# Decide a request

Find the requests that wait on your decision, accept or decline them one by one or several at once, and, as a supervisor, decide on behalf of an approver.

When a step opens, each person it asks gets an activity **Decision needed** on the request and finds the request in **All Requests** under **Waiting on Me**. Each decision is kept as its own record, with its time, note and signature, and never changes afterwards. The pictures show the demo administrator deciding for هدى الوهمي as her delegate; the screens are the same in person.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- You are an approver of an open step, or the delegate of one: [Delegate your approvals for a period](set-out-of-office).
- You never decide a request you own, created or sent, or whose business record you created, unless [Approval settings](approval-settings) allow it; the decision is then marked as a self-decision.

## Find what waits on you {#find}

Open **Approval/All Requests**, click the arrow of the search bar and choose **Waiting on Me**. The list holds every request under review where your decision is needed, including those you decide as a delegate. A row in amber has an overdue decision; **Next Deadline** shows the nearest.

![Waiting on Me lists the requests where a decision of yours, or of the person you stand in for, is open.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17583-37b5fb3e/approvals-decide-a-request-waiting_list-en.png)

## Decide {#decide}

1. Open the request. Read the **Description**, the **Items** and the file shown beside the form; a request on a business record adds a **Document Snapshot** tab with the values sent.
2. Use the buttons at the top of the sheet:
   - **Accept** accepts at once, unless your step requires a note or a signature: the dialog then opens;
   - **Accept with Note** opens the dialog for a note; it reads **Accept and Sign** when your step offers a signature;
   - **Decline** opens the dialog, where the note is required.

![The decision buttons sit at the top of the sheet while your decision is open.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17587-f891d25c/approvals-decide-a-request-decision_bar-en.png)

3. Write the note and click **Confirm**.

![Declining always asks for a note. The dialog is discarded here.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17591-8d3a6199/approvals-decide-a-request-decline_dialog-en.png)

On a phone, the dialog fills the screen.

Your decision is recorded with your name and the time, and your activity is marked done. Once the step's rule is met, the other approvers' activities are removed and the next step opens. When your refusal makes a blocking step fail, the request is rejected: your note becomes its **Rejection Note**, and by default the requester receives an e-mail. One refusal is enough under **First answer decides** and **Everyone must accept**; under **A minimum number of acceptances**, the step fails only once too few people are left to reach the minimum. The **Decisions** tab shows how each decision was taken: **In person**, **As delegate** or **By a supervisor**.

![The request is approved; the decision records who took it and as whom.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17593-ef7a0031/approvals-decide-a-request-decided_as_delegate-en.png)

## Accept several requests at once {#bulk}

In **Waiting on Me**, tick the requests and choose **Accept My Decisions** in **Actions**, up to 100 at a time. A request whose step requires a note or a signature is skipped; the message **Decisions recorded** gives the counts.

![With the requests ticked, Actions offers Accept My Decisions.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17597-f7060d5d/approvals-decide-a-request-bulk_accept-en.png)

On a phone, **Actions** sits at the top of the list once rows are ticked.

## Decide on behalf of an approver {#on-behalf}

A supervisor settles a request that waits too long with **Decide on Behalf** in the **Actions** menu: a **Verdict**, then a **Scope**, **One decision** chosen in **Decision**, or **Finish the request**, which decides every open decision and closes held steps until the request closes. Declining needs a note. From the list, the action finishes several requests at once. These decisions read **By a supervisor**.

![A supervisor decides one open decision, or finishes the whole request. Discarded here.](https://jaah.app/web/image/17599-cdd9fd80/approvals-decide-a-request-behalf_dialog-en.png)

On a phone, the dialog fills the screen.

A supervisor cannot do this on a request they sent; an approval administrator can. **Reassign** and **Add Approver** in the same menu hand an open decision to someone else or ask one more person, with a reason.

## FAQ {#faq}

### I clicked too fast. Can I take my decision back? {#retract}

Yes, while the step is still open: choose **Retract My Decision** in the **Actions** menu. Your decision is voided and a new open one is created for you.

### Why do I not see Accept on a request? {#no-accept}

Your step is not open yet, it was already decided, the request is no longer under review, or you are on the requester's side of it.

### Mark Done on the approval activity answers with an error. {#mark-done}

The activity closes only with your decision: open the request and accept or decline it.

### Can someone else decide in my place? {#someone-else}

Name a delegate, or ask a supervisor to reassign your decision; the settings can also let approvers reassign their own.

### Where do I find what I already decided? {#decided}

In **Approval/All Requests**, with the **Decided by Me** filter.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/approvals/decide-a-request
- Updated: 2026-11-01
- Version: Approval 19.0.1.0.0
- Verified: 2026-11-01