--- title: "Change management software · VisualQMS" url: "https://visualqms.com/modules/change-management/" language: "en" description: "Change management in VisualQMS. A request says what changes and why, and where your rules require it, the document opens for editing only once it is approved." --- Change Management # Approve the change before anyone edits A colleague asks for a wording change in the corridor, and the reason is never written down. In VisualQMS the request is a record, and where your rules require it, the document opens for editing only once it is approved. [Book a change management demo](https://visualqms.com/book-a-demo/?message=Demo%20request%3A%20change%20management) [All modules](https://visualqms.com/modules/) - The reason is written down - Approved before editing - Every version kept ![Three screens of VisualQMS: the change request CR-2026-001 in its portal with its title, description, scope, classification, priority and process owner and the workflow at 6. Verified; the review records of a document version, one per reviewer with their comment and their accept or reject; and the change request board with a column per step](https://visualqms.com/img/WptQAani3_-200.webp) The reason travels with it ## From a request to the version people use The request and the document it changes stay linked all the way. 1. ### Someone asks for a change The request says what has to change and why, and points to the documents, risks or CAPAs it concerns. 2. ### The request is approved Your approvers Where the rules require an approved change request, editing waits until then. 3. ### The document is edited Authors and reviewers Authorised people click edit and work in Word, Excel or PowerPoint, and each reviewer gets a review record to complete. 4. ### The new version is published The approved version becomes the one ordinary users see, and the earlier version stays in the history. Every version kept ## Know why a procedure changed ### Linked to what it affects A change request points to the documents it affects and to the risk assessment, CAPA or [non conformance](/modules/non-conformance-management/ "Non Conformance Management") behind it. ### The old version is kept The previous version stays in the history, and every change is logged. ### People hear about the new version A training rule asks the people it covers to acknowledge the published version. ## See a corridor request become an approved change [Book a change management demo](https://visualqms.com/book-a-demo/?message=Demo%20request%3A%20change%20management) From registered to verified ## Spot the changes still waiting for approval Each column is a step in the workflow, and every card carries the request's process owner and due date. Requests waiting for review and those waiting for approval have columns of their own, each with a count at the top. ![A kanban board titled Change requests with six columns: 1. Registered, 2. For Review, 3. For Approval, 4. For Implementation, 5. For Verification and 6. Verified. Eleven change request cards each show a process owner and a due date and are coloured by process owner, each column has a count at the top, and buttons switch the view between List, Calendar, Kanban and Gantt.](https://visualqms.com/img/CRmRa99kyu-200.png) Switch to a list, a calendar or a gantt chart to see the same requests another way, so everyone involved in a change can see how far it has got. After the approval ## The approved version is the one people open Change requests and [document control](https://visualqms.com/features/document-control/) work as a pair. The request records why a document changes, and the revised version is reviewed and approved before it is published. A request can also point to the [risk assessment](https://visualqms.com/modules/risk-management/) or [CAPA](https://visualqms.com/modules/capa-management/) behind it. When the new version is published, [training management](https://visualqms.com/modules/training-management/) asks the people it covers to acknowledge it. With the [process maps](https://visualqms.com/features/visual-processes/), every activity that links to the procedure opens the new version from then on, and the map doesn't need to be republished. ![The panel of the activity Validate Delivery Acceptance on the process map: under Attachments, the procedure SOP 004 3.0 and the instruction INST 001 1.1, each with Open Document in M-Files, and under Reference Model Nodes the ISO 9001 clause 8.6 Release of products and services](https://visualqms.com/img/6S6C8D52t5-200.webp) The activity lists its procedure, and the link opens the latest approved version. ## Show us how a change reaches you today Tell us how a change to an SOP gets made now, and in a personal demo we show you how a change request takes it from the first request to the published version. We answer the same working day. [Book a change management demo](https://visualqms.com/book-a-demo/?message=Demo%20request%3A%20change%20management) ## Questions about Change Management How is this different from tracking changes in a spreadsheet? A spreadsheet records that a change was discussed. In VisualQMS, a change request is a record with its own workflow, and where your rules require it, the controlled document can't be edited until the request is approved. The new version then runs through review and approval, and the earlier version stays in the version history. Is Change Requests part of the core or an add-on? Change Requests is one of the add-on modules. The change request and the controlled document each follow their own workflow, and they stay linked. Can the approval path differ for different kinds of document? Yes. Review and approval can include extra steps, parallel or sequential reviews, and rules for whether one approval is enough or all approvers must sign off. How do we keep a superseded revision out of circulation? Ordinary users only see the latest published version of a controlled document, and links from the process maps open the latest approved version. Each document appears in every view it matches, with no copies in other folders. How do changes stay on time? The quality activity modules use scheduling, reminders and notifications. Each reviewer of a document gets a review record, and an overdue review record is escalated. Does change management connect to risk and CAPA? Yes. Change Requests, Risk Assessments and CAPA are add-on modules, and all add-on modules are fully cross-referenced to the other modules, including non conformances and the documents a change affects. Where changes come from ## Tie each change to the case behind it [### Internal Audit Management Know where every audit stands, with reminders for the people involved and observations tied to CAPA. See Internal Audit Management](https://visualqms.com/modules/internal-audit/) [### Issue Management Record an issue or a customer complaint, decide how each kind is handled, and keep it tied to the CAPA it leads to. See Issue Management](https://visualqms.com/modules/issue-management/) [### CAPA Management Corrective and preventive actions with a person responsible and a deadline, linked to the finding that started them. See CAPA Management](https://visualqms.com/modules/capa-management/) [### Training Management See who has read the new procedure. Assign training by role, department or any other employee detail, and the manager hears when it is overdue. See Training Management](https://visualqms.com/modules/training-management/) [### Deviation Management Deviations handled the same way each time, and linked to CAPA. See Deviation Management](https://visualqms.com/modules/deviation-management/) [### Non Conformance Management Non conformances recorded in their own module, taken from registration to review and approval, and linked to the CAPAs that fix them. See Non Conformance Management](https://visualqms.com/modules/non-conformance-management/) [### Risk Management Risk assessments that follow your own method and stay linked to the CAPAs, changes and documents they concern. See Risk Management](https://visualqms.com/modules/risk-management/)