To meet the requirement of automatically submitting a deal for approval without user interaction, an automation tool that can be triggered by record changes is necessary. Both Process Builder and Flow provide a "Submit for Approval" action. A process or a record-triggered flow can be configured to fire when an Opportunity's discount field exceeds 40%. This automation will then find the appropriate approval process and submit the record into it, routing it to the VP of Finance as required. This approach is fully declarative and requires no manual intervention from the sales representative.

A. Launch a new approval process that has automatic submission enabled as an initial submission action

Initial submission actions (e.g., field updates, email alerts) execute after a record has already been submitted for approval; they cannot trigger the submission itself.

C. Create a new approval process that has automatic submission enabled in the entry criteria

Entry criteria define which records are eligible to enter an approval process. They do not automatically submit the record; a user or another automation must initiate the submission.

1. Salesforce Help, Process Action—Submit for Approval: This document explicitly states, "The Submit for Approval action submits the record that started the process for approval." This confirms that Process Builder can be used to meet the requirement. (Supports Answer B).

2. Salesforce Help, Flow Core Action: Submit for Approval: This document details the "Submit for Approval" action in Flow, noting it can be used in "record-triggered flows that run after the record is saved." This confirms Flow is a valid declarative solution. (Supports Answer D).

3. Salesforce Help, Configure an Approval Process, Step 5. Specify Initial Submission Actions: This section lists the available initial submission actions (Task, Email Alert, Field Update, Outbound Message). It does not include any form of automatic submission, confirming that option A describes a non-existent feature.

4. Salesforce Help, Create an Approval Process, Step 3. Specify Entry Criteria: The documentation states, "If a record meets the criteria, it can be submitted to this approval process." This clarifies that entry criteria are for eligibility, not for triggering the submission, making option C incorrect.