How to Create a Parallel Approval in Power Automate?

While working on the Expense Claim Application, I encountered a situation where multiple managers had to approve a request simultaneously. Doing it individually would have taken too long, so I used Parallel Approval in Power Automate. This lets you send approval requests to everyone at once, saving time and keeping things moving quickly.

In this Power Automate tutorial, I will explain Power Automate Parallel Approval and how to create a Parallel Approval in Power Automate with an example.

What is Parallel Approval in Power Automate?

Parallel approval in Power Automate allows multiple approvers to review and respond to requests at the same time rather than one after another. It is a workflow pattern in which all approvers are notified at the same time, and their responses can be collected independently.

This is particularly useful for scenarios where decisions must be made quickly or when input from multiple approvers is equally important.

For example, in an expense claim process, approvals from a department manager and a finance team can be requested at the same time, ensuring faster processing. The flow can then proceed based on conditions like receiving approvals or rejection.

Create a Parallel Approval in Power Automate

An employee submits an Expense Claim form. The claim requires approval from the following:

• Department Manager – To confirm the expenses are valid.
• Finance Manager – To verify the budget and reimbursements.

The approval requests must be sent to both managers simultaneously. Once both approve the request, it moves to the next stage. If any approver rejects it, the claim is returned to the employee with comments.

For this example, I created a SharePoint list called Expense Claims, which contains the below column:

Now follow the below steps:

1. Create an automated cloud flow. Give the flow name and select the trigger When an item is created. Also, provide the Site Address and List Name.

2. Add the “Start and wait for an approval” action and provide the below parameters:

• Approval type: Select an approval type as “Approve/Reject – First to respond” from the drop-down.
• Title: Enter the title field value from the Dynamic content.
• Assigned to: Add Department Manager Email address.
• Details: Enter the details about the requested from the Dynamic content.

You rename the Action name for better understanding:

3. To add parallel approval, click the + icon before ‘Start and wait for an approval.’ It will show options to ‘Add an action’ and ‘Add a parallel branch.’ Click ‘Add a parallel branch.’

4. Then again, add the “Start and wait for an approval” action and provide the below parameters:

• Approval type: Select an approval type as “Approve/Reject – First to respond” from the drop-down.
• Title: Enter the title field value from the Dynamic content.
• Assigned to: Add Finance Manager Email address.
• Details: Enter the details about the requested from the Dynamic content.

You rename the Action name for better understanding:

5. Add the Condition action to check whether the two approvers are approved or rejected. Go to settings -> click + Select actions -> Then select Start and wait for an approval | Finance Manager like the below screenshot.

6. In the Condition action, set the condition to check if the Outcome (from the ‘Start and wait for an approval | Department Manager’ action) is equal to ‘Approve.’ Then, add a new row and set the condition to check if the Outcome (from the ‘Start and wait for an approval | Finance Manager’ action) is equal to ‘Approve.’

7. Next, add the update item action under the True condition and provide the below parameters:

• Site Address: Select a specific SharePoint site from drop-down.
• List Name: Choose a particular list.
• Id: Select Id from dynamic content under When an item is created.

Then, click Show all to display the advanced parameters.

• Status Value: Select an Approved from the drop-down.
• Approval Comments: Select Responses comments from dynamic content under Start and wait for approval.

Here, I store two approver comments in one column so that it will add two for each loop.

8. Then, add a ‘Send an email’ action to notify the requester that the request has been approved.

9. Then add the update item action under the false condition and provide the below parameters:

• Site Address: Select a specific SharePoint site from drop-down.
• List Name: Choose a particular list.
• Id: Select Id from dynamic content under When an item is created.

Then, click Show all to display the advanced parameters.

• Approval Status Value: Select an Approved from the drop-down.
• Approval Comments: Select Responses comments from dynamic content under Start and wait for an approval.

10. Then, add a ‘Send an email‘ action to notify the requester that the request has been Rejected.

Now, it’s time to save the flow. Click on Test -> Select Manually. Add an item to the SharePoint list, but do not add approval status and comment.

Then, the approver received the approval request at the same time:

When two approvers approve the request, the requester receives an email:

If anyone rejects the approval request,t then the requester will receive an email:

In this tutorial, I explained how to set up a parallel approval process in Power Automate for an Expense Claim application. You learned how to simultaneously send approval requests to the Department Manager and Finance Manager. I covered steps to handle approvals and rejections, updating the SharePoint list accordingly, and sending email notifications to the requester based on the outcome of the approval process.

Related Power Automate articles:

• Create Multilevel Approvals in Power Automate
• Reassign An Approval Using Power Automate
• Send Email Using If Condition in Power Automate
• Get Approval Comments Using Power Automate
• Send Approval to a Microsoft 365 Group in Power Automate
• Send an Approval Request With an Attachment Using Power Automate

Bijay Kumar

After working for more than 18 years in Microsoft technologies like SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI), I thought will share my SharePoint expertise knowledge with the world. Our audiences are from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. For my expertise knowledge and SharePoint tutorials, Microsoft has been awarded a Microsoft SharePoint MVP (12 times). I have also worked in companies like HP, TCS, KPIT, etc.