legal for higher-risk agreements.
Amount-based approvals
This model ties routing to contract value. It ensures oversight scales with financial exposure.
Sample Approval Matrix:
This tiered approach balances speed and risk.
Example: A SaaS company configured Moxo workflows so contracts under $50K routed to managers, while those above $250K escalated automatically to the CFO. Cycle times dropped by 30% because approvals no longer bounced around via email.
Risk-Based Approvals
Not all risk is financial. A low-value contract may still carry high compliance implications (for example, data privacy clauses).
Risk-based approvals flag contracts for additional review if they contain:
- Cross-border data transfers (GDPR, CCPA compliance)
- Intellectual property rights transfers
- Indemnity or liability limits outside standard ranges
Scenario: A healthcare firm routed all contracts with patient data clauses to its compliance officer, regardless of value. Using Moxo’s client portal, they logged every review for HIPAA audits.
Thresholds, delegation & OOO rules
Approvals must reflect real-world dynamics: people are busy, absent, or overloaded.
Thresholds
These are monetary or risk-based cutoffs that route contracts appropriately. Without thresholds, executives waste time approving minor contracts.
Delegation
Approvers can delegate their authority to colleagues. For instance, a regional VP may delegate approvals under $100K to a senior manager.
Out-of-office (OOO) rules
Contracts should not stall when an approver is on vacation. Moxo workflows allow OOO routing, ensuring contracts auto-route to designated backups.
Mini-case: A global consulting firm used to face quarter-end chaos when VPs were traveling. With Moxo delegation rules, contracts automatically re-routed, eliminating delays and preserving audit trails.
SLAs & escalations
Approvals need accountability. Service level agreements (SLAs) define how long an approver has before escalation occurs.
Example SLA Flow:
- The manager has 48 hours to approve.
- If missed, it escalates to the Director.
- After 72 hours, the CFO receives an alert.
This creates urgency and prevents contracts from “disappearing.”
Moxo dashboards provide real-time SLA tracking. Leaders can see which contracts are overdue and who is responsible, creating transparency and accountability.
Manual vs automated approval workflows
Configure in Moxo (Template)
Turning models into live workflows is straightforward with Moxo templates.
Step 1: Select template
Start with Moxo’s approval workflow template (vendor contracts, NDAs, or MSAs).
Step 2: Define rules
Configure thresholds (e.g., <$50K → manager, >$250K → CFO), assign approvers, and set OOO rules.
Step 3: Automate reminders & escalations
Moxo’s magic links send approvers directly to their task, with automated reminders and escalation triggers.
Step 4: Track with dashboards
Dashboards visualize cycle times, bottlenecks, and SLA breaches. Audit trails ensure compliance with SOC 2 and GDPR.
Case Study: A financial services firm cut approval time by 40% with Moxo automation. Delays caused by absent approvers disappeared thanks to escalation and OOO routing.
How Moxo helps
Contract approval workflows often slow down due to unclear ownership, manual routing, and compliance risk. Moxo provides a workflow-first system that automates routing, enforces thresholds, and keeps every approval transparent and audit-ready.
Define and route approvals with precision
Using Moxo’s no-code workflow builder, teams can design multi-level approval paths based on contract type, value, or department. Workflow controls let you set escalation thresholds, define fallback approvers, and ensure every request reaches the right decision-maker automatically.
Automate notifications and thresholds
Moxo’s workflow automation eliminates manual follow-ups by triggering reminders, SLAs, and auto-escalations. Integrations with CRMs, ERPs, and tools like DocuSign ensure data flows seamlessly and approvals stay connected to core systems.
Collaborate securely with stakeholders
Approvals often extend beyond internal teams. With branded client portals, vendors, clients, or external partners can review and approve contracts through magic links without needing platform accounts. Document collection workflows manage version control and store evidence for compliance.
Track performance and compliance
Moxo’s performance dashboards track metrics like approval cycle time, threshold exceptions, and pending actions. Audit trails capture every approval, rejection, and comment, ensuring decisions are fully traceable and regulator-ready.
Operate with enterprise-grade control
All contract approvals are safeguarded by Moxo’s SOC 2 and GDPR-compliant security framework, complete with encryption, SSO/SAML, and role-based access controls to protect sensitive contract data.
With Moxo, contract approvals become structured, automated, and measurable—empowering organizations to accelerate turnaround while maintaining governance and trust.
The future of contract approvals
Contract approvals are evolving toward intelligence-driven workflows. Instead of static routing rules, AI will analyze contract content to assign approvers dynamically. For instance, clauses related to data transfers could automatically trigger a compliance review, ensuring every approval aligns with policy and regulation.
According to McKinsey, organizations that leverage advanced contract management reduce contracting costs by up to 30% and improve cycle times by 50%.
As automation and AI become core to compliance and governance, businesses that adopt structured, intelligent approval workflows today will be more agile, audit-ready, and resilient tomorrow.
Get started with Moxo to modernize your approval workflows with automation, insight, and complete transparency.
FAQs
What is a contract approval workflow?
It’s the process that defines who approves contracts and under what conditions. Moxo workflows automate approvals with thresholds, routing, and secure audit trails.
How do thresholds work in approvals?
Thresholds route contracts based on value or risk. In Moxo, a $50K contract might go to a manager, while a $500K deal auto-routes to the CFO.
What happens if an approver is unavailable?
Moxo workflows include delegation and OOO rules, so contracts auto-route to backups.
How do escalations prevent delays?
Escalations kick in when SLAs are missed. Moxo dashboards send alerts and escalate contracts to higher approvers automatically.
Can Moxo provide audit trails for compliance?
Yes. Every action is logged in Moxo’s secure portal, meeting SOC 2 and GDPR standards.
