Approval Workflow: Loop back to previous step

Hi,

I need help setting up a workflow loop for approvals.

Details on my use case:

A contractor submits project information via the form, and then the invoice approval process starts. Contractors are not allowed to edit the form after submission.

The attached screenshot shows what my workflow looks like. I have drawn an arrow where I would like the workflow to loop back.

The current workflow is working as intended, but I would like to streamline it by adding a "Revision Needed" option. Sometimes the form or invoice is submitted with minor errors that can be easily fixed. If a revision is needed then I would like to have another admin contact the contractor about it and make the necessary edit in Jotform Tables (so the workflow is not restarted), then go back to the Admin Approval step.

I know that a possible workaround for this would be having an admin edit and resubmit the form via the Inbox, or having the contractor resubmit the form themselves. However the issue with this is that it would cause unnecessary clutter and require an admin to clean up. If the form is resubmitted by the contractor or an admin, it restarts the workflow and creates a duplicate record in Monday.com, which I would like to avoid because Monday.com is used for a different process that is not affected by these errors that require resubmission.

Current Workflow:

Form Submitted -> Admin Review. Approval = Deny -> Contractor Contacted -> End -> Contractor must resubmit the form

Form Submitted -> Admin Review. Approval = Approve or Pass to Projects -> Projects Review -> Continue through the rest of the workflow

Intended Workflow:

Form Submitted -> Admin Review. Approval = Revision Needed -> Contractor Contacted -> Loop back to Admin Approval

Form Submitted -> Admin Review. Approval = Deny -> Contractor Contacted -> End

Form Submitted -> Admin Review. Approval = Approve or Pass to Projects -> Projects Review -> Continue through the rest of the workflow

This intended workflow would keep Monday.com clean, allow the necessary edits be made with minimal effort from the admins and contractors, and avoid any infinite loops since Deny, Approve, or Pass to Projects would all exit the loop.

Please let me know if this is a feature that will be added in the future, and if there are any workarounds I could use in the meantime. I have read several Jotform guides to learn more about Approvals, Workflows, Conditional Form Logic, Condition Element, and the If/Else Element, but I have still been unable to make anything work as desired.

Thank you!

Hi Kaylee,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. Based on your detailed use case, you want to add a "Revision Needed" outcome in your approval workflow that allows an admin to contact the contractor and make necessary edits directly in Jotform Tables without restarting the workflow or creating duplicate records in Monday.com. Currently, the workflow restarts if the form is resubmitted, which causes clutter and duplicates.

Here’s what you can do with the current Jotform Workflows features:

• You can add custom outcomes in the Approval element, such as "Revision Needed," alongside Approve and Deny.
• When a submission is in progress, you can track and manage its status in Jotform Inbox and Tables, including filtering by flow status.
• Admins can take over, reassign, or cancel approval tasks from Jotform Inbox.
• While you cannot loop the workflow back to a previous step automatically, you can manually restart or cancel flows for submissions if needed.
• Approvers can request more information or reassign tasks, which can help in managing revisions.

However, the specific feature to loop back to a previous approval step after making edits in Jotform Tables without restarting the workflow is not currently available. The workaround you mentioned—editing and resubmitting the form or restarting the workflow manually—is the closest option at this time.

To avoid duplicates in Monday.com, you might consider adjusting your integration settings or filtering submissions based on flow status to exclude those under revision, but this depends on your integration setup.

We appreciate your suggestion for this feature and recommend keeping an eye on Jotform updates, as new workflow capabilities are regularly added.

Let us know if you need guidance on setting up custom approval outcomes, managing submissions in Inbox and Tables, or configuring notifications to streamline your process.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes.