Role-Based Approvers

Remote’s approval feature supports role-based approvers. This is an extension of our Multi-Level Approvals engine, designed to make approval workflows more flexible, resilient, and aligned with how organizations structure responsibilities.

With role-based approvers, admins can now assign approval rules to a role (e.g. HR Manager, Finance Approver). All members of the role are notified, and only one member needs to take action—helping companies stay compliant while reducing manual work and delays.

How to Set It Up

Create or use an existing role

1. Go to Company Settings → User roles & permissions.

2. Click Add new role, and add a role name and description.

3. Set the Information access level to Direct & Indirect Reports (or higher).

4. Enable both view and edit permissions for the relevant approval type (e.g., expense management).

5. Assign users to the role. A user can belong to multiple roles.

⚠️ Note: Roles must be created and configured before they can be used in the Approvals Builder.

Information Access Levels

When creating a role, you must set its Information Access level. This defines what data the role can view or edit inside Remote. For role-based approvers, we recommend one of the following:

Recommended for Role-Based Approvers

• Direct & Indirect Reports

  • Grants access to all direct reports and their reporting lines.

• Employment Country

  • Grants access to all employees/contractors in a specific country.

• Department Level

  • Grants access to all employees/contractors in a specific department.

• Entire Company

  • Grants access to information for all employees and contractors at the company.

Other Available Options

• Direct Reports Only

  • Limited to information about the user's own direct reports.

• Legal Entity

  • Grants access only to employees/contractors assigned to a specific legal entity.

• Billing Legal Entities

  • Grants access to employees/contractors assigned to a billing entity (for finance/admin use cases).

• Team Members Requests

  • Grants access to review and act on offboarding, mobility, and employment change requests.

⚠️ The access level must be broad enough to cover the employees whose requests the role will need to approve. For example, an "Expense Approver" role must have access to the employees who submit expenses.

Learn more in this article: What can the different company users do on Remote?

Permissions by Approval Event

Each approval event type has its own required permissions. Admins must enable both view and edit permissions for the relevant approval type:

• Expenses → Permission: Expense Management

  • Required for reviewing and approving expense requests.

• Contract Changes → Permission: Company Management

  • Required for approving updates to employee contracts (e.g., salary, job title).

• Job Requisitions → Permission: Company Management

  • Required for approving new job requisitions.

• Other future approval types (e.g., time off, payroll submissions) will also have specific permissions that must be enabled once supported.

⚠️ If the correct permissions are not enabled, users assigned to the role will not see or be able to act on approval requests.

Add the role to an approval rule

1. Navigate to the Approvals section in your dashboard.

2. Create or edit an approval workflow.

3. When adding approvers to a rule, search for and select the role you've created.

4. Publish the workflow.

Once published, any requests that meet the workflow's conditions will be routed to that role for approval.

How Role-Based Approval Rules Work

• All members of the role are notified of new requests (via the Things To Do task list).

• Only one member needs to take action—once they approve or decline, the rule is marked complete for the entire role.

• Approvers take action directly in the relevant dashboard (e.g., the Team Expenses Dashboard for expenses).

Example Approval Workflow:

• Rule 1: Direct Manager must approve if expense amount > $100.

• Rule 2: HR Managers role (5 members) must approve after the manager.

Flow: The manager approves first. Then the request is routed to the HR Managers role. All 5 HR Managers are notified, but only one needs to approve.

Where do approvers take action?

• Contract updates: Approvers receive a "Things To Do" task in their dashboard. Clicking the task opens the relevant request for review.

• Expense requests: Approvers see pending expenses in the Team Expenses Dashboard, where they can review details and approve/decline.