Erik works in Sales and manages an important existing customer. As part of a new project, he needs to travel to the customer’s location for an on-site workshop.

The workshop date has already been confirmed. Before Erik books his train and hotel, he wants to make sure the trip is approved. His Supervisor, Vera, also wants to understand the key details in advance: when the trip will take place, where Erik is going, and what costs are expected.

Without trip pre-approvals, Erik and Vera would have coordinated these details by email or chat. However, the approval decision would then be separate from the trip itself and harder to trace later.

Erik wants to organize the trip in time, but he does not want to make any bookings before he has received approval.

Without a central trip pre-approval process, several issues can arise:

Vera therefore needs a clear basis for her decision before Erik books anything. At the same time, the process should remain simple for Erik and avoid unnecessary back-and-forth.

Erik creates a trip pre-approval in Circula for the planned customer workshop. He adds the required information, including the trip name, start date, destination, expected amount, project, and cost center.

He then sends the request for approval. Circula automatically forwards it to the responsible Supervisor according to the company’s existing approval configuration.

After sending the request, Erik can track the current processing status and view the responsible Supervisors directly in Circula.

This confirms that his trip has been officially submitted for review. He does not need to follow up with Vera separately by email or chat.

Once Vera approves the request, Circula automatically creates a trip with the status “Pre-approved”. The details from Erik’s trip pre-approval are transferred automatically. Erik can then add expenses, mileage expenses, and meal allowances to the trip as usual and submit it for review after the trip has been completed.

Vera finds the request in her “To-Dos” or under “Pending approval” in the “Approve & Control” area.

She can review the relevant trip details and decide whether the trip can go ahead as planned. Her decision is made directly in Circula and remains documented together with the request history.

Vera approves the customer visit. If she has concerns, she can reject the request instead and optionally add a reason. Erik then receives the request back, can update the details, and submit it again.

With trip pre-approvals, planned business trips can be coordinated in a structured way before booking. Employees gain clarity for their planning, while Supervisors get early transparency on upcoming trips and expected costs.