# Flow Approval Processes: stages, steps and work items

*Platform App Builder Study Guide · Business Logic and Process Automation · Last updated October 25, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-app-builder/business-logic-and-process-automation/flow-approval-processes-stages-steps-and-work-items*

How a flow approval process is built from stages, approval steps, background steps and Decision paths, how its work items reach users, groups, queues and Experience Cloud visitors, and when it beats a classic approval process.

- Certification: Salesforce Platform App Builder
- Exam section: Business Logic and Process Automation
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-app-builder

**Official exam objective:**

> Describe the capabilities and use cases for Flow Approval processes.

## What the exam expects

- Recognise when a review needs a flow approval process: several approvers, system actions or conditional paths.
- Design one from stages, approval steps, background steps, Decision elements, requirements, a Recall path and fault paths, and pick record-triggered or autolaunched launch.
- Predict how approval work items behave for a user, a group or queue, and a group with unanimous approval, including withdrawn items and two reviewers acting at once.
- Make work items reachable: the Orchestration Work Guide on record pages and Experience Cloud pages, email responses, list views and Omni-Channel queues.
- Reuse a design with templates, and say when a classic approval process still fits.

Key terms: **stage** (a group of steps that run together); **approval step** (assigns a work item to an approver); **background step** (an action with no user interaction); **approval work item** (the task an approver completes); **approval submission** (the record's run through the process); **Orchestration Work Guide** (the component where approvers complete work).

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements | Up to 10, to start a step or complete a stage or approval step on a record change | [Build a Flow Approval Process](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_build.htm&type=5) |
| Before activation | Place the Orchestration Work Guide on the record page | [Flow Approval Processes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals.htm&type=5) |
| Email completion | Send Approval Work Item Assignment Emails to Approvers plus Enable email response | [Work Items](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_concepts_work_items.htm&type=5) |
| Unanimous rejection | Pending child items Assigned to Withdrawn; step Rejected | [Work Items](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_concepts_work_items.htm&type=5) |
| Omni-Channel | Needs a queue associated with the Approval Work Item object | [Build a Flow Approval Process](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_build.htm&type=5) |
| Classic approvals | Still available; Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, Developer; Customize Application | [Standard Wizard](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.approvals_creating_approval_processes.htm) |

## Check yourself

- Why does an approver who opens the emailed link sometimes find nothing to act on?
- When should you use a requirement instead of a Decision element?
- Which two settings let approvers approve by replying to the email?
- When are an approval step's work items impossible to reassign?

## Sources

- [Automate Your Approvals with Flow Approval Processes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals.htm&type=5)
- [Build a Flow Approval Process](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_build.htm&type=5)
- [Approval Work Items and Orchestration Work Items](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_concepts_work_items.htm&type=5)
- [Work with Flow Approval Process Templates](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_build_template.htm&type=5)
- [Handle Stage Errors in Flow Approval Processes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_add_error_handling.htm)
- [Classic Approval Processes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=sf.what_are_approvals.htm&type=5)
- [Create a Classic Approval Process with the Standard Wizard](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.approvals_creating_approval_processes.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 11 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Platform App Builder pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams