Approval flow design and administration

A review flow lets a credential pass through one or more people who review and/or approve it before it’s actually issued — with the option for one of the approvers to add their digital signature to the proof-of-completion document. This is useful when issuance requires quality control (checking data before issuing) or a formal signed authorization (for example, a degree that must carry the rector’s signature).

⚠️ This only applies to bulk issuance by file or by API. If you issue from Individual sending, no review flow or digital signature is available — those options only appear when the batch goes through an assigned flow.

Creating a review flow

1. Go to Flow design in the main menu.
2. Click Review flows.
3. Click Create new flow.

4. Give the flow a name.
5. Add one or more Reviewers — people who validate that each credential’s data is correct before the batch moves on to approval. You can add more than one with Add reviewer +.
6. Add one or more Approvers — people who give final authorization and can digitally sign the proof-of-completion document. You can add more than one with Add approver +.
7. Click Create new flow.

🔎 Note: Reviewer and Approver are different roles. The reviewer corrects or validates content (names, emails, form data); the approver authorizes the batch to be issued and is the one who can add their digital signature. If you assign more than one approver, all of them must approve — the batch isn’t issued until the last approver confirms.

🔎 Note: approvers don’t have to belong to your organization. You can add anyone by just typing their email address, even if they don’t have an Acreditta account or access to your portal. That person will only be able to see and approve the specific batch you assigned to them — they have no visibility into any other information in your account (other credentials, other batches, settings, etc.).

How a flow is used when issuing

When you trigger a bulk issuance (by file or by API) using a template that has a review flow assigned, the batch isn’t issued right away: it stays in an intermediate state until reviewers and approvers complete their part.

Viewing batches with an active flow

1. Go to Flow design.
2. Click My credential batches to review (the ones assigned to you) or the All batches tab within that view to see the full picture for the organization.

The Stage column tells you where each batch stands:

Reviewing and fixing data

In My credential batches to review you’ll see the batches where you have an active role (reviewer or approver).

When you open a specific batch, you see the record-by-record detail with its Status:

• Initial: the record is ready, with no issues detected.
• Error: the data in that row isn’t valid (for example, a malformed email or a duplicate ID). Fix it with the pencil icon before trying to approve — a batch with rows in Error status can’t be approved until they’re resolved.

⚠️ Important: fix each row in Error status individually. The Approve button doesn’t become enabled (or the batch stays blocked) while unresolved records exist.

Approving and signing

If your role in the flow is approver, on this same screen you have two actions:

• Approve: confirms your part of the flow. If you’re the last pending approver, the batch moves on to be issued.
• Add my digital signature: optional — attaches your signature to the proof-of-completion document before approving.

Clicking Add my digital signature gives you a choice between two methods:

Handwritten signature (image of your signature):
1. Upload an image of your signature.
2. Type your name and title.
3. Click Continue to digital signature, or Sign with handwritten signature only if you don’t need the digital certificate.

Digital certificate (PKCS#12 / X.509):
1. Upload your certificate in .PFX or .P12 format.
2. Type the certificate’s password.
3. Click Continue.

🔎 Note: the platform explicitly states that the certificate is used only for that issuance and is completely removed from the servers afterward — it isn’t stored.

Finally, choose where the signature gets inserted within the document (or None (invisible signing) if you’d rather it be cryptographically signed without showing a visual element):

Quick menu reference

Flow design in the main menu has three options:

• Create flow: defines a new flow (reviewers + approvers).
• Review flows: list of all flows already created in your organization.
• My credential batches to review: the batches where you have a pending task (review or approve).