Preserving Approval Date

Art Schneiderheinze

I heard in an ENGAGE 2018 video on alerts is that you can set an alert to request approval based on the values of one of the cells in the row. You can choose a column with drop-down properties to indicate that the alert was Submitted, Declined or Approved.

Someone at the session asked if there is a way to know the date of approval, and the speaker said you can refer to the Modified date to list the date and timestamp of the last data change made to the row. (In his example, he created an action to lock the row once the approval request was submitted, so the modified date would reflect a change to the column with Submitted, Declined or Approved.

He then said you could capture that date with a formula to keep the date---in the case if an approval is declined, and the row is unlocked so the person working on the task can make changes before submitting the request for approval again.

How would you "capture" the modified date of the original Declined? If you know the modified date (when the cell was change from Submitted to Declined, or even if we made a change to the row even after Approved), any change in the row would changed the Modified Date, right? So, then we no longer have the date of the original Approved or Declined.

Even if I created a new column that captured that Modified Date from the other column, it would be updated as well once the Modified Date was changed (since its a formula, not an actual date).

Any idea how to capture the date a request was Submitted for approval and the dates the Approval or Declined was received?

Thanks!

Andrée Starå

Hi,

It's possible to set it up with a third-party service like Zapier or similar.

Would that work?

Have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Paul Newcome

Without a 3rd party service, you would have to basically have the row locked once it changes from submitted to approved or declined. Then you would open the sheet, manually enter the date into a separate column, then unlock the row for further editing.

kathlenew

Hi Andree,

I'm also trying to capture the timestamp of when a request was "Approved" in the approval workflow that I've created. Is there a way to do this in smartsheet?

Otherwise, how did you set it up with a third party service like Zapier?

Thanks,

Kathlene

Andrée Starå

Hi Kathlene,

There are a few different ways to structure a solution.

• Do you need to keep the row(s) in the sheet or could it be moved to another sheet when Approved?
• Are there additional changes made to the row(s) after the Approval?

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Hope that helps!

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

kathlenew

Hi Andree,

I would prefer to keep everything in one sheet - these are the columns I have in my existing sheet. What I would like to add is to record the time when the approver approves the request so we can track how long it takes to complete request from receiving approval.

An outline of the process:

1. Submitter submits request in Smartsheet form  - record when submitter submits (Note: Created Time stamp and Number in Queue is automated field in Smartsheet)

2. Smartsheet form will be routed to approver for approval

**3. I would like to record the time the approver approves

4. The team working on the request will update the 'Status' to 'In Progress' when started and 'Completed' when the case is completed

5. The 'Completed' timestamp column records when the row was last edited (last action should be marking the request as completed)

 

Thanks for your help!

Kathlene

Andrée Starå

Happy to help!

In short, this is how the Zapier ZAP would be structured.

• Updated row in Smartsheet
• Filter, continue if the date isn't filled and the Approval Status is Approved
• Format, the date to be correct and readable by Smartsheet
• Update the row and cell from the first step

Make sense?

Matthew Emrich

The record a date automation may achieve what you are looking for

Camilo P.

Great @Matthew Emrich ! I have been wondering about this solution and looking through the forum, and this works for me!

Thanks

Andrée Starå

Hi @Camilo P.

I hope you're well and safe!

If you need to have the time on record, you can use my workaround below.

Please have a look at my post below with a method I developed.

More info: 

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/68589/lock-or-store-date-value-solution-without-using-zapier

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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