How to Create an Internal SaaS Approval Workflow That Actually Works

As your organization grows, so does the number of software tools your teams want to use. Without a clear request and approval workflow, you risk tool sprawl, duplicate purchases, security vulnerabilities, and Shadow IT.

This guide shows how to build a lightweight but effective SaaS intake and approval process, designed for real-world teams that need flexibility, visibility, and control.

Why You Need a SaaS Approval Workflow

Whether you’re a startup or a maturing IT team, having an internal SaaS request process helps:

Prevent unauthorized purchases
Improve security and compliance review
Avoid redundant tools and wasted spend
Ensure accountability and documentation
Encourage collaboration between IT, finance, and operations

If you’ve read How to Discover and Mitigate Shadow IT in Your SaaS Stack, you already know: shadow IT often begins when employees feel forced to find their own tools. A transparent approval process is a better alternative.

Step 1: Design Your Intake Form

Create a simple request form that employees can fill out when they want to bring in a new tool. It can live in Asana, Google Forms, Typeform, or any internal portal.

Key fields to include:

Name of tool and vendor
Team/department requesting it
Problem it solves or goal it supports
Free vs paid plan
Estimated user count and cost
Data type involved (PII, financial, internal comms, etc.)
Alternatives considered
Requestor name and manager approval

Bonus: Include a “Do you think we already have a tool that does this?” checkbox to prompt internal discovery.

Step 2: Define Approval Roles

You don’t need a huge committee, but you do need clarity. Define who reviews and approves requests based on these categories:

IT / Security – for access control, SSO, encryption, and security concerns
Finance / Ops – for budget alignment and vendor contract tracking
Team Lead / Manager – to confirm the business case
Tool Owner (optional) – for long-term support and documentation

For example, requests under $500/year might only need a team lead + IT. Enterprise-grade or sensitive tools should go through all stages.

Step 3: Evaluate and Prioritize Requests

Once submitted, evaluate:

Is the tool redundant with anything we already use?
Does it meet our security baseline (e.g., MFA, SOC 2, SSO)?
Is the pricing sustainable if scaled across teams?
Does it support integrations with our existing stack?
Will it require significant training, onboarding, or support?

This evaluation links naturally to your other policies:

Use How to Conduct a SaaS Audit to identify overlap
Reference your SaaS Compliance Checklist to validate vendors

Step 4: Document and Track Approvals

Once approved:

Add the tool to your SaaS inventory or asset list
Record the request, approver(s), contract owner, and renewal date
Schedule a 60- or 90-day review to assess usage and adoption
Notify the requester of final decision and next steps

For this, tools like Notion, Airtable, or Asana work well.

Step 5: Maintain a Catalog of Approved Tools

Publish an internal page or document listing:

Approved tools and their primary use case
Department or team that owns it
Who to contact for help or training
Status (Active, Deprecated, In Trial)
Link to documentation or onboarding materials

This reduces friction, promotes transparency, and helps prevent redundant requests.

Step 6: Review & Improve the Workflow Quarterly

Your needs will change. Review your approval process quarterly or during regular SaaS governance meetings to evaluate:

Any bottlenecks in the workflow
How many tools were approved vs. declined
Time-to-decision stats
Tool usage after 90 days
Missed opportunities or duplicate purchases

You can use this data to optimize cost, improve user satisfaction, and enhance compliance.

Closing the Loop

With a well-defined SaaS approval workflow, you can:

Reduce Shadow IT and unauthorized tools
Protect sensitive data from risky vendors
Cut unnecessary spending
Create a better employee experience through faster approvals
Strengthen your SaaS Governance Framework across departments

This is the policy structure that makes the rest of your SaaS strategy work.