This article covers how to review, approve, and reject draws. To set up who approves what, see Setting up and managing draw approval workflows.
1. Find draws waiting on approval
Open Draws.
Select the For approval tab.
Each tab shows a count, so you can see how many draws are waiting.
2. Send a draft draw for approval
Open the Draft tab.
Open the draw.
Review the draw schedule, lines, and amounts.
Click Send for approval.
A draw needs at least one line before you can send it. If the draw matches no workflow, it is approved automatically and moves straight to For payment.
Note: If the draw shows a retainage banner, choose an option in the banner first. Adaptive blocks the draw until retainage is settled.
3. Approve a draw
Open the draw from the For approval tab.
Review the details and lines.
Click Approve.
If more approvers are still required, the draw stays in For approval until every step is complete. Once the last approver approves it, the draw moves to For payment.
4. Reject a draw
Open the draw from the For approval tab.
Click Reject.
Enter a reason in Reason for rejecting the draw. The reason is optional, but it tells the creator what to fix.
Click Reject to confirm.
A rejected draw moves back to Draft, and your reason is posted as a comment on the draw. When the creator sends it for approval again, the earlier approvals are cleared and the workflow starts over.
5. Bypass approvals
If your role includes Bypass approval workflows, you can approve a draw even when other people are still supposed to review it.
Bypass approvals appears next to Approve, or as the main button when you are not part of the draw's workflow.
To bypass:
Open the draw from the For approval tab.
Click Bypass approvals.
Confirm by selecting Bypass other approvals.
6. Send or approve draws in bulk
Open Draws.
Go to Draft or For approval.
Select the draws.
Click Actions.
Choose the action you want.
From Draft you can pick Send for approval. From For approval you can pick Approve.
Adaptive skips any draw where the action is not allowed for you or for its status, and reports how many it acted on and skipped.
Note: There is no bulk reject for draws. Reject a draw from its own page.
7. Sync an approved draw to QuickBooks
Approving a draw does not sync it. A draw in For approval is never sent to QuickBooks. Once it reaches For payment, sync it with Sync to QuickBooks on the draw, or select several draws and use Bulk sync to QuickBooks.
8. Understand approval permissions
What you can do depends on your role and the draw's workflow. If Approve is unavailable, Adaptive explains why:
You are not in the approval workflow for this draw.
It's not your turn to approve this draw.
You have already approved this draw.
This draw is not pending approval.
Credit memos never enter the draw approval flow.
Admins manage roles and permissions under Settings → People. Approval workflows are managed from Automations.
If you have questions that aren't answered in our Knowledge Base, please reach out to us at [email protected].