Finance & accounting
Designing approval workflows for expenses, purchases and payments
How to design approval workflows and authority matrices for expenses, purchases and payments in Philippine companies, without creating bottlenecks.
An approval workflow routes a request, such as an expense, purchase or payment, to the right people in the right order before money is committed. Good workflows protect the company without slowing operations. Poor ones either rubber-stamp everything or trap requests in someone's inbox for weeks. In growing Philippine companies, approvals often still happen by signatures on paper or messages in chat apps, leaving no reliable record.
Start with a delegation of authority matrix
A delegation of authority (DOA) or approval matrix defines who can approve what, up to which amount.
| Transaction type | Up to ₱50,000 | Up to ₱500,000 | Up to ₱2,000,000 | Above ₱2,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating expense | Department head | Division head | CFO | President |
| Purchase order (budgeted) | Purchasing manager | Department head + purchasing | CFO | President |
| Purchase order (unbudgeted) | Department head + finance | CFO | President | Board or executive committee |
| Payment release | Finance manager | CFO | CFO + President | CFO + President |
| Capital expenditure | Division head | CFO | President | Board |
Amounts are illustrative. Set limits based on your size, risk appetite and governance.
Principles of a good workflow
- Fewest necessary steps. Every approver should add a real check: budget, technical, financial or authority.
- Parallel where possible. Technical and budget reviews can run at the same time.
- Budget-aware. Requests within budget move faster than unbudgeted ones.
- Clear information. Approvers see the request, supporting documents and budget status in one place.
- Time limits and reminders. Requests that sit too long escalate.
- Delegation. Approvers on leave delegate to a named person for a period, with a record.
- Audit trail. Every approval, rejection and comment is logged with time and user.
Common workflow types
- Expense reimbursement and cash advance liquidation
- Purchase requisition and purchase order (requisition workflow)
- Payment vouchers (check vouchers)
- Budget transfers and revisions
- Credit limit increases for customers
- Price and discount overrides in sales
Avoiding approval bottlenecks
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| CEO approves every small purchase | Push lower amounts down the matrix |
| Requests wait for approvers who travel | Mobile approvals and delegation |
| Approvers ask for missing documents | Required attachments enforced at submission |
| Duplicate approvals by finance at every stage | One financial review at the right stage |
| Nobody knows where a request is | Status visible to the requester |
Measure average approval time by workflow and approver. The data usually shows that a few steps cause most of the delay.
Controls that matter
- The requester cannot approve their own request
- Splitting a purchase to stay under a limit is flagged
- Changes to the approval matrix require senior approval and are logged
- Approved amounts cannot be increased without re-approval
See internal controls and segregation of duties.
From paper and chat to a system
Moving approvals into a system gives you enforcement (no payment without approval), speed (mobile approvals and reminders) and evidence (complete history for auditors). Start with the highest-value workflows, usually purchases and payments, then expand.
Where Cirquolus fits
Cirquolus Financial management includes financial requests, approvals, voucher review and check monitoring. Purchasing and accounts payable follow approved workflows from request to payment, and approvals extend to HR requests in timekeeping.
Frequently asked questions
What is an approval matrix?
A table that defines who is authorized to approve each type of transaction, up to which amount.
How many approval levels should a purchase have?
As few as needed to check budget, need and authority. Many companies use two or three levels for routine purchases and more for high-value or unbudgeted spend.
How do you handle approvals when a manager is on leave?
Use formal delegation to a named alternate for a set period, recorded in the system.
Why should approvals be in a system instead of chat?
A system enforces rules, shows status, speeds up approvals with reminders and keeps an auditable record.
Bring this workflow to a Cirquolus demo.
Show us your current process, companies and branches. We will map it to the modules you need and propose a realistic rollout.