> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.skillsdb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Training Approvals
> Understand how employees submit training records, how managers and experts review them, and how the Expert flag grants approval authority.
**Quick Summary:** Training approvals are the verification process that lets employees record skill training and have it reviewed by an authorized approver — such as a manager, admin, or designated subject matter expert — before it counts as verified in SkillsDB.
# Overview
Training approvals are how SkillsDB verifies that an employee's training record is legitimate and substantiated. When an employee records training for a skill, that record enters a pending state and must be reviewed by an authorized approver before it is considered officially verified. Only approved training records count toward a user's trained status for a skill.
This process helps organizations maintain accurate, trustworthy skill records by ensuring training completions are supported by evidence and reviewed by someone with oversight — not simply self-reported. Training approvals connect directly to each employee's skills profile, so an approval is reflected in team reports, skill gap analysis, and the training matrix.
Training approvals are relevant to three groups: employees who submit training records, managers and admins who review and action those records, and subject matter experts (SMEs) who hold the Expert flag with Trainer Permission and can be designated as approvers by their colleagues.
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## Prerequisites
Before submitting or actioning training approvals, confirm the following:
* **Submitting a training record**: Any SkillsDB user can submit training for skills on their profile
* **Approving as a manager or admin**: Manager or Administrator role required
* **Approving as an SME**: An admin must have enabled Trainer Permission on the Expert skill flag, and a manager must have applied the Expert flag to you for the relevant skill
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## How Training Approvals Work
Training approvals follow a defined workflow with four key stages:
1. An employee submits a training record for a skill with supporting evidence
2. The record enters **Pending** status and appears in the authorized approver's **Inbox**
3. The approver reviews the record and selects **Approve** or **Reject**
4. The training record moves to a terminal state of **Approved** or **Rejected**
| Status | Meaning | Can action |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------- |
| Pending | Submitted, awaiting review | Yes — approver can Approve or Reject |
| Approved | Verified by an authorized approver | No — record is read-only |
| Rejected | Not verified; evidence was insufficient | No — employee can resubmit a new record |
| Expired | Approved training has passed its expiration date | No — employee can renew training |
**Note:** Once a training record is Approved or Rejected, it becomes read-only. The dialog shows who actioned the record and when. Approved training may expire over time based on settings configured by your admin. See [Training Expirations](/core-concepts/training-expirations) for details.
**Who can approve training**
Three groups of people are authorized to approve training in SkillsDB:
* **Managers** can approve training records submitted by their direct reports
* **Administrators** can approve any training record across the organization
* **Expert flag holders with Trainer Permission** can approve training for the specific skills where they are designated as Experts — but only if an admin has enabled the Trainer Permission setting on the Expert skill flag
If an employee does not select a delegated approver (SME) when submitting, any manager or admin can review and action the request from their Inbox.
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## Submitting a training record
Employees submit training records from their skills profile. Use this process when you have completed training for a skill and want it recorded and verified in SkillsDB.
1. Navigate to your skills profile and locate the skill you trained on
2. Select **Submit Training** on the skill
3. In the training submission modal, fill in the following fields:
* **Date of Training** (required): The date the training took place
* **Trainer** (optional): The name of the person or organization that delivered the training
* **Text Evidence** (may be required): A written description of the training completed
* **Attachments** (may be required): Evidence files such as certificates or course completions
* **SME** (optional): A subject matter expert to designate as your specific approver
4. Select **Submit**
When the submission is complete, the training record is created with **Pending** status. Your designated SME (or any manager or admin) receives the request in their Inbox for review.
**Note:** Whether Text Evidence and Attachments are required depends on your organization's settings, configured by an admin. Accepted file types are: .jpg, .png, .pdf, .docx, .xlsx, .txt, .csv — maximum 10 MB per file.
**Tip:** If you know a specific subject matter expert should evaluate your training, select them in the **SME** field. This routes your request directly to them and helps ensure it's reviewed by the most qualified person.
***
## Reviewing and actioning training requests
Managers, admins, and designated SMEs receive training approval requests in their **Inbox**. Use this process to review a pending training record submitted by an employee.
1. Navigate to **Inbox** from the left sidebar
2. Select the **Approvals** category to filter for pending training requests
3. Select a training approval item to open the **Training Approval** dialog
4. Review the details presented in the dialog:
* Employee name and skill name
* Date of training
* Trainer name (if provided)
* Text evidence (if provided)
* Attachments (select to preview or download)
* Delegated approver (if an SME was specified by the employee)
5. Select **Approve** to verify the training record, or **Reject** to decline it
When you approve a training record, its status changes to **Approved** and the record is reflected in the employee's skills profile. When you reject a record, its status changes to **Rejected** and the employee can resubmit with updated evidence.
**Important:** Approving or rejecting a training record cannot be undone. Once actioned, the record is read-only and displays who made the decision and when.
### Selecting a delegated approver (Expert)
When submitting a training record, you can optionally select a subject matter expert (SME) as a delegated approver. This is useful when a specific expert is better placed than your direct manager to evaluate the training.
The **SME** dropdown is populated with people who have the Expert flag with Trainer Permission enabled for the skill being submitted. If no SMEs appear in the dropdown, either no one has been designated as an Expert for that skill, or Trainer Permission has not been enabled by your admin.
Selecting an SME routes the approval request directly to that person's Inbox. Your manager or admin can still see and action the request if needed.
#### Expert flag holders and training approval
Training approval authority can be extended beyond managers and admins to designated subject matter experts through the Expert skill flag and its Trainer Permission setting.
When an admin enables Trainer Permission on the Expert flag, any person marked as an Expert for a given skill gains the ability to approve training records for that skill. Those people:
* Appear in the **SME** dropdown when employees submit training for that skill
* Receive training approval requests in their own Inbox
* Can approve or reject training records for the skills where they are designated as Experts
Expert flag holders cannot approve training records for skills where they do not hold the Expert flag. Training approval authority from the Expert flag is always skill-specific.
If you are an Expert for a skill but do not see training approval requests in your Inbox, contact your administrator to confirm that Trainer Permission is enabled on the Expert flag. See [Skill Flags](/core-concepts/skill-flags) for more information on how flags work.
**Note:** Admins configure the Expert flag and Trainer Permission in **Settings > Flags** on the **Skill Flags** tab.
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# Common Questions
Yes, you can edit a training record while it is in **Pending** status. Once a record has been approved or rejected, it becomes read-only and cannot be edited. To update an approved training record, use the renew flow to create a new submission — the new record will go through the approval workflow again.
If a training record is rejected, its status changes to **Rejected** and the record is preserved in your training history. You can submit a new training record with updated or corrected evidence for re-review. The rejected record is not deleted.
If the SME dropdown is empty when submitting training, it means either no one holds the Expert flag for that skill, or Trainer Permission has not been enabled on the Expert flag by your admin. Your training request is still submitted and will be reviewable by your manager or any admin. Contact your admin to request that an SME be designated if needed.
Yes. Training records can be configured with an expiration period by your admin. When an approved training record reaches its expiration date, its status changes to **Expired** and it no longer counts as active verified training. You can renew an expired training record — the new submission goes through the approval workflow again. See [Training Expirations](/core-concepts/training-expirations) for details.
No. Training records must be approved by someone other than the submitting employee. Authorized approvers are managers, admins, and Expert flag holders with Trainer Permission for the relevant skill.
**Approved** means an authorized approver has verified a specific training record in SkillsDB. **Trained** is a skill proficiency status that indicates a user has at least one approved training record for a skill. When a training record is approved, the user's skill status updates to reflect that they are trained. See [Proficiency](/core-concepts/proficiency) for a full explanation.
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# Related Articles
Understand how the Expert flag and Trainer Permission work together to grant training approval authority to SMEs
Learn how approved training records expire and how employees renew them
See how approved training connects to skill gap analysis across your team
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# Need Help?
If you run into any issues or have questions, reach out to your organization's SkillsDB administrator or contact [SkillsDB Support](https://www.skillsdb.com/support).