--- title: "Document management workflow for controlled documents" url: "https://ctrldocs.com/controlled-document-solutions/" language: "en" description: "A document control process ready to run on M-Files: each document is drafted, reviewed and approved with reminders, published, then revised or withdrawn." dateModified: "2026-10-14" --- Controlled document solutions # The approved version is the one people read A procedure has copies in a shared folder and in old emails, and nobody can say which one was approved. Our pre-configured solutions on M‑Files take each document from draft to withdrawal, with every approval and every version on record. [Book a demo](https://ctrldocs.com/contact/) [Follow one document through](#one-document) ![A cycle diagram: an editor creates a new draft, the process owner reviews and approves it, publishes the new version and later plans the document revision; a rejected draft goes back to the editor, and the published version is available to end users on a desktop and a phone](https://ctrldocs.com/img/LFhcGp2yZb-200.webp) ## Follow a policy that is due for revision 1. ### Step 1: The editor drafts in Word An editor creates the new draft and works on it in Word or another Microsoft Office application. People work on the document itself, so there are no copies going back and forth by email to reconcile afterwards. 2. ### Step 2: Reviewers and the approver get a task Every reviewer and the approver get their own task, with notifications and reminders, so the editor does not have to chase. A rejected draft goes back to the editor. 3. ### Step 3: The approved version is published The new version goes out to its readers as soon as it is approved. Where they should receive a PDF, it is exported as one. 4. ### Step 4: Readers find it where they work The current version is available where people already are: Microsoft 365, SharePoint, OneDrive, Elements.cloud, Salesforce, Dropbox or M‑Files itself. 5. ### Step 5: The review date brings it back When the review date arrives, or someone asks for a change, the process owner plans the revision and the cycle starts again. Nobody has to remember that the policy is getting old. 6. ### Step 6: An obsolete document leaves circulation A document that is no longer in use is withdrawn and archived instead of being revised, so it stops turning up next to the current ones. ## An approval cycle that keeps itself moving ### Show who changed what and when Every change to a document is tracked, and every version is kept. When someone asks how the procedure read before the last revision, you open that version. ### Each person sees their own part Permissions follow the role a person has in the process: editor, reviewer, approver. People get what their role needs, and the rest stays out of their way. ### Reminders do the chasing The review and approval workflows are pre-configured, and they send the notifications and reminders. Each document shows where it is waiting. ## Tell us which procedure keeps you chasing [See the cycle in a demo](https://ctrldocs.com/contact/) ## Start from a cycle that already works Each solution is ready to use, and then adjusted to your procedure. Documents that need approval, publication and export to PDF follow one cycle: the editor drafts, the process owner approves and publishes, and later plans the revision. Reminders keep the cycle moving, so the people reading the document are not working from an old copy. ![An M-Files search for "hr" listing policies and routines with version, workflow state and date columns, with a draft policy expanded to show its reviewers, owner, editor, approver and three assignments, beside an open assignment "Please approve this document" with its class, deadline and linked document](https://ctrldocs.com/img/VILTFhhnpC-200.webp) A draft policy with its reviewers and approver listed, beside the approval task it has produced. ## The cycle is running before the first workshop Set up document control in an empty system and the first workshops go on describing a cycle that looks much the same in every organisation: a draft is reviewed and approved, the approved version is published, and later it is revised or withdrawn. With a pre-configured solution that cycle is running from the start. The discussion is about the places where your procedure differs, such as who approves which documents and how often each kind is reviewed. Other processes work the same way. Every organisation has its own HR and salary processes, and while the order and the number of people differ, the inputs and outputs look alike. We bring what we know about processes like these, and M‑Files is the platform we build them on. There is more about M‑Files at [m-files.com](https://www.m-files.com/?Reseller_ID=505&partner=505) and from [Solution Management](https://solutionmanagement.eu/ "Solution Management (solutionmanagement.eu)") ([solutionmanagement.eu](https://solutionmanagement.eu/)), an authorised M‑Files reseller and an [Elements.cloud](https://solutionmanagement.eu/business-processes/ "Visual process management on Elements.cloud (solutionmanagement.eu)") reseller. ## Plan, run and report audits in one place Document management and workflows in M‑Files carry whole business processes too, such as GDPR processes, contract lifecycle management, and HR and salary documents. Audits are one of them: the person running the audit programme plans, performs, logs and presents audits in one place, with scheduling and reminders. ![The CtrlDocs audit module in M-Files: internal audits from 2016 to 2018 with workflow states, audit events such as a GDPR audit of recruitment data and a process audit of HR recruiting, with ISO statements and linked process diagrams, beside a diagram of the induction process](https://ctrldocs.com/img/04VbN8XDpN-200.webp) Internal audits with their state and the process diagram each one is linked to. ## When your procedure differs from the standard We fit our solutions to your needs by configuring standard functions, including links to your other systems. Where configuration is not enough, M‑Files is also a platform to develop on, so features and integrations are built to order where you need them. [Discuss your requirements](https://ctrldocs.com/contact/) ### Standard system features[#](#standard-system-features) - Integration with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook - Windows, macOS, Android, iPhone and web browsers - Works like Windows and macOS, so people learn it quickly - Full version control - Role-based access control - Every change to metadata and documents tracked and traceable - Tracking of downloads - Metadata and documents stored securely - Configurable review processes - Configurable approval processes - Federated authentication with two-factor authentication ## What M‑Files underneath means for you Our solutions run on M‑Files, a standard product for managing documents and information. Editors get one stable place to work in, and the finished documents can be published wherever your readers need to reach them. ### One standard for every document Creation, management and archiving follow the same standard, whatever the document is, so people learn the routine once. ### Search that shows you the content Search is fast and previews the content of each document, so you can tell it is the right one before you open it. ### Content can stay where it has to live Documents that have to stay in another system, such as a network folder, can be found from M‑Files beside everything else, through a connector for that system. ## Two solutions that go further [### CtrlDocs for Elements Where processes are documented in Elements.cloud, documents are approved in M‑Files and published to Elements as PDFs. Each new publication replaces the old link. See CtrlDocs for Elements](https://ctrldocs.com/ctrldocs-for-elements/) [### VisualQMS VisualQMS is Solution Management's quality management system on M‑Files and Elements.cloud. It adds process diagrams and quality processes such as audits and change management, and works with several of our add-ons. Go to visualqms.com](https://visualqms.com/)  ## Watch a document go from draft to archive Name the document that takes the most chasing today, and we answer the same working day. In the demo you watch one like it go round the cycle, and we help set up a demo environment so you can try it yourself. [Book a demo](https://ctrldocs.com/contact/)