Configuring an approval inside an existing product may require 20-100 hours, roughly $1,000-$5,000 at Vertinus's $49.99 hourly rate. A focused custom approval application may require 250-700 hours, about $12,500-$35,000. A configurable platform supporting many request types can require 1,000-3,000 hours or more, about $50,000-$150,000.

The least expensive responsible option is usually to use the approval feature already attached to the authoritative record. Build custom software when the request, routing, evidence, exceptions, access, audit history, or downstream action genuinely exceeds the product's workflow.

Planning range: $1,000-$5,000 to configure or extend one existing-product approval; $12,500-$35,000 for one focused custom workflow; $50,000-$150,000+ for a reusable multi-process platform. Subscriptions, messaging, signature, storage, migration, security review, training, support, and maintenance are separate.

Configure an existing approval: 20-100 hours

Approximately $1,000-$5,000 at $49.99 per hour.

This may cover a request form, required fields, simple thresholds, several approvers, notifications, escalation, an approval record, testing, and user guidance inside accounting, CRM, document, project, or collaboration software.

Cost rises when the product needs scripting, a custom connector, complex permissions, or a separate reporting layer.

Focused custom approval application: 250-700 hours

Approximately $12,500-$35,000 at $49.99 per hour.

A first release may include:

  • Employee sign-in, requester, reviewer, approver, and administrator roles.
  • One adaptive request type with attachments.
  • Amount, department, location, or risk-based routing.
  • Sequential and parallel decisions.
  • Approve, reject, return, cancel, and resubmit behavior.
  • Delegation, absence, reminders, escalation, and overdue work.
  • Comments, versions, decisions, timestamps, and audit history.
  • Search, personal queues, management views, and reports.
  • One downstream integration.
  • Migration, testing, deployment, training, and administration.

Reusable approval platform: 1,000-3,000 hours or more

Approximately $50,000-$150,000+ at $49.99 per hour.

A platform may let administrators configure forms, fields, conditions, stages, thresholds, parallel branches, delegations, service-level timers, notifications, integrations, document rules, and permissions across many processes.

Configuration flexibility creates its own software product. It needs validation, versioning, safe changes to active requests, testing tools, migration, administration, and support.

What changes the estimate

Request complexity

A fixed purchase request is simpler than adaptive sections, repeatable lines, calculated totals, uploads, signatures, references, and conditional validation.

Routing rules

One manager is simpler than thresholds, departments, budgets, locations, categories, conflicts, unavailable approvers, parallel reviews, exceptions, and escalation.

Audit and policy evidence

Basic status history differs from immutable versions, decision rationale, policy version, access log, signature evidence, retention, export, and qualified audit requirements.

Integration

An approved decision may need to create a purchase order, vendor, quote, discount, contract, user account, payment, document, or project. Each system needs mapping, duplicate control, failure handling, retry, and reconciliation.

Sensitive information

Compensation, legal, security, health, customer, and financial requests may need narrower record and field access, retention, audit, and specialist review.

Example: purchase request approval

A company needs employee purchase requests, line items, attachments, manager and finance approval based on amount, delegation, reminders, return-for-change, decision history, and an approved export for accounting.

  • Discovery, policy mapping, and prototype: 35-65 hours.
  • Identity, roles, request, attachments, and versions: 65-115 hours.
  • Routing, decisions, delegation, and escalation: 80-150 hours.
  • Notifications, queues, reports, and administration: 45-90 hours.
  • Accounting export, testing, deployment, and training: 55-110 hours.

Total planning range: 280-530 hours, about $14,000-$26,500 at $49.99 per hour.

Example: configure the accounting product

If the accounting or purchasing platform already owns the request and supports the required thresholds, configuring forms, roles, notifications, and reports may require only 30-80 hours, about $1,500-$4,000, plus subscriptions.

Do not extract the approval into a custom application unless the existing product cannot support the actual workflow or user experience.

How to reduce approval software cost

  • Start with one high-volume or high-risk decision.
  • Remove unnecessary approvals before automating them.
  • Define who may request, review, decide, delegate, and administer.
  • Document thresholds and exceptions with approved policy owners.
  • Use native approval features when the authoritative record already lives there.
  • Integrate only the downstream action required by the first release.
  • Measure waiting time, returns, overdue decisions, and downstream failure.

The operational guide on approval workflow software for small business covers request design, routing, decisions, delegation, history, permissions, and implementation.

How Vertinus estimates approval workflow work

Vertinus charges $49.99 per hour for time actually worked up to the approved estimate. The written scope identifies the request, rules, roles, exceptions, evidence, integration, migration, acceptance, estimated hours, exclusions, and recurring services.

Send Vertinus one request, the decision rules, approver roles, and downstream action. We will determine whether configuration, automation, integration, or a focused custom workflow is the responsible estimate.