Approvals don’t need to slow your team down. With the right structure, you can keep things moving while making sure money is only spent with the right sign-off in place.

1. Define Your Request Types

Not all requests are the same. An expense claim is very different from a supplier invoice or a purchase order. Start by listing the common types in your business.

2. Decide Who Should Approve

Keep it clear and predictable. Usually it’s department heads, finance, or directors for larger amounts. The fewer people in the chain, the quicker things move.

3. Set Simple Rules

Don’t overcomplicate. A good starting point is:

Up to £500 → department head
£500–£5,000 → department head + finance
Above £5,000 → add a director

4. Make It Auditable

Every decision should be recorded: who approved, when, and any comments made. This protects you from mistakes and keeps things transparent.

5. Keep It Moving

A good workflow sends reminders automatically and escalates if someone doesn’t respond. That way requests don’t sit forgotten in inboxes.

Common Pitfalls

Adding too many approvers just slows things down.
Keeping policies in PDFs no one reads.
Trying to manage everything in one giant spreadsheet.

Where Reqly Helps

Reqly gives you workflows, rules, and approver groups out of the box. You get reminders, audit trails, and reports without needing to build anything yourself.

Build your first workflow today

How to Build an Approval Workflow That Actually Works