How to Review and Approve Reports
Move reports through the approval workflow.
Review happens in the document-style report editor. This guide covers the author's steps, then the reviewer's.
Who can do what
| Action | Roles |
|---|---|
| Generate and edit | Admin, Project Manager, M&E Officer, Grants Officer |
| Decide on flagged statements | Admin, Project Manager (report managers) |
| Approve sections and approve the report | Admin, Project Manager |
| Export | Admin, Project Manager, Grants Officer, Viewer |
| Override a confidentiality issue | Admin, Grants Officer |
| Comment | Everyone except Viewer |
Author: get the draft ready
- Open Projects → project → Reporting → the period.
- Follow the primary button at the top right. It always shows the next step:
| Button | What it means |
|---|---|
| Generate report | No draft yet. |
| Review n flagged statements | The AI wrote something the evidence does not support. Jumps to the first one. |
| Approve n remaining sections | Read each section and approve it. Approved sections are locked for this version. |
| Finish n remaining checks | Open the Report checks panel (unverified indicator data, checklist items, stale summary, confidential files to confirm). |
| Submit for review | Everything is clear. |
- Use j / k to move between sections and n for the next issue (press ? to see all shortcuts).
Flagged statements
Open a section and the Statements tab. For each statement flagged Needs a decision, choose:
- Use the evidence value (applies the verified value to the text),
- Edit the wording yourself,
- Keep with a note (say why it is acceptable), or
- Leave out (removed from exports).
Minor statements are marked Not checked (minor). You can resolve many at once with bulk resolution.
After edits
Editing text or changing data can make earlier checks stale. DonorDesk re-checks the affected sections; an Inputs changed banner offers to re-check or regenerate. A summary section shows a warning if other sections changed a lot after it was written.
Submit for review
Click Submit for review. The report status becomes Under review and reviewers are notified.
Reviewer: approve or request changes
- Open the report from My Work or Reports.
- Read the sections; add comments in the section Comments tab.
- Choose:
- Approve report – confirm the approval of this version. If blocking issues remain you are warned and can only approve anyway if you have the authority.
- Request changes – write what needs fixing. The report returns to the author (Report returned notification).
Users who cannot approve see "Waiting for review".
After approval
The approved version is locked. Use Export report to open the export wizard. See How to export reports. Every approval, decision and export is recorded in the audit trail.