Who Approved This? How to Set Up a Payment Approval Process for Your Small Business
A bill gets paid twice because two people both thought they were handling it. A team member pays a vendor invoice that should have been checked first, and you only find out once the money's already gone. You want people to be able to act without waiting on you for everything, but right now, "act" sometimes means paying something nobody reviewed.
This isn't about trust. It's that spending decisions have never had a clear path: who can approve what, up to what amount, and who checks before the payment actually goes out.
What Actually Needs to Change
A payment approval process doesn't need to be complicated to work. It needs three things clearly set: who can approve a payment, what dollar amount needs a second person to sign off, and where that approval is recorded before the money moves.
Setting Up Approvals Yourself
Set a threshold: decide the dollar amount under which one person can approve a payment alone, and above which a second person needs to sign off.
Name the approvers: write down exactly who can approve payments, and what they're each allowed to approve.
Record the approval: before a payment goes out, note who approved it and when, even if it's a simple email reply or a tick on a shared list.
Review monthly: check a sample of payments each month to confirm the process was actually followed, not just written down.
Start with your highest-risk spending category first, whether that's supplier payments or one-off purchases, and build from there.
Turning It Into a Process Your Team Follows
Setting a threshold once is a good start. Having a process means every payment, from every team member, follows the same check, without you needing to remember to ask.
The Payment Approval Workflow inside the Finance Pack gives you that structure: approval thresholds by role, a simple sign-off record, and a monthly review checklist, so spending stays controlled without every payment needing to land on your desk first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need approval on every single payment, even small ones? No. Set a threshold for what needs a second sign-off, and let smaller, routine payments move without extra steps.
What if the only approver is me, and I'm not always available? Name a backup approver for when you're unavailable, so payments aren't stuck waiting on one person.
How do I know the process is actually being followed? Review a sample of payments each month against your approval record. If something's missing consistently, that's a sign the process needs a small adjustment, not that it's failed.