The purpose of approval processes in Salesforce is to streamline and automate the decision-making process for records that require approval. This helps ensure consistency, accuracy, and compliance within your organization.

Key Purposes:

Consistency: Ensures that all records go through the same approval process, regardless of who created them.
Accuracy: Helps prevent errors and inconsistencies in data by having multiple people review records.
Compliance: Helps ensure that all records comply with company policies and regulations.
Efficiency: Automates the approval process, saving time and resources.
Visibility: Provides a clear audit trail of all approvals, making it easy to track who approved what and when.

Common Use Cases:

Opportunity Approvals: Approving large deals or deals that exceed a certain threshold.
Expense Reports: Ensuring that all expenses are properly documented and approved.
Contract Approvals: Ensuring that all contracts are reviewed and approved before being signed.
Lead Routing: Routing leads to the appropriate sales representatives based on predefined criteria.
Custom Object Approvals: Approving records for custom objects, such as new product requests or change requests.

Benefits:

Improved Decision Making: By having multiple people review records, you can make more informed decisions.
Reduced Risk: By automating the approval process, you can reduce the risk of errors and fraud.
Increased Productivity: By streamlining the approval process, you can free up your team's time to focus on other tasks.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: By providing a faster and more efficient approval process, you can improve customer satisfaction.

Overall, approval processes in Salesforce are a powerful tool that can help your organization improve its efficiency, accuracy, and compliance.