Delegation of authority
“Above 500,000: three Chief Officers, or two VPs, the CFO and the CEO.”
A real delegation-of-authority schedule, which almost no procurement system can express. Your own titles, several signers in order, and alternates, set per department.
Your own titles
Named levels, ranked, with bands per part of the business.
The approval matrix asks what rank must sign. A schedule asks how many sign, who, in what order, and where in the business.
- Your wordsHead of Department, VP, CFO, CEO. Rank sets the signing order
- ScopedA company-wide ladder, overridden by department, division, category or cost centre. The most specific rule wins
- Alternatives“Three Chief Officers, or two VPs with the CFO and the CEO” is two routes. Either one is enough
- Real authorityThe schedule decides who may sign, whatever their job title. A place on a level is authority to commit money. Left empty, it changes nothing
Delegation of authorityThe levels, who holds each, and their bands.
For the approver
Who has signed, who is asked, and who is next.
The route is fixed when the requisition is submitted. Later edits to the schedule cannot re-open an approval or add a signer.
- Built-in rulesSame level signs in any order. The next level is asked once the one below is done
- Separate peopleOne person never fills two seats at one level on a purchase, even with two titles
- Cover for leaveA signature can move to a peer or up a level. Never down. The move and reason are recorded
- Re-checkedChange the value and the route is worked out again. It may fall in a different band
A requisition's approvalTwo routes to one approval. The budget owner has signed. The CFO is being asked.
For the administrator
One row per step, and the least senior approver.
Two roles and one figure only suit a small company. Add a row per step, from department head to council resolution.
- ValueEach row applies from its value up, in the group's reporting currency. No currency dodges a band
- Named peopleA row can name specific approvers
- Where it belongsA requisition normally needs one budget signature. The full ladder belongs on the award recommendation, where money is committed
- No quiet overrunsA competition that comes back above its requisition goes back for approval at the real figure. No order until then
Approval matrixThe value ladder, with optional named approvers.
For an auditor
Four audit-checklist controls almost no software has.
Each can warn or refuse, and each has an off switch.
- Split purchasesRequisitions on one cost centre and category, within a window, are added up. A total needing higher approval than any one is flagged
- Supplier totalsCatches a buyer with a 25,000 limit placing 25,000 with one supplier forty times. No threshold is crossed
- Segregation of dutiesEntering bank details is kept apart from verifying them, and from releasing payment. That is the fake-vendor path
- Budget ownerThe owner of the charged cost centre signs first, even from another department
Spend controlsThe four controls, each with its own window and off switch.