Platform Overview: What Is Aptly?
Platform Overview: What Is Aptly?
What you'll learn: This article introduces Aptly's core purpose, key concepts, and the authority lifecycle that ties them together. By the end, you'll understand how the platform helps your organization manage decision-making authority with clarity and control.
Who this is for: All users — whether you're new to Aptly, joining an existing team, or looking for a refresher on how everything fits together. No special permissions are required to read this article.
What is Aptly?
Aptly is an enterprise platform that helps organizations define, delegate, and track decision-making authority. In every organization, certain people are authorized to make certain decisions — approving budgets, signing contracts, committing resources. Aptly gives your organization a single, structured system to manage all of that.
Most organizations have strong controls for identity and access (login, SSO, MFA, role-based access). Those controls answer the question: "Who are you?"
Aptly governs a different question: "What can you decide?"
Instead of relying on scattered spreadsheets, tribal knowledge, or paper-based delegation letters, Aptly provides a living, auditable record of who can decide what, under what conditions, and with what limits.
Why does this matter?
Organizations face real risk when authority isn't clearly documented. Without a system like Aptly, common problems include decisions being made by people without proper authorization, delegation chains that exist only in someone's memory, difficulty proving who had authority at a specific point in time, and inconsistent limits applied across teams or regions.
Aptly solves these problems by making authority visible, traceable, and enforceable — across your entire organization.
At a high level, Aptly supports:
- Governance: Decision authorities are defined, assigned, and tracked to accountable issuers.
- Visibility: Users can quickly confirm who holds an authority, with what limits.
- Efficiency: Authority stays current as org structure changes (often via HRIS or directory sync).
- Auditability: Changes are logged, and historical authority can be reconstructed when needed.
- Integration: Authority can be connected to the systems where work happens (varies by deployment).
How Aptly works: the core building blocks
Everything in Aptly is built around interconnected concepts. Understanding these will help you navigate the platform confidently from day one.
Decisions
A Decision represents a type of authority your organization needs to manage. Think of it as the "what" — the thing someone can be authorized to do.
For example, a Decision might represent "Approve purchase orders," "Sign vendor contracts," or "Authorize capital expenditures." Each Decision can include limits (such as dollar amounts, percentages, or time ranges), conditions, roles, and organizational scope.
Decisions are created and maintained by administrators or users with elevated permissions. As a regular user, you'll be able to browse, search, and review the Decisions that apply to your organization.
Delegations
A Delegation is what happens when authority flows from one person (or position) to another. It's the "who" — connecting a Decision to a specific individual or role, with defined limits and dates.
When someone is delegated authority, they receive the right to act within the scope defined by that delegation. Delegations may have start and end dates, specific limits that may be narrower than the original Decision, and conditions or roles attached.
Delegations can also cascade: when a person who holds authority delegates part of that authority to someone else, that's called a redelegation. Aptly tracks the full pathway so your organization always knows how authority flows from the top down.
Roles & Conditions
Roles and Conditions are plain-language requirements and oversight expectations attached to decisions and/or delegations.
- Roles define responsibilities like reviewer, approver, co-signer, or initiator.
- Conditions capture criteria that must be met for the authority to apply (e.g., "Requires dual signature above $250,000").
Roles and conditions are meant to surface important requirements clearly. They are not automated logic rules — they document expectations for human judgment and accountability.
Note: Roles and Conditions are only available if your organization's subscription and configuration include them. If you don't see them, your administrator can confirm whether they're enabled.
Actions (If Enabled)
Actions are tasks generated by the system (or assigned by users with the appropriate permissions) that need to be completed. They keep your delegation and governance processes moving forward.
Some common examples of Actions include:
- Accepting a delegation that's been issued to you
- Approving a delegation request submitted by someone in your team
- Completing a periodic authority review, acknowledgement, or attestation
Actions appear in your personal Action queue and are also visible in the broader Actions module. Each Action has a status, priority, and due date to help you stay on track.
Note: Some Action types (such as acceptance and approval) are only available if your organization has enabled those workflows. If you don't see them, your administrator may not have activated these features.
Matrices & Signatory Lists
A Matrix is a reporting view that shows how Decisions and Delegations come together across your organization. Matrices present authority in a table format so you can quickly see who holds what authority, organized by position, group, or other criteria.
Signatory Lists serve a similar purpose, providing always-current views focused on who can approve or sign within specific authority types.
Matrices and Signatory Lists are especially useful for audits, compliance reviews, and organizational visibility. You can filter, export, and share these views to answer questions like "Who in our Finance department can approve expenditures above $50,000?"
Documents
Documents are policies, procedures, and supporting materials that can be linked to decisions and delegations. They provide the policy context behind an authority — so users can reference the "why" alongside the "what" and "who."
Documents linked to Decisions or Delegations are also accessible from the Documents module.
Reports
Reports provide exportable governance and compliance views. Availability varies by permissions and configuration.
The authority lifecycle: how it all fits together
Most organizations use Aptly in a consistent lifecycle:
- Define Decisions — establish the types of authority your organization manages.
- Issue Delegations — assign that authority to specific people or positions, with limits and dates.
- Apply Roles & Conditions — attach requirements and oversight expectations.
- Track Actions — drive the tasks that keep delegations current (acceptance, approvals, reviews). (If enabled.)
- Use Matrices & Reports — see the full picture at a glance for visibility and audit support.
Together, they create a closed loop: authority is defined, assigned, maintained, and reported on — all within a single platform.
The important takeaway: Aptly's modules work together. When something changes — a limit, a role, a person moving positions — outputs like matrices and records update accordingly, and activity is tracked for traceability.
What you can do in Aptly
Your daily experience in Aptly depends on your role and permissions. Here's what most users interact with regularly:
| If you are a… | You'll typically… |
|---|---|
| Regular user | Confirm authority quickly (look up decisions, check who holds authority, confirm limits and requirements), review your delegations, complete required Actions (acceptance, reviews, attestations — if enabled), and reference linked policies and documents. |
| Manager or authority holder | Issue or redelegate authority, review team delegation status, approve delegation requests (if enabled), and use Matrices and Signatory Lists for oversight. |
| Administrator | Create and maintain Decisions, configure workflows (acceptance, approvals, notifications, automation behavior), build and manage Matrices and Reports, manage Documents and governance artifacts, and manage user roles, permissions, and organizational structure. |
Tip: If you don't see an option or feature described in a knowledge base article, it's usually because your role does not have access, or the feature may not be enabled for your tenant. Contact your Aptly administrator for assistance.
Key terms at a glance
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Decision | A defined type of authority your organization tracks (e.g., "Approve Purchase Orders"). |
| Delegation | An assignment of authority from one person/position to another, with specific limits and dates. |
| Redelegation | When a delegation recipient further delegates part of their authority to someone else. |
| Roles | Responsibility designations attached to decisions/delegations (e.g., reviewer, approver, co-signer). |
| Conditions | Plain-language criteria attached to decisions/delegations (e.g., "Requires dual signature above $250,000"). |
| Action | A task to complete — such as accepting a delegation, approving a request, or conducting a review. (If enabled.) |
| Matrix | A table-based report showing who holds what authority across your organization. |
| Signatory List | An always-current view focused on who can approve or sign within specific authority types. |
| Section & Category | The organizational taxonomy used to group and filter Decisions (e.g., Section: "Finance," Category: "Procurement"). |
| Authority Limits | The boundaries on a delegation — such as a maximum dollar amount, percentage, time period, or simple authorization. |
| Documents | Policies, procedures, and supporting materials linked to decisions and delegations. |
| Acceptance (If Enabled) | A workflow where delegation recipients must formally accept delegated authority before it takes effect. |
| Approval (If Enabled) | A workflow where a delegation must be approved by a designated reviewer before it becomes active. |
Your starting point: the Dashboard
When you log in to Aptly, the first thing you'll see is your Dashboard. The Dashboard gives you a personalized summary of what needs your attention — including pending Actions, recent delegation activity, and quick-access tiles that link to filtered views throughout the platform.
Think of the Dashboard as your daily launchpad. From there, you can jump directly to the areas of Aptly that matter most to your role.
Quick start: your first 10 minutes
- Open your Dashboard and scan your delegations, actions (if any), and recent notifications.
- Go to Decisions and search for one authority relevant to your job.
- Open the Decision and review its limits, roles and conditions (requirements), and linked documents (if present).
- Go to Delegations and confirm your current delegations (or your position's delegations).
- If enabled, open Actions and complete any required items.
Next steps
Now that you understand what Aptly is and how its core concepts work together, here are recommended next steps to continue learning:
- Navigate Aptly: Main Menu, Modules & Layout — Learn how to move around the platform and find what you need.
- Navigate the Dashboard — Set up your Dashboard for your daily workflow.
- Search, Filters, and Table Columns: The Basics — Master the tools for finding specific records quickly.
- Decisions Overview: Structure, Authorities & Limits — Understand how Decisions are structured and what authority limits mean.
- Delegations Overview: Pathways, Statuses & Workflows — Learn how delegations flow, what statuses mean, and how workflows operate.
- Actions Overview: What Actions Are and Where They Come From — Understand the task system that keeps governance moving. (If enabled.)
If you have questions or need help getting started, use the Contact Support option within Aptly or reach out to your organization's Aptly administrator.