Short answer: For a company of about 30 people, if you have fewer than 5 form types, start with SaaS from about NT$3,000 a month. If you need amount-based approval tiers, ERP posting or LINE notifications, a custom build costs roughly NT$120K to 300K and goes live in 8 weeks. Approval time usually drops from 4–5 days to under one day.
A 30-person trading company handles about 400 paper forms a month. Forms stall whenever a manager travels, taking 4.5 days on average, and at month-end accounting retypes every expense claim into the ERP. The owner wants to go digital but cannot decide whether to buy or build.
When it fits and when it doesn't
Bottom line: build custom only when approvals are tiered, volume is high and other systems must connect; otherwise buy.
| Good fit for an e-approval system | Not a fit (wait) |
|---|---|
| 200+ forms per month | Under 50 forms a month, managers always in the office |
| Approval tiers by amount, department or project | Only one "manager approves" step |
| Approved forms must post to ERP, accounting or purchasing | Still manual after approval, nothing to connect |
| Multiple sites or managers often out | Process changes every month |
Alternatives matrix
Bottom line: approval SaaS is where most small companies start; custom builds earn their cost through tiered rules and integrations.
| Option | Pros | Cons | Cost range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Forms + Sheets | Ready in a day | No tiered approval, coarse permissions | Free to Workspace fees |
| Approval / HR SaaS | Fast, includes app | Limited forms and rules, data with vendor | About NT$100–300 per user per month |
| Packaged enterprise BPM | Feature-complete | High license and rollout fees; suits 100+ staff | From NT$500K |
| Custom (Laravel) | Rules and integrations match your process | 6–8 weeks, needs maintenance | NT$120K–300K |
Step-by-step build
Bottom line: 8 weeks to launch, and the slowest part is weeks 1–2 documenting how approvals really work, not coding.
- Weeks 1–2 | Process audit: Collect forms, interview accounting and managers. Tools: Notion, Figma. Deliverable: approval matrix (amount × department × approver).
- Week 3 | Screen design: Mobile-first submit and pending screens. Deliverable: prototype.
- Weeks 4–6 | Development: Laravel back office, form engine, approval rules and delegates; pending-approval alerts via the LINE Messaging API; Google Workspace sign-in. Deliverable: staging site.
- Week 7 | ERP integration and testing: Approved claims post ERP vouchers; failures go to an error queue. Deliverable: UAT script.
- Week 8 | Launch: Pilot two form types with paper in parallel for two weeks. Deliverables: user guide, audit report.
Real cost breakdown
Bottom line: the build fee is only the first bill; expect about 15–20% of it every year for operations.
- Build: 3–5 forms about NT$120K; with ERP posting and multiple sites about NT$200–300K.
- Hosting: About NT$600–1,500 per month.
- LINE notifications: The free official-account plan caps messages; higher volume needs a paid plan from about NT$800 a month.
- ERP interface: Some ERP vendors charge for API or import modules, commonly NT$20–50K.
- Maintenance: NT$3,000–8,000 per month for small changes and updates.
- Hidden hours: Managers and accounting spend about 15–20 hours on the audit.
Reality vs expectations
Bottom line: the biggest gap is not technology; most companies have never written their approval rules down.
- Expectation: Just put paper forms online. Reality: Each form hides 3–5 unwritten exceptions.
- Expectation: People will use it naturally. Reality: In month one some managers still approve verbally, so plan a parallel period.
- Expectation: E-approval equals e-signature. Reality: Under Taiwan's Electronic Signatures Act, internal approvals need a complete audit trail; e-signing external contracts is a separate requirement.
Common traps and fixes
Bottom line: all five traps can be prevented during requirements.
- Rules hard-coded: Use an approval matrix editable in the back office.
- No delegates: Set delegates and automatic escalation.
- Messy attachments: Bind receipt photos to form numbers.
- All forms at once: Pilot two first.
- No audit log: Record time and user for every submit, return and edit.
Success metrics and 90-day roadmap
Bottom line: average approval days and paper share are the two numbers that matter.
- Day 30: Pilot forms 100% online; record baseline approval days.
- Day 60: All forms online; target average under 1.5 days.
- Day 90: Over 90% automatic ERP posting.
Decision checklist
Bottom line: six or more "yes" answers out of 10 means a custom build is worth evaluating.
- ☐ Over 200 forms a month
- ☐ Amount-based approval tiers
- ☐ Managers often travel or work in the field
- ☐ Approved forms are retyped into ERP
- ☐ Multiple sites or entities
- ☐ Forms have been lost before
- ☐ Auditors or a parent company require audit trails
- ☐ You tried SaaS but could not model your rules
- ☐ You can spend 15 hours auditing the process
- ☐ Rules will not change much within a year
FAQ
How much does an e-approval system cost?
SaaS is about NT$100–300 per user per month; custom builds run about NT$120K–300K depending on forms and ERP integration.
Are electronic approvals legally valid?
Internal approval records are good evidence if the full audit trail is kept. E-signing external contracts needs separate planning.
How long does it take?
About 8 weeks for custom, 1–2 weeks for SaaS. The process audit takes longest, not development.
Next step
Bottom line: send photos of your three most-used forms and we will advise for free whether to buy SaaS or build. ScriptWalker (a Taiwan-based Laravel/Flutter custom development studio) builds e-approval systems from NT$120,000, including process audit, form engine, LINE pending alerts and audit reports; for simple rules we will recommend SaaS first.
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 0916-224-047
- LINE: @ufv9089p