Quick Start: Approvers
This guide walks you through creating your first project in ApprovIQ, from account creation to inviting your applicant.
1. Create Your Account
- Go to the ApprovIQ registration page and select Approver as your role
- Enter your full name, email address, and a secure password
- Check your inbox for a verification email and click the confirmation link
- Sign in to access your dashboard
2. Create a New Project
From your dashboard, click New Project to launch the project wizard. The wizard guides you through five steps:
Step 1: Define Your Project
- Enter a project name (e.g., "123 Main Street - Building Certification")
- Enter the project address
- Enter the applicant's email address — this is the person who will be submitting documents
- Choose how to build your approval list:
- From a template — use items from your template library
- Copy from a previous project — duplicate an existing project's approval list
- Upload a PDF — AI will extract approval items from a document
- Start from scratch — manually add items
Step 2: Build Your Approval List
Depending on your chosen method:
- Template/Copy: Items are pre-populated. Review and adjust as needed.
- PDF Upload: Upload your document and AI will extract the approval items. You can provide custom instructions to guide the extraction.
- Manual: Add items one by one with a description of what's required.
For each item, you can:
- Set the item description
- Attach reference documents
- Configure AI document checks (these run automatically when the applicant uploads)
Step 3: Invite Your Team
- Co-approvers — invite other certifiers to help review documents (they get most of your permissions)
- Collaborators — invite external parties who need visibility (view and comment only)
- The applicant invitation is sent automatically based on the email you entered in Step 1
Step 4: Review and Confirm
Review your project details, approval list items, and team members. Make any final adjustments before proceeding.
Step 5: Payment
Complete the payment via Stripe to activate your project. Once payment is confirmed, your project goes live and invitations are sent.
3. Review Submissions
Once your project is active and the applicant starts uploading documents:
- You will receive email notifications when new documents are submitted (with smart debouncing to avoid notification fatigue)
- Open the project to see which items have new submissions
- For each submitted document:
- View the document in the built-in PDF viewer
- Review any AI document check results
- Choose an action:
- Satisfied — the document meets requirements
- Request for Info — ask for additional information or a revised document (add a comment explaining what's needed)
- Not Applicable — this item doesn't apply to this project
4. Stamp Approved Documents
Once you've reviewed and satisfied an approval list item, you can stamp the document:
- Navigate to the document you want to stamp
- Click Stamp Document
- Select which pages to stamp
- Add an optional reference number and custom text
- The stamp is applied with your name, credentials, signature, and logo
Set up your stamp configuration in Settings before your first project. You can customise colours, upload your signature and logo, and enter your certification details. See Stamp Configuration for details.
5. Stay Organised with Templates
After completing your first project, consider creating templates from your approval list:
- Go to your Template Library
- Create a new template and add items from your completed projects
- Attach document checks to template items — they will automatically propagate to all projects that use the template
- Next time you create a project, select your template to get started instantly
Next Steps
- Managing Approval Lists — learn about reordering, bulk operations, and advanced management
- Document Checks — set up AI-powered document verification
- Whitelabel Branding — customise emails and invitations with your brand