# Your first work document

Write up a piece of work with its subject and type, fill the body from a template, send it for approval and see it approved, from the first menu to the final status.

Every piece of work worth keeping, a memorandum drafted for a court, an internal note, a weekly report, can be written up as a **work document**: a subject, a type, a body and its files. The document is then sent for approval, and the approvers named on its type decide. This walk-through writes one document and takes it to **Approved**.

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

- You need the **User: Own Documents** access right on **Work Documentation** (in the **Work Documentation** section of your user). Approving needs **Manager: All Documents**.
- At least one **Document Type** exists. Eight memoranda come with the app; the demo data adds an **Internal Memo** type that needs approval.

## Step 1: write the document {#write-the-document}

1. Open **Work Documentation/Documents** and click **New**.
2. Type the **Subject**, a short title that tells the work apart.
3. Optionally choose a **Template**: its text fills the **Content** tab, and you complete it there.
4. Choose the **Type**. The type decides whether the document waits for approval and who approves it.
5. Add the files of the work in **Attachments**.

![A new work document with its subject, its template and the type that decides who approves it.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9339-c58fa994/work-documentation-first-document-first_document_form-en.png)

6. Click the cloud icon **Save manually**. The document receives its number, for example `WOD/2026/00005`: `WOD`, the year it was saved in, then its order number. The **Author** and the **Date** are filled for you.

## Step 2: send it for approval {#send-for-approval}

1. Open the **Actions** menu and choose **Send for Approval**.
2. The status moves from **Draft** to **Waiting for Approval**. Each approver of the type receives a to-do "Review and approve the work documentation", due in two days unless the settings say otherwise; it shows in the chatter of the document and in the approver's activities.

![The document waits for approval and its approvers have a to-do.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9343-0e589896/work-documentation-first-document-first_document_waiting-en.png)

A type that does not need approval skips this step: the document is **Approved** the moment it is sent.

## Step 3: approve it {#approve-it}

As an approver with the **Manager: All Documents** access right, open the document, then open the **Actions** menu and choose **Approve**. The status becomes **Approved** and the to-do is closed.

![The document is approved and the to-do is closed.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9347-632da972/work-documentation-first-document-first_document_approved-en.png)

## What you have done {#what-you-have-done}

The work now has a number, an author, a date, a body and a status that says it was approved, with the approver's name in the chatter. The document sits in the list with the others; from now on it can be printed, and found again by its subject, type, author or status.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/work-documentation/first-document
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- Version: Work Documentation 19.0.1.0.7
- Verified: 2026-10-22