SharePoint List Approval Workflow - Retention of Reponses on Item

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Posted on 12 Dec 2024 20:36:07 by KB-20091245-0

Hi, all--

I have an approval workflow for SharePoint Items, with the foundation of the flow built based on the out-of-the-box “Request approval (everyone must approve) for a selected item” flow that is available, with some modifications--mostly cosmetic. The first change of note was changing the Approval type from Approve/Reject - Everyone must approve to Custom Responses - Wait for all responses. The second was adding a step after the outcome of the approval/rejection to update the SharePoint Item with the status from each approver, comments, as well as a date/time stamp. This is contained in a "Sign Off Status" field on the Item and works well.

Where I'm running into an issue is that it only updates based on the last approval. If everyone approves, it's a non-issue. However, there are scenarios where one or multiple people will reject the request. In this case, there is the potential that I will need to send the Item back to the original rejecter to seek approval. Right now, the flow is overwriting all of the original statuses with just the one person. So here's the use case: if 1 person approve a request and 1 rejects a request, I would like the Sign Off Status to show all 2 rows. If I then need to send the Item back to the original rejecter and he/she now approves, I would like the original list in the Sign Off Status appended with the new approval. So there should now be 3 rows. In the example below, I would send the Item back to John Doe, he approves, and then a new row would be appended to the Sign Off Status with his approval.

Is there a way to do this?

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KB-20091245-0 20 on 16 Dec 2024 at 20:31:16

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SharePoint List Approval Workflow - Retention of Reponses on Item

Hi, Sudeep. Thank you for the response. I am relatively new to Power Automate (and self-taught) and not at all familiar with coding. That said, can you help me understand where in my existing flow the variables would be placed and what type of variables they are? Happy to provide screenshots of any of the expanded steps, if that would be helpful.
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SudeepGhatakNZ 14,297 Most Valuable Professional on 15 Dec 2024 at 22:35:35

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SharePoint List Approval Workflow - Retention of Reponses on Item

To handle approvals in Power Automate without overwriting previous entries, you can use a variable to store all responses together. Start by creating a variable at the beginning of your flow to gather each approver's decision, comments, and timestamp. When someone approves or rejects, add their details to this variable, keeping previous entries intact. Finally, update your SharePoint "Sign Off Status" field with this collected data. If someone needs to approve again after a rejection, simply add their new decision to the existing list. Makes sense?

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SharePoint List Approval Workflow - Retention of Reponses on Item

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SharePoint List Approval Workflow - Retention of Reponses on Item

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