Method and system for electronic document approval with displayed imprint

Abstract

An electronic approval method and system for determining an electronic mail to be approved from received pieces of electronic mail, efficiently performing electronic approval on a selected piece of electronic mail, and efficiently sending the processed pieces of electronic mail back to its sender if not approved or to the next approving person if approved. Pieces of electronic mail are received and classified by types according to various categories such as mail for approval, mail for return/forwarding, mail for reference (peruse), and unread/already read mail others as necessary. From the received pieces of electronic mail, a piece of electronic mail to be approved is selected and displayed on a display device. An electronic approval column of the displayed piece of electronic mail is registered with an approval seal of the previous approving person. In an electronic approval column of the current approving person who has received the mail, an imprint of the current approving person blinks to indicate the location the approval seal of the current approving person is to be disposed. If the current approving person does not approve the mail, clicks the approval column of the previous approving person to send the mail back to the sender. If the current approving person approves the mail, the current approving person registers their approval seal and clicks an imprint of a next approving person which may be a superior, another section or other such destination to forward the mail.