The Collavate 5.4.1 release includes improvements to existing features and resolutions for known issues.
What’s Changing?
Collavate Google Docs Extension — Now Free
The Collavate Google Docs Add-on is now available for free. All users can now use essential approval features such as sequential and parallel approvals without any additional cost.
Boost your collaboration efficiency by processing approvals directly within Google Docs using the Collavate Add-on.
New Pay-As-You-Go Plan Added
A new Pay-As-You-Go plan has been introduced in Collavate. Unlike the existing Unlimited plan, this new plan charges based on the organization’s actual usage, making it ideal for teams that submit a smaller number of approval documents each month.
For more details, please visit our official website or contact our support team.
Enjoy Collavate’s services with a more flexible and cost-efficient pricing option.
New Support Portal Launched
The Collavate Inquiry button now connects to a new Support Portal instead of the previous Post channel. Users can easily access the complete guide library, and get instant answers from an AI chatbot 24/7.
During chatbot conversations, users can also request a live agent connection at any time for direct assistance.
This update enhances the overall customer support experience, making it faster and more efficient.
Issue Fixes
Known issues have been addressed and resolved. You can view the full details in the Collavate 5.4.1 Release Notes.
Log only approved documents to a spreadsheet with Collavate and layer Gemini’s natural-language analysis on top. The daily grind of checking, aggregating, and formula-wrangling turns into one-click, conversational insights your whole team can act on.
Why “Approval Data,” and Why Now
According to Harvard Business Review, the more information there is, the likelihood that executives will regret a decision can be up to 7.4 times higher.
Your organization generates oceans of information—email, chat, files. But not all data is equally decision-ready. Documents that have cleared your approval workflow are already vetted by multiple stakeholders, so capturing data at that moment yields trustworthy metrics from day one.
Meanwhile, Gemini in Google Sheets brings natural-language analysis, summaries, and quick charts directly to the spreadsheet. Ask, “Show last quarter’s approval lead time distribution by department,” and get an answer—without filters, pivot tables, or hunting for the right formula.
For reference, the area of extracting and leveraging structured information from documents is what Gartner has defined as Intelligent Document Processing (IDP). Its core is to consistently pull meaningful data from various document formats and connect it to business automation and analysis.
Collavate × Gemini Architecture at a Glance
Collect: When an item is approved in Collavate, results are instantly logged to a Google Sheets Ledger.
Analyze: In the Google sheet, ask Gemini questions in plain language to generate stats, summaries, and charts, right where the data lives.
Ask Like This (Real-life Prompts You Can use)
“How many contracts end before September 30, and what’s the total value?”
“For Q1, list document counts and amount sums by department in a table.”
“Plot YoY and MoM change in approved amounts for last month.”
Turn Records into Insight with Collavate
The biggest difference when using Collavate with AI is that, rather than giving AI any data, we accumulate data only from “verified, approved documents.”
Only approved documents become data → higher trust, less cleanup
Spreadsheet native → no new stack, easy org-wide adoption
Gemini analysis → anyone can ask and get instant insight
Collavate + Gems = ✅ Trusted, Approved-Document AI
The simplest and safest way to adopt AI is to let it learn only from approved and verified information.
We live in an era where it’s almost impossible to end a workday without using AI. For many knowledge workers today, it’s perfectly natural to ask ChatGPT or other conversational AIs for quick answers during the day. Yet despite AI’s rapid advancement, the way we actually work hasn’t changed much. Repetitive tasks still take up most of our time.
So why are we still doing everything manually? The answer often comes down to one word: trust. According to Harvard Business Review, nearly 50% of people still distrust AI-generated results.
But what if your AI could only respond based on approved, verified documents within your organization? That’s exactly where our approach begins.
In this article, we’ll show you how to significantly reduce repetitive work by combining approved workflow documents with Google Gemini Gems, creating a secure, trustworthy, and always up-to-date AI assistant for your team.
Key benefits of Collavate for AI-powered workflows
1. Automated AI data updates All approved documents in Collavate are automatically stored in a designated Google Drive folder. When this folder is connected to Google Gemini Gems, any new or updated approved document is automatically recognized, ensuring your AI always works with the latest data.
2. End-to-end workflow automation From document creation to submission, review, approval, and archiving — everything is automated. Every document is 100% compatible with Google Drive, and access permissions are managed automatically.
3. Safe and transparent environment All document data is processed within Google’s secure infrastructure, providing a level of safety that even public institutions can rely on.
1. Build your own AI assistant with Google Gemini Gems
Create an AI helper trained on your organization’s own documents — such as policy manuals or customer support guides.
Gemini Gems is Google’s customizable AI expert. Even without coding experience, you can easily build a task-specific AI assistant that understands your company’s unique context.
Examples include:
A policy assistant that automatically answers HR or compliance questions
A technical support AI chatbot that instantly responds to common issues based on verified manuals
2. Connect Approved Documents from Collavate to Gemini Gems
So, what data should you train your Gem with? The most reliable source of truth in any organization is approved and reviewed documents.
Collavate manages the entire workflow inside your Google Drive — from document creation to review and approval. Once approved, documents are automatically collected into a dedicated folder.
By designating this verified folder as the Knowledge Source for your Gem, the AI will only respond based on those approved documents. If a document within the folder is edited or updated, the Gem will immediately reflect the change — keeping your answers accurate and current at all times.
3. Real-World Use Cases for Approved-Document-Based AI
Once your custom AI assistant is trained on your verified documents, it can support multiple internal or external workflows without needing an IT expert.
Company Policy or HR Guide
The AI provides a step-by-step answer based on your approved HR policy.
Customer Support Bot
Automatically replies to customer inquiries using only approved technical documentation.
Onboarding Assistant
Helps new employees understand key policies and access required checklists on day one.
Collavate + Gems = ✅ Trusted, Approved-Document AI
The simplest and safest way to adopt AI is to let it learn only from approved and verified information. With Collavate and Google Gemini, you can reduce repetitive tasks, maintain compliance, and enable your team to focus on what really matters.
Let Collavate help your team save hours every week by automating repetitive approvals and inquiries.
Google Workspace offers a built-in approvals feature. But when it comes to enterprise document workflows, there’s more to consider than just checking “approved” or “not approved.” This article explores what matters when approving documents in a business setting—and how Google’s basic tool measures up to a more robust platform like Collavate.
Table of Content
Why Do Businesses Need an Approval Process in Document Collaboration?
Google Approvals vs. Collavate: At a glance
What Other Features Should You Consider?
Conclusion: Which Service Works Best?
Why Do Businesses Need an Approval Process in Document Collaboration?
In a company setting, it’s crucial to track who approved what, and when. Clear approvals reduce confusion and bring accountability. Yet many organizations often have complex review chains—managers, department heads, multiple reviewers, simultaneous reviews by teams—and all those layers add real challenges:
It’s hard to tell who reviewed and approved the document and when.
Edited documents often lead to uncertainty: do they need to be reapproved?
Because checking the status of all documents under review takes time and effort, managing everything manually becomes burdensome.
Especially in organizations that use approvals frequently, having someone manually oversee every document’s approval journey becomes nearly impossible. If you also require converting final documents to PDF or maintaining archival copies—standard needs in many enterprises—the complexity grows even more.
So, document approval services are not just about stamping an approval—they’re critical for simplifying collaboration, improving control, and strengthening trust in document workflows.
Which Product Should You Choose to Approve Google Documents?
In Google Docs collaboration, the approval process is no longer optional—it’s essential. For companies using Google Workspace, the built-in Approvals feature is available at no extra cost with the Business Standard plan or higher. (Please note that Gmail personal accounts and Business Starter or lower plans do not include the Approvals feature.)
The built-in approval function in Google Docs focuses on assigning multiple reviewers in sequence and recording only the final approval or rejection. This makes it useful for simple collaboration between individuals or small teams.
However, in real enterprise environments, the needs are more complex. The basic approval feature provided in Google Docs alone cannot fully meet these requirements. That’s why organizations need a more specialized document approval service—one that supports a wide range of workflows, from simple approvals to complex enterprise-level cases. Such services allow businesses to flexibly adapt approval flows to their unique needs while ensuring that finalized documents are securely stored.
Checklist for Choosing a Google Document Approval Solution
When it comes to choosing a document approval solution, what key factors should your business keep in mind?
Integration with Google Workspace — Does it glide seamlessly with Drive, Gmail, Calendar, and other tools your organization already uses?
Workflow flexibility — Can it support department or team-level approvals, multi-step flows, and parallel approvals?
Security & audit trail — Is there a clear record of who approved what and when? Are final documents securely stored?
Ease of use and cost structure — Are your users going to find it simple enough to use? Is the pricing scalable as your organization grows?
Google Approvals vs. Collavate: At a glance
Google Approvals
Collavate
Scope
Approval per individual document
Bundled approval of documents & related attachments/files
Reviewer Types
Individual users only
Users, departments/groups
Workflow Types
Sequential, single-step only
Sequential, parallel, group customized flows
Template Availability
Not available
Allows templates with preset approvers
Document Permissions / Locking
Document locking after approval
Document locking after approval, permission control by stage, centralized document management
Ease of Use
Native in Google Docs, simple setup
Uses Google Docs but adds powerful features in a familiar environment
Communication
Built-in commenting in Google Docs
Dedicated posts for document communication, alerts, etc.
Pricing
Included with Google Workspace Business plan or above
Separate subscription (per user / tiered) required
Suitable for organizations new to document workflows or who only need simple approval tracking. You select a reviewer, and each assigned reviewer approves in turn.
👍 Strengths: free with the right Google plan, minimal configuration. ❌ Limitation: only supports one-step, sequential approval. Lack of templates or centralized control.
Collavate: Designed for Enterprise
Unlike Google Approvals, Collavate is designed as an enterprise-grade document approval platform.
It goes beyond simple approvals to support complex business workflows such as department-level approvals, multi-user simultaneous approvals, and both sequential and parallel approval chains.
Most importantly, while working seamlessly with Google Docs, Collavate also integrates with multiple file formats such as PDF and MS Office, delivering powerful interoperability in real-world business environments.
👍 Strengths: Customizable approval lines, centralized management, compliance support, and admin dashboards ❌ Limitation: Requires a separate subscription (but provides enterprise-level capabilities)
When Collavate Offers the Most Value
Multiple reviewers or departments must approve documents, either in sequence or in parallel
Organizations need strong audit trails and strict compliance (HIPAA, GDPR etc.)
Admins want dashboard visibility over approval status across the organization
You want standardized workflows using reusable templates
What Other Features Should You Consider?
Centralized Document Management
Collavate centralizes documents under a single administrator account, providing fine-grained control over all approval-related activities and processes.
Even in complex workflows, access permissions can be fully automated according to user settings.
Through the administrator dashboard, Collavate offers visibility into all approval statuses and provides a wide range of tools to oversee approval activities. This level of control and management precision is not available with Google’s basic approval feature.
Document Templates
Collavate also addresses the lack of a native template system in Google by offering powerful template automation within Google Workspace.
Any Google Document, Spreadsheet, or Presentation can be converted into a reusable template, allowing organizations to standardize critical document workflows and manage them centrally. This reduces friction and errors while streamlining business processes.
Conclusion: Which Service Works Best?
For individuals or small teams using approvals only occasionally, Google Approvals may be enough. But if your organization needs standardization, more control, rigorous auditing, and secure document governance—Collavate is the superior option.
👉 Start your 30-day free trial of Collavate today and see firsthand how our advanced approval tools can meet your enterprise’s needs.
When managing approval documents via Google Drive, it can become difficult to locate or classify specific documents as they accumulate in a single folder. In particular, document types or approval statuses are not easily distinguishable just by looking at the Drive list, often resulting in unnecessary time spent searching.
To solve this, Collavate now offers a feature that automatically moves approval documents to designated folders based on their approval form (template).
By using Collavate’s “Template-based Folder Assignment” feature, submitted documents—such as leave requests or expense reports—are automatically sorted into the appropriate Google Drive folders according to their form type.
📌 Why is Google Drive organization important?
While Google Drive’s search and AI features can help locate a few documents, managing or sharing multiple documents of the same type can be cumbersome.
For example:
If you need to share all “Leave Request” forms from 2024 with a specific colleague, you would have to search for them, review each file, and manually assign sharing permissions.
Similarly, if you want to locate all approval documents submitted by a single user (leave requests, purchase approvals, etc.), you would need to repeatedly adjust filters by creator, date, and category.
Ultimately, this leads to inefficient workflows and wasted time due to repetitive tasks.
✅ What are the benefits of using the Template-based Folder Assignment feature?
With this feature, you can assign a specific Google Drive folder to each approval template.
For example:
“Leave Request” template → Google Drive > Leave Requests
“Expense Report” template → Google Drive > Expense Reports
Once configured, documents are automatically saved and sorted into the corresponding folders.
When you need to share all leave requests from 2024 with the HR team, you can now simply share the entire folder—no need to search and select each file individually.
⚙️ How do I set it up?
You can assign a storage folder to each template in just a few simple steps:
Log in to Collavate with an admin account.
Go to Template > Domain Shared Templates.
Select the template you wish to configure.
Click Edit Template Info in the right-hand menu.
Click Save Folder to either create a new folder or select an existing one.
Save the changes.
※ Note: The storage folder will be located in the document manager’s Google Drive and must be a subfolder under the “Collavate” directory.
You can also refer to our user guide for detailed instructions: See guide
Start your free trial of Collavate today and experience powerful Google-based approval workflows, including automatic document organization by template.
This Collavate 5.4.0 release includes enhancements to existing features and fixes for known issues.
What’s Changing?
Assign Google Drive Folders Per Template
Administrators can now specify the destination folder where documents submitted through each template will be saved. Simply go to Edit template info > Save Location in the template settings to define a separate folder per template.
This change allows you to move away from storing all documents in a single folder, and instead organize your files more systematically by template.
The “Save location” setting enables documents submitted via each template to be saved in designated locations for better organization.
Collavate Link Smart Chips in Google Docs
When you insert a Collavate approval document link into a Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides file, it will now automatically convert into a smart chip.
Using Collavate Smart Chips, you can preview approval status or details directly within the document, while keeping the layout clean and professional.
Customization of Document Prefix/Suffix & Extension Position
By default, Google Drive adds a file extension to the file title (excluding Google Docs formats).
When a file numbering rule is configured to append at the end of the title, we observed an issue where certain browsers failed to recognize file extensions properly during download.
To address this, we’ve added an option under Admin Settings > Document Numbering that ensures file extensions are recognized and positioned appropriately when numbering is applied.
With the new “File Extension Numbering Settings”, file titles remain consistent, and file type compatibility is maintained across systems.
Fixed Issues
We have resolved known issues in this update. Please refer to the Collavate 5.4.0 release notes for a full list of changes.
We’re excited to announce that starting June 2025, the Collavate website will be completely redesigned.
This update brings a cleaner and more modern design to catch up with current design trends, offering improved readability and a less cluttered interface. With a more intuitive and user-friendly UI/UX, you’ll be able to find the information you need more quickly and easily.
We’ve also enhanced compatibility across devices, ensuring that our pages remain readable and accessible whether you’re browsing on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.
We look forward to providing more valuable content through this new website experience.
What’s Changing?
Simplified top navigation menu structure
Reorganized outdated and unnecessary content
Improved language compatibility for international users
Enhanced cross-device accessibility and responsiveness
What’s Coming Next?
Our team is currently preparing for the upcoming Collavate 5.4.0 update.
This version will include improvements such as a new web font for better readability and optimized UI/UX for smaller screens. In addition, we’re excited to release some highly requested features that many of our users have been waiting for.
More details will be announced soon in the official 5.4.0 release notes.
Thank you for your continued support.
This Collavate 5.3.5 release includes enhancements to existing features and fixes for known issues.
What’s Changing?
Successfully renewed Google CASA
Collavate undergoes a rigorous annual Cloud App Security Assessment (CASA). We are pleased to inform you that we have successfully renewed our CASA certification for 2025.
Online Payment Platform Updated to Stripe
The online payment platform for the Collavate License Center has been changed from PayPal to Stripe. If you are currently subscribed via credit card and would like to switch to Stripe, please contact us at support@collavate.com and we will guide you through the process.
Fixed Issues
We have resolved known issues in this update. Please refer to the Collavate 5.3.5 release notes for a full list of changes.
We would like to inform you of a temporary suspension affecting Collavate’s publishing feature.
Recently, we identified an issue caused by an update from Google Workspace, where newly generated Google Docs published to the web now have URLs with randomly assigned IDs. As a result, some documents published using Collavate’s publishing feature may not be accessible.
Collavate’s publishing links are directly connected to the Google Docs “Publish to the Web” functionality, and due to this issue, document viewing through published links has become unstable. Therefore, we will temporarily disable the Collavate publishing feature associated with Google Docs’ “Publish to the Web” until this issue is resolved.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will provide an immediate update as soon as Google officially addresses the issue and will make every effort to resolve this swiftly.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at support@collavate.com.
We deeply appreciate your continued support and understanding.
Thank you.
Hello, we would like to inform you of our scheduled system maintenance to ensure a more stable and efficient service.
Maintenance Schedule and Impact
Date and Time : Sunday, 3/2/2025 11:00 ~ 13:00 UTC
Estimated Downtime: Up to about 1 hour
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the potential inability to access Collavate during this period.
Time Information for Global Customers
For customers collaborating across different time zones, please note the following key time zone conversions:
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): Sunday, March 2, 2025, 11:00 ~ 13:00
Pacific Standard Time (PST): Sunday, March 2, 2025, 03:00 ~ 05:00
Inquiries
If you experience any inconvenience due to this maintenance or have additional questions, please feel free to contact us through any of the channels below. We will respond as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this upgrade, which is part of our efforts to provide a better environment. We will continue to work hard to ensure a stable and innovative service environment.
