Approval belongs to a particular version.

A fictional example: a customer proposal

An author creates proposal P-104, revision 1, using approved customer details and pricing. A reviewer approves that revision. If the author changes the scope or price, revision 2 must be distinguishable from the approved copy.

Decide which changes require another review. A spelling correction and a new price may need different handling, but the rule must be explicit.

Record the state and the decision separately.

The current document can be waiting for review while its history retains an earlier rejection. Record the version, reviewer, decision and time together. Do not silently replace the file behind an old approval link.

Handle declined and expired requests.

A signature request can be declined or expire. Choose who receives the exception, whether a corrected request is allowed and which old request should be closed. A retry must not create two apparently current final records.

Make the archive usable.

Agree a stable identifier and useful search fields. Retain the completed file with the relevant approval or provider record, subject to the client's retention and access rules. A folder full of similarly named PDFs is difficult to operate.

Test the awkward cases.

• A required source field is missing.
• A reviewer asks for a change.
• The approved version is edited before delivery.
• A provider reports failure after a request was sent.
• An authorized staff member must find the final record later.

Use fictional data for these checks. Ask a qualified adviser about legal signature and retention obligations that apply to the actual documents.