--- title: "Document control software · VisualQMS" url: "https://visualqms.com/features/document-control/" language: "en" description: "QMS document control software: find documents by what they are, open the approved version, and keep every revision and every change to their details on record." --- Document control # Everyone opens the approved version The operator opens a procedure and gets the approved version, every time. The next revision is drafted, reviewed and approved where only the people working on it see it, then replaces the old one. Every SOP, policy and instruction follows the same route. [Book a document control demo](https://visualqms.com/book-a-demo/?message=Demo%20request%3A%20document%20control) [See how implementation runs](https://visualqms.com/implementation/) - Written in Word, Excel and PowerPoint - Your document numbers come with you ![Two screens of VisualQMS: the Governance Documents view with the published procedures, their next review date and approver, and in front of it the working copy of SOP 004 at its approval step, with its editor, reviewer and approver and the workflow band at 4. For Approval](https://visualqms.com/img/JNb6VV7-fF-200.webp) No folder tree to agree on ## Find documents the way you think about them A procedure belongs to a process, to the department that runs it and to clauses of the standard you work to. A folder makes you pick one, whether it sits on a shared drive or [in SharePoint](https://visualqms.com/solutions/replace-spreadsheets-sharepoint/), so copies appear. In VisualQMS a procedure isn't filed in a folder at all. It carries a few details about what it is, and it shows up in every view it matches, with no copies to keep up to date. ![The complaint process map with the activity Assess severity and contain opened beside it. The panel lists its procedure, QP-08 Complaint handling procedure, with a link that opens it in M-Files, notes on severity, a view of open complaints and the ISO 9001 clause the activity answers.](https://visualqms.com/img/VN51Q0pdQv-200.webp) ### The procedure sits under its activity on the process map Each activity on the [process map](/features/visual-processes/ "Visual Processes") lists the procedure, instructions and notes that belong to it, and opens the approved version. ![The statements of ISO 9001 listed as a tree, with 7 Support opened, 7.2 Competence expanded to the three documents linked to it, SOP 004 selected, and its metadata card beside the tree showing the approver, the dates and the next review date](https://visualqms.com/img/T8GezNmeTq-200.webp) ### The quality manager goes clause by clause and finds the same procedure Procedures are tagged with the clauses they relate to, so a walk through the standard lists the documents behind each one. ![The Views home of VisualQMS with the common views listed, among them Governance Documents, My Tasks, Quality Standards Views, Change Requests, Training Views, Business Process Views, CAPA and Recorded Issues](https://visualqms.com/img/P8BdI-v3oM-200.webp) ### A view for each role, and your own Common views are set up for each role, and anyone can make their own, picking the details to filter on, to see documents their own way. Nobody has to agree on one folder layout, which is a big part of why we build VisualQMS on M‑Files. Control you can prove ## Every revision approved, every change on record The version history keeps every version: who changed it, when, and the state it was in, from the first draft to the approved revision. Earlier versions can't be edited, so the history is ready the day an auditor asks what changed. ![The version history of the working copy of SOP 004 in VisualQMS: seven versions newest first, each with who changed it, when, and the state it was in, from the first draft through review and consolidation to the approval step, with the reviewer and the next review date in columns](https://visualqms.com/img/ene5M5P1S6-200.webp) Drafts stay out of sight ## People keep the current version while you revise Quality drafts and reviews the next revision in a working copy. Everyone else keeps opening the published version until the new one is approved. 1. ### Draft Authorised editors Authorised people click edit and the document opens in Word, Excel or PowerPoint, locked to them until they check it back in. If your rules require it, a [change request](/modules/change-management/ "Change Management") has to be approved first. 2. ### Review Reviewers Each reviewer gets a review record of their own to complete, in parallel or one after the other. Overdue reviews are escalated according to your rules. 3. ### Approve Approvers Your rules decide whether one approver is enough or all of them must sign off. The working copy becomes read-only once it is sent for approval. 4. ### Published The approved revision becomes the version everyone sees, the process map's links open it from then on, and a training rule can ask the people it covers to read and confirm it. A trail you can show ## A record for every review and approval When a document goes for review, VisualQMS creates a record for each reviewer, and at approval one for each approver. Each person completes their own: a comment, then accept or reject. The records stay linked to that version, so an auditor sees who reviewed what, when, and with which remarks. - The same trail for every kind of case — [CAPAs](/modules/capa-management/ "CAPA Management") and change requests get the same records, and any object and state can have them. ![The Governance Documents view with the working copy of SOP 004 opened to its two records, a review record accepted by the reviewer and an approval record assigned to the approver, and the review record's card beside it with the reviewer's comment, the person who actioned it and the workflow band at Accepted](https://visualqms.com/img/8PH7f_nqNi-200.webp) ## See a document go from working copy to published [Book a demo](https://visualqms.com/book-a-demo/?message=Demo%20request%3A%20document%20control) For faster reviews ## Write and review the next revision together Normally a document is locked to the one person editing it. When several people write or review a revision together, one click starts a co-authoring session in OneDrive, and nobody forwards a link round by email. When a document reaches a state, say For Review, VisualQMS can also check it out to the people in that state automatically, with track changes switched on, so reviewers write their remarks straight into the working copy. You can see what was shared and with whom, and the session comes back as one new version. ![Word, Excel and PowerPoint logo](https://visualqms.com/img/xwYA2oATSF-48.svg)Word, Excel and PowerPoint Authorised people click edit and the document opens in the Office application, with no download and upload. ![M-Files logo](https://visualqms.com/img/aiyGuwpZUm-48.svg)M‑Files Your M‑Files permissions decide who may share a draft, and people outside the organisation can be invited. ![Teams and SharePoint logo](https://visualqms.com/img/sgnd5DpyTM-48.svg)Teams and SharePoint Open a controlled document from Teams, to edit or to read, and make the ones people need available through SharePoint. Start from the template ## Every document starts from an approved template for its kind SOPs, policies, instructions and forms each have templates of their own, one or several. Create a document, pick its kind and the template, and it opens in Word, Excel or PowerPoint with the details on the record already in the text. ### Details from the record, in the text Approved by, approved on and the version number are written into the document on their own, and so is any other detail on the record: the customer's name and address, the department, the process area. Nobody types them twice. ### Templates for each kind of document Each kind of document has its own templates, so an SOP looks like an SOP and a policy like a policy, whoever wrote it. Where one kind needs several, say a contract per country, each is a template of that kind. ### Templates under the same control A template is reviewed and approved like any other document. When a document comes up for revision, VisualQMS checks whether a newer template is required. The small things that slip ## Housekeeping the system does for you ### Reviews that start on their own Every controlled document carries a next review date, set automatically or by hand. As it approaches, the designated people are alerted and a review starts. ### Complete before it moves on A workflow can make fields mandatory in a given state, so a document cannot go to approval with its details missing. ### Bring your documents with you Keep the document numbering you have, add details in bulk from Excel templates or let the AI read them from the documents, and import large volumes automatically. ### An SOP with its forms attached Link an SOP to its instructions and forms, and people find them together when they search and when they train. ## Show us your approval route Tell us who reviews, who approves and how people look for procedures today, and we plan a personal demo around that. We answer the same working day. [Book a demo](https://visualqms.com/book-a-demo/?message=Demo%20request%3A%20document%20control) [Contact us](https://visualqms.com/contact/) ## Questions about document control How do you make sure people always see the latest version? Every controlled document has a working copy and a published version. Drafts and reviews happen in the working copy, and ordinary users see only the latest published version. When a new revision is approved and published, it becomes the version they open, and earlier versions stay in the version history. What does QMS document control cover in VisualQMS? SOPs, policies, procedures, instructions and templates. Each is drafted in a working copy, reviewed and approved before it is published, and carries a next review date and its full version history. Ordinary users see only the published version. What happens if two people want to edit the same document? The first person to start editing checks it out, and it is locked to them until they check it back in. Others can still open it read-only, and they can see it is checked out to someone else. In a co-authoring session, the people invited write in the same document at once. How do templates stay under control? Each kind of document has its own templates, and a new document starts from the current version of the one you pick. Templates go through review and approval like any other controlled document. When you create a document, the template version is added as a detail on it, and when that document is later drafted or reviewed, VisualQMS checks whether a newer template version is required. Can the version number and approval details show inside the document? Yes. Approved date, approved by and version number are written into Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents automatically, so nobody types them in by hand. How is the next review date set? Either automatically, for example a fixed time after publication, or by hand. As the date gets close, the designated people are alerted and a review process starts. How do co-authors sign in? Internal access uses single sign-on and external access uses one-time passwords. Invitations are controlled by the application, and only users with the right M‑Files permissions may share a document. Can we bring our existing documents and numbering? Yes. VisualQMS comes with tools for moving existing documentation in. Existing document numbering can be reused, details can be added in bulk with Excel templates or read from the documents by the AI, and very large volumes can be imported automatically. From then on, documents are found by what they are through their details. Can editing require an approved change request first? Yes, if your rules call for it. VisualQMS then makes sure the change request is approved before the controlled document is edited. Is every change recorded for audits? Yes. Each time a document is checked back in, or its details change, such as the next review date, a new version is added to its history. The content and details of earlier versions can't be edited. A co-authoring session comes back as one new version. Reviews and approvals are also documented in records routed to the designated people.