Job and offer approvals in Greenhouse, Ashby and Lever: how each one works (2026)

As of October 2026, all three ATSs let admins require sign-off before a role opens and before an offer goes out, but they model it differently. Greenhouse uses job approvals in one or two stages plus separate offer approvals, with steps that run in order or all at once. Ashby has approval processes for openings, jobs and offers, chosen by scope from an ordered list, with steps that need all, one or some approvers. Lever has default and custom workflows for job postings, requisitions and offers, listed for LeverTRM for Enterprise or the Advanced HR add-on. Re-approval after an edit also differs: Greenhouse restarts approval when certain job or offer fields change, while Ashby and Lever re-approve when fields an admin has marked for re-approval change.

Everything below comes from each vendor's own help center, linked and dated, as of October 2026. Our hiring approval workflow guide designs the process in general terms; this page shows how the three systems actually implement it.

How do Greenhouse, Ashby and Lever approvals compare?

Sources for every cell are linked in the sections below.

How do approvals work in Greenhouse?

Greenhouse's Configure approvals article describes approvals set under Configure, then Approvals, for every new job or by office, department or both, available on Core, Plus and Pro. Each step lists approvers and how many must approve, and the whole flow runs "In order" (each step completes before the next) or "All at once". Approvers can be named users or, through role-based approval, a custom job field of type "User" filled in when the job is created, such as the department manager. The same FAQ says new approval processes apply to future jobs only, and a Site Admin can approve for an approver who is out of office.

Jobs. Per one-stage versus two-stage job approvals (updated March 2, 2026), a one-stage flow keeps a new job in Draft until the final approver signs off, and after that changes to department, openings or custom fields never trigger re-approval. A two-stage flow opens the job as "Open (Approval Pending)" and requires a second approval, called official job approval, before an offer can be generated; major changes after that restart the second stage, and Greenhouse recommends two-stage approvals for teams that use openings as their system of record.

Offers. The offer approval overview says that with an approval flow, new offers must be approved before they are extended, and offer documents can be sent once the final approver approves. Editing an offer field marked with a Refresh icon creates a new offer version that voids the original offer and its approvals; the recruiter then clicks Request Approval (re-trigger offer approval).

Notifications and reminders. Approvers get an email and, if logged in, can approve or reject from it; in a "1 of 2" step, one approval and one rejection counts as approved (approval emails). Automated reminders (updated August 18, 2026) go out once a day at 7:00 am in the approver's time zone, not on weekends, until the approver responds or the set maximum is reached. An Offer Fully Approved email can be configured per job for hiring managers, recruiters or coordinators.

How do approvals work in Ashby?

Ashby's approval processes article covers three types: opening approvals (commonly finance confirming headcount), job approvals (checking the interview plan, settings and posting) and offer approvals. Only Organization Admins configure them; each process has a scope, steps and approvers, and Ashby uses the highest matching process in the ordered list. Each step can require all, one or some approvers, and conditional steps (Plus and Enterprise) run only when the request matches their criteria. Ashby evaluates the setup when a request is submitted, so editing a process does not change approvals already in flight. A job approval process applies to confidential jobs only if its scope has the "Is Confidential?" box checked.

Offers. The offer approvals article says the approval must be completed before an offer is sent; once all steps are complete, the e-signature request and offer letter can go out. Admins can require an offer letter before approval, choose fields that trigger reapproval with Configure Reapproval Fields, and send manual reminders from a pending step. Offer custom fields have a Require Reapproval setting, and job custom fields have one that requires reapproval when the job has an approval process (custom fields). With offer approvals active, the Hired stage is reached by marking the offer accepted rather than by changing stage.

Openings and versions. Ashby's September 15, 2026 update added reapproval for openings when marked fields such as Opening ID, team, role, location or description change after approval. Its October 2, 2026 update lets approvers view previous versions of offer and opening requests; jobs are not versioned yet.

Notifications. Approvers can approve or reject from email or Slack, and an admin setting allows approval from email without logging in. Offer approval emails can include interview feedback, the resume and an AI summary; only people in the approval flow are notified, with no copy option, and an Organization Admin can force an approval through (approval settings and notifications).

How do approvals work in Lever?

Lever's approval workflows are listed for LeverTRM for Enterprise or the Advanced HR add-on, and are configured by Super Admins and Admins under Settings, then Approvals. For each type there is one default workflow and any number of custom ones; a custom workflow overrides the default for the postings, requisitions or offers that match it.

Postings. With "Require approval to create new postings within Lever" turned on, each posting is approved before it is published; custom posting workflows can match on department or team, location, work type and distribution (job posting approval workflows, published March 1, 2026).

Requisitions. A requisition does not open until every approver in its chain approves; a rejection requires a reason, and the requester discards the old approval and submits a new request. Requisitions tied to confidential postings bypass approval in all cases (requesting requisition approval).

Offers. Approvers can be dynamic (the posting's or requisition's hiring manager, the requisition owner, or an offer direct manager or hiring manager field), static users, or custom tokens the offer creator fills in. A multi-step chain moves on when a step's minimum number of approvers approves, and a step can be conditional, for example when pay is outside the requisition's compensation band, with up to five conditions per step (offer approval workflows). The creator cannot move to the offer letter until every approver has approved, and offers on confidential postings bypass approval (requesting offer approval). Offer form fields can be set to require re-approval upon edits; changing one means all approvals must be collected again (offer forms).

Tie-breaks. Lever's articles describe the choice between matching custom workflows in two ways: the workflow-building articles say the one with the most matching criteria wins, weighted by team, department, location and so on, while the request articles say the highest-listed workflow wins. Test a sample offer that matches two workflows before you rely on either.

Proxy approval. Super Admins can approve by proxy by default, managers can for their direct reports, and custom roles can be given the permission; proxy approvers are not notified of requests, must give a reason, and the original approver is told (approving by proxy).

What triggers re-approval in each system?

What setup works in any of the three?

This is our recommendation, not a vendor default. Adapt the names and thresholds to your own approval workflow.

1. Approve headcount once, early. Use the opening (Ashby), requisition (Lever) or first-stage job approval (Greenhouse) for finance and the budget owner. The job requisition form lists what they need to see.
2. Keep job approval for quality. One talent reviewer checks the posting, pay range and interview plan. Two approvers here usually just add a day.
3. Make offer approval conditional. Within the approved band, the hiring manager and one recruiting lead; outside the band, add finance or an executive. Ashby and Lever support conditional steps natively; in Greenhouse, use separate flows by office or department, or per-job edits. The offer approval form template sets the thresholds.
4. Mark re-approval fields narrowly. Base pay, bonus, equity, title, level, start date and work location. Re-approving for a typo in an address trains approvers to click without reading.
5. Run approvals in parallel where order does not matter. Sequence only where a later approver genuinely depends on an earlier one.
6. Plan for absence. Name who approves when an approver is away: a Greenhouse Site Admin, an Ashby Organization Admin, or a Lever proxy.
7. Decide how confidential roles are approved. In Lever, confidential postings bypass approval, and in Ashby confidential jobs skip job approval unless the scope includes them, so agree a manual sign-off.

What should you test before turning approvals on?

• Create a test job or requisition in each office or department and check which flow it picks up.
• Submit a test offer inside and outside the pay band, and one that matches two custom workflows.
• Edit a re-approval field after approval and confirm the approval restarts; edit another field and confirm it does not.
• Approve from email and from the app, with and without being logged in.
• Mark an approver as away and complete the approval through the admin or proxy route.
• Check what approvers see in the email: pay, notes and attachments may need to be hidden or added.

Approvers sign faster when the request explains itself. Our requisition approval email template covers the message that goes with a request when the ATS notification alone is not enough.