Business Sign-off & Approvals for Jira Cloud

Detailed Jira Approval Workflow Capabilities

This page is the detailed inventory for Business Sign-off. It is for evaluators, Jira administrators, and technical reviewers who want a structured list of what the Cloud app supports.

It is intentionally denser and less sales-oriented than the product details page. If you want the high-level product story, use that page first.

Approval Workflow Management

The core approval experience is designed to be usable for everyday Jira teams while still supporting more formal review flows.

Core Approval Actions

Add individual approvers to Jira issues
Bulk add multiple approvers in one action
Capture Approved, Returned, and Pending decision states
Allow approvers to change or withdraw previous decisions where policy permits
Require comments by decision type when needed

Approval Status Logic

Configurable percentage-based approval thresholds
Status calculation for Not Started, Awaiting Decisions, Approval Passed, and Approval Failed
Support for approval-required and non-required scenarios at the project level
Decision tracking tied to Jira issue status context

Approver Controls and Governance

Use lighter or stricter controls depending on how much governance the process needs.

Approver Eligibility

Allow any active Jira user to be an approver
Restrict approvers by project role
Restrict approvers by user group
Combine role and group filters for controlled approver pools
Configure globally or allow project overrides

Approver Management Permissions

Control whether reporters can manage approvers
Control whether assignees can manage approvers
Allow Jira administrators or project administrators to manage approvers
Separate decision-making rules from approver-management rules

Decision Authority and Locking

Optionally require Jira edit permission to record a decision
Optionally lock approved decisions after workflow movement
Support decision resets and re-review scenarios

Separation of Duties

Built-in controls help reduce self-approval and conflict-of-interest risk.

Reporter Restrictions

Prevent issue reporters from acting as approvers when that control is required.

Assignee Restrictions

Prevent assignees from approving their own work when needed.

Continuous Re-Evaluation

Re-check SoD when assignee or reporter changes so risk does not stay hidden after issue edits.

Project-Level Control

Use global defaults or let projects override SoD settings where appropriate. The admin guide covers how the Cloud configuration model is set up.

Workflow Integration

The app can operate as a lightweight issue-level approval tool or as a true workflow control layer inside Jira.

Workflow Conditions

Check whether approvers exist
Check whether approval has passed
Check whether approval has failed / been returned

Workflow Validators

Require approvers before a transition
Require approval status before a transition
Require approvals from specific groups or project roles

Workflow Post-Functions

Add approvers from users, groups, roles, or user-picker custom fields
Remove all approvers, pending approvers, or selected users
Notify approvers automatically on transition
Reset approvals automatically on transition
Use selective notify and selective reset by role/group filter

Notifications and Review Flow Support

Notification features are designed to keep approvals moving without overwhelming users.

Approver Notifications

Notify approvers when they are added or when review is requested.

Reminders and Re-Review

Notify pending approvers or reset decisions and request re-review when work changes.

Rate Limiting

Prevent repeated notifications to the same approver within the same day.

Outcome Notifications

Notify issue requestors and assignees when approvals are recorded or when approval passes or fails.

Audit Trail and Reporting

Approval data is designed to support review, oversight, and audit evidence gathering.

Approval History

Track approver additions, removals, decisions, resets, and notifications
Store timestamps, actors, targets, comments, and approval state changes
Filter history by all events or decision events only

CSV Export

Export approval history by project and date range
Run export asynchronously with progress tracking
Support decisions-only export when needed

Admin Audit Log

Track global configuration changes
Track project configuration changes
Track enable/disable actions, export actions, and diagnostic logging changes
Review before/after values for configuration updates

For supporting implementation and security detail, see the trust and security page.

Jira-Native Search and Visibility

Approval data is not trapped in the UI. It can support search, dashboards, and automation use cases across Jira.

Approvers Custom Field

Read-only Jira field showing current approvers on the issue.

Status Custom Field

Read-only Jira field showing the overall approval state.

JQL Support

Search by approver or approval state using Jira-native querying. Configuration and usage details are covered in the admin guide and user guide.

Issue Property Support

Approval metadata is stored in Jira issue properties to support deeper integration and reporting patterns.

Privacy and Compliance Support

Beyond approval controls, the app includes privacy-oriented features that matter during security and compliance review.

Personal Data Reporting

Support for Atlassian’s personal data reporting model.

DSAR Support

Administrative reporting on where account data is referenced inside app records.

Pseudonymization

Closed-user records can be pseudonymized to support privacy obligations.

No External Data Egress

Approval data remains within Atlassian-managed Jira Cloud and Forge infrastructure. More detail is available on the trust and security page.

Need the Full Product Story or Setup Details?

Use the product details page for the higher-level overview, or browse the docs and trust and security page for deeper admin and evaluation detail.

View Jira Approval App Details Browse Jira Cloud Documentation Review Trust & Security