Ask someone outside to approve a task
Send a task's approval to named people outside the organisation, in rounds if it has to go up a chain, with their answer recorded.
Screenshots are retaken from IQ Entities on every release. Updated 14 October 2026.
Some work needs a yes from someone who does not use IQ Entities: a client signing off a filing, a group finance director agreeing a renewal, a non-executive approving a statement. Ask them from the task. Each person gets their own link by email and confirms a code sent to the same address, so the record shows who approved what, and when. Nothing is filed or sent when they approve: it comes back to you.
Request the approval
Open the task and choose the Approvals tab.
Choose Request approval.
Under What are they approving?, write the exact words they are agreeing to. These words are what they see and what their approval is recorded against, so name the document, the company and the period.
Give the round a name if it helps, then list the approvers under Email addresses, one per line, with a name where you have it: Jane Smith jane@client.com.
Under How many must approve?, choose Everyone in this round or Any one of them.
Check Days each round's link stays valid (7 unless you change it, 30 at most), add a Covering note (optional) for the email if you want one, and choose Send request.
When it has to go up a chain
Choose Add another round for each further level. Rounds run in order: nobody in a later round is contacted, or can approve, until the round before it is complete. Each round's link is valid for the full number of days from when that round opens.
| Situation | Set up |
|---|---|
| Any one director can approve | One round, Any one of them |
| Every member of a committee must agree | One round, Everyone in this round |
| The client signs off, then the group CFO | Two rounds, in that order |
Tips from practice
- Be specific in What are they approving?. "Do you approve?" is a consent record that proves nothing a year later.
- Leave Let them see who else was asked off unless the approvers know one another. They always see how many have approved; this adds the names.
- If you change what is being approved after sending, the request has to go out again, and the approvals so far no longer count.
- Next: Follow an approval request through.