# How to choose who can approve each stage

> On a flow's Access tab, give people, groups or roles Approve access in every stage or one, then set how many approvals each review stage needs.

- **URL**: https://orshot.com/help/choose-who-can-approve

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Nobody approves by role alone, not even owners and admins. You pick approvers per flow on its **Access** tab, for the whole flow or one stage. Each review stage then sets how many of them have to approve.

Owners, admins and people with **Manage** access can change a flow's access. **Manage** doesn't let someone approve. Reviewers only comment, approve and request changes, so **Manage** and **Add and move** are greyed out in **Can** on their rows.

## Give someone Approve access

Each person, group or role has one row. To have someone approve in two stages, pick **All stages**, or use one group per stage.

## Use a group

A group, like Legal, lets anyone in it approve, including people you add to it later. Groups are shared by every flow in the workspace.

1. In the flow settings, open **Groups**. Type a name under **New group** and click **Create**.
2. On the group's row, click **Add people** and pick each member.
3. On **Access**, add the group, set **Can** to **Approve** and **In** to its stage, then click **Save access**.

The card then says who it waits on, like "Waiting on Maya and Legal".

## Set how many approvals a stage needs

In the flow settings, open **Stages**, click the arrow on a review stage and pick **Approvals needed**. Changes on this tab save as you make them.

| Approvals needed          | The template moves on when                                              |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Any one approver          | One person with Approve access approves                                 |
| Every approver            | Everyone who can approve there has approved, group members included     |
| A set number of approvers | That many different people have approved (set **How many approvals**)   |

The person who submitted the template doesn't count, unless you turn on **People can approve templates they submitted** in the same stage. Owners and admins can always approve templates they submitted.

## Common problems

| You see | Why, and what to do |
| --- | --- |
| "Nobody could approve in 'Legal review' after saving. Add someone with Approve access." | Every review stage needs an approver. Add one before you save. |
| The **Groups** tab says "Not included in this workspace's plan" | Your tier doesn't include groups. Give people and roles access one by one instead. |
| **Every approver** says "Not included in this workspace's plan" | Your tier only takes **Any one approver**. See [plans and limits](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/plans-and-limits). |
| An owner can't approve | Owners and admins need **Approve** access, like everyone else. |

## Related

- **[Invite a client to approve](https://orshot.com/help/invite-a-client-to-approve)**: Add an outside reviewer who sees only their flow
- **[Roles and access](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/roles-and-access)**: What each role and each kind of access allows