Automation Approvals
Review, approve, or dismiss the messages and charges held back by automations that need your say-so before they run.
Any automation set to "Require my approval first" does not send or charge on its own. Instead it lines the action up and waits for you. This gives you a check before anything money-related or sensitive goes out, which is why the invoice chase, debt chase, and GoCardless charge recipes are set this way to begin with.
Finding What Is Waiting
When something needs your attention, a Pending approvals button appears above the automations list with a count of how many are waiting. Opening it switches to the approvals view, and the Back button returns you to the list. If you manage more than one business, the business filter you set on the list carries through, so you review one business at a time when you want to.
The same items wait under Pending approvals in the notifications bell in the app header, with the same buttons, so you can deal with them from any screen.
Reviewing an Action
Each waiting item shows enough to make a quick decision without opening anything else:
- Automation name: which automation produced it.
- Recipient: whether it is going out by email or text, and to whom.
- Preview: the subject and message exactly as the customer would receive them, with the customer's details already filled in.
Approve or Dismiss
- Approve: accepts the action and queues it to go out. A message is sent, or a charge is collected, shortly after. Once approved it leaves the pending list.
- Dismiss: throws this one away without sending. Use it when the message is no longer needed — for example the customer has already paid. Dismissing only affects that single item, not the automation itself, which stays active and will queue the next match as normal.
Approvals are decided one at a time, so you can approve the ones you are happy with and dismiss the rest. If you find yourself approving everything an automation produces, consider switching it to run automatically; if you keep dismissing, tighten it up with conditions so it only queues the cases you actually want.
Charges That Can't Be Collected Yet
Approving a charge collects nothing if the customer has no way to pay yet. When that is the case, the item says what is missing, Approve stays unavailable, and a button beside it helps you sort it out:
- No Direct Debit: The customer has no active Direct Debit mandate. Invite to GoCardless opens the Set up Direct Debit popup, where Send setup link creates a secure GoCardless link and opens the Message customers popup with your Direct Debit email and text, set to Email, or text. No payment is taken during setup. The button only appears when the customer has an email address or mobile number.
- GoCardless not connected: The business the charge belongs to isn't connected to GoCardless. Connect GoCardless opens the GoCardless Integration screen so you can connect it.
- No saved card: The customer has no saved card that can be charged. If your role can take card payments, Send card set-up link opens the Set up card payments popup, to send them a link that saves a card and charges nothing.
The charge keeps waiting while the customer gets set up, and Approve becomes available once they have. If it is no longer wanted, Dismiss it.
Related articles
- Automations: the list screen, where the pending approvals button lives.
- Creating an Automation: where you choose automatic sending or approval.
- GoCardless Billing Request Flow: useful background when approving a charge and the customer has no mandate yet.
- GoCardless Integration Screen: connecting GoCardless for a business.
- Saved Cards: how customers save a card, and charging one from an automation.