Quote approval rules let you require sign-off from specific people, or from anyone who holds a specific role, before a quote, amendment, or renewal can be sent to a customer. You define the conditions that trigger review, such as a deep discount or a large deal, and choose who has to approve a quote that meets them. A quote that matches a rule cannot be sent until every step in its approval chain is cleared.
Changes made without a quote do not go through approval, even if they would match a rule. This includes subscriptions added or amended directly and renewals made by adding a subscription.
Note: This article covers approvals for quotes, amendments via quote, and renewals via quote. In Turnstile, amendments and renewals authored as quotes are quotes, so "quote" throughout this article includes them.
Invoice approval is managed via invoice settings in your account.
Who can manage quote approval rules?
You need the Manage team & settings permission to create, edit, disable, or delete quote approval rules. Everyone on your team can view the rules. See our article on roles and permissions in Turnstile for more information.
How quote approval works
When a quote matches one or more active quote approval rules (set at Settings > Approvals), there's no separate approval-submission step. You go through Review and send exactly as you would to send any quote, and you'll see a warning that the quote will need approval so you're never surprised at the end. If the quote will route for approval, the final button reads Submit for approval instead of Send.
While a quote is pending approval:
The quote owner and anyone else with quote visibility will see a Pending approval badge on the quote and in the quotes list. The quote becomes read-only until the approval is resolved.
Each approver can approve their step or request changes.
A step that names a role can be cleared by anyone who currently holds that role, except the quote’s owner. The first person with that role to approve clears the step for everyone.
If a quote matches more than one rule, the approvers from all matching rules are combined into a single chain. Someone who appears in the chain more than once, by name or through a role they hold, only has to approve once.
A step that names the quote’s owner is skipped automatically, because you cannot approve your own quote. A step that names a role is not skipped, but the quote’s owner cannot clear it. Someone else with that role must approve it.
If an approver requests changes, the quote goes back to the owner. Once the owner edits and resubmits it, every approver is asked again, including anyone who had already approved, since the quote has changed since they last reviewed it.
Once every step is cleared, the quote is marked Approved. Only the quote owner can send an approved quote; approvers do not get a Review and send option, even after approving.
Note: A quote cannot be submitted for approval if a role in its chain has nobody who can approve it. This happens when no one holds the role, or when the quote’s owner is the only person who holds it. Review and send shows which role is the problem. To fix it, assign the role to someone else, or change the approval rule.
Create a quote approval rule
Go to Settings > Approvals.
Select New rule.
Name the rule so it is easy to identify later.
Describe the condition in your own words in the When it applies field.
For example, "discount over 25% on any line" or "total contract value over 100,000."
Click Check rule.
Turnstile interprets your description into a condition and shows it back to you before saving. If your description cannot be turned into a rule, Turnstile asks a clarifying question instead of guessing at what you meant.
Add one or more approvers, in the order they should review the quote.
For each step, choose a teammate under By person or a role under By role.
Only roles that include the Approve quotes permission appear, such as the default Owner, Admin, Sales, and Manager roles.
Save rule.
What a quote approval rule can check for
A rule's condition can be based on:
Discount percentage, on one line item or blended across the whole quote.
The price of one line item after its discount is applied.
Total contract value (TCV) or annual contract value (ACV).
Who created the quote.
Whether the quote is new business, an amendment, or a renewal.
Payment terms, in days.
Whether the quote adds, removes, or changes a product on an existing plan.
For example, a rule set to "quote discount over 10%" checks the discount across the entire quote, while "line discount over 25%" checks each line item on its own.
Conditions that check one line item at a time can be limited to a single product from your catalog. For example: “discount over 25% on Platform.”
Note: Money amounts in a rule do not have a currency. Turnstile compares the amount against each quote in that quote’s own currency. A rule for total contract value (TCV) over 100,000 applies at 100,000 USD on a US dollar quote and at 100,000 EUR on a euro quote. If you quote in more than one currency, set thresholds with this in mind.
Retract a quote from approval
To pull a quote out of approval before it is approved, the quote owner can click the three-dot menu on the quote and select Retract from approval. The quote returns to a draft, fully editable, with the approval request removed.
This is different from retracting a quote already sent to your customer; see retract quote in the manage quotes article for information on recalling a sent quote.
Only the quote owner can retract it from approval. No one else in your organization can do this on another person's quote, even with access to view it.
Retract from approval is only available while the quote shows a Pending approval badge. Once every approver has cleared it, the quote is ready to send, and there is no approval left to retract.
Submitting the quote again evaluates your organization's approval rules fresh, so the rules and/or resulting chain of approvers may differ from before.
Approve a quote
When it becomes your turn to review a quote, you receive a notification via the bell icon in your Turnstile account (configurable under Settings > Notification preferences). If the step names a role you hold, everyone with that role is notified, and any one of you can approve it.
Open the quote you were notified about.
Review the alert showing which rule triggered your review, and read its trigger description.
Add a comment to explain your decision.
Select Approve.
If another approver is still ahead in the chain, wait. Your step only opens once theirs clears. Once you approve, the quote either moves to the next approver automatically, or, if you were the last one, becomes Approved and goes back to its owner to send.
Note: Quote approvers cannot edit the quote while it is pending approval or once it is approved.
Request changes to a quote
Open the quote.
Add a comment explaining what needs to change.
Select Request changes.
The quote goes back to its owner immediately, and they are notified about your comment. Any approvers after you in the chain do not act until the owner resubmits.
Review changes requested on a quote
This is what the quote's owner sees after an approver sends it back.
Open the quote from the notification, or find it in your quotes list, where it now shows a Changes requested badge.
Review the feedback panel, which lists every reviewer who requested changes, each with their own comment.
Edit the quote to address the feedback.
Go through the Review and send process to resubmit.
Resubmitting asks every approver again, including anyone who had already approved an earlier step, since the quote has changed since they last saw it.
Send an approved quote
Once every approver has cleared, the quote's owner is notified, and the quote shows Approved wherever its status appears, including the quotes list.
Only the quote's owner can send an approved quote; approvers never get a Review and send option, even after approving.
Note: Turnstile does not send an approved quote automatically. Approval only clears the quote to be sent; sending is still a separate, manual step for the quote owner.
To send an approved quote as the quote owner:
Open the approved quote.
Select Review and send.
Complete delivery as you would for any quote (e-signature or checkout link).
Manage quote approval rules
Disabling, editing, or deleting a rule never changes a quote that is already pending approval under it. A quote’s approver chain is fixed at the moment it is submitted, so a change here only affects quotes submitted or resubmitted after you save it.
For a step that names a role, the chain keeps the role, but who can clear it is checked when someone acts on the quote. If you give someone the role, or take it away, while a quote is waiting on that step, the change applies to that quote too.
Disable a quote approval rule
Go to Settings > Approvals.
Find the rule in the list and turn off its Active toggle.
Turn the toggle back on at any time to resume applying the rule to new quotes.
Edit a quote approval rule
Editing replaces the rule's conditions and/or approver chain entirely. This cannot be undone once the edit is saved.
Go to Settings > Approvals.
Next to the rule, select the three-dot menu icon, then choose Edit rule.
Update the rule name, rewrite the trigger description, and/or change the approvers.
If you changed the trigger description, select Re-check rule to refresh the conditions shown before saving.
Select Save rule.
Delete a quote approval rule
Deleting a quote approval rule is permanent and cannot be undone.
Go to Settings > Approvals.
Next to the rule, select the menu icon, then choose Delete rule.
In the confirmation dialog, select Delete rule again.
Manage quote approval notifications
Notifications related to quote approval are sent in Turnstile via the bell icon to the top right of your account. To enable or disable quote approval notifications:
Head to Settings > Notification preferences.
Toggle on/off A quote needs your approval, Your quote was approved, and/or Changes requested on your quote.