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Intermediate Certificate on pass

Approval Workflows

Build approval paths that catch the right transactions — by value and category — without slowing everything down.

4 lessons 35 min 5-question assessment 70% to pass
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What you’ll learn

  • Explain what an approval workflow controls
  • Set value- and category-based approval thresholds
  • Route approvals to the right people
  • Balance control against operational speed

Course content

4 lessons · 35 min of reading
01
Lesson 1 of 4 Reading 8 min

What an approval workflow does

An approval workflow requires that certain actions — a purchase, a discount, an adjustment — be authorised by someone before they take effect. It turns a unilateral action into a checked decision, creating a deliberate pause where risk is highest.

The point is not to slow everything down, but to put a checkpoint exactly where it matters. A workflow that approves everything is noise; one that approves the right things is control.

A useful test before adding any approval step: what bad outcome does this catch that nothing else would? Approving a KES 2,000,000 capital purchase passes — a mistake there is expensive and hard to undo. Approving every KES 500 stationery order fails: the check costs more in delay than the error it prevents, and reviewers soon click through it without reading. If you cannot name the risk, do not add the gate.

Key takeaways

  • A workflow requires authorisation before an action takes effect.
  • It turns a unilateral action into a checked decision.
  • The aim is a checkpoint where risk is highest, not everywhere.
  • Before adding a step, name the specific risk it catches — if you can’t, the gate costs more than it prevents.
02
Lesson 2 of 4 Reading 9 min

Value-based thresholds

The most common rule is by value: small purchases proceed freely, larger ones require approval, and very large ones may need several approvers. Setting sensible thresholds means routine spend is not bogged down, but significant commitments get a second pair of eyes.

Thresholds encode judgement into the system. Instead of relying on people to remember "anything over this amount needs sign-off," the workflow enforces it consistently every time.

Guard against the split-to-dodge trick: a buyer who knows KES 50,000 needs approval may raise two orders of KES 30,000 to the same supplier on the same day. Tiered thresholds are only as good as your watch for this — periodically review same-supplier, same-day orders that each sit just under the line, and consider a rule that aggregates them. The threshold stops honest oversights; the review stops the deliberate workaround.

Key takeaways

  • Value thresholds let small amounts proceed and gate large ones.
  • Bigger commitments can require more approvers.
  • Thresholds enforce judgement consistently and automatically.
  • Watch for orders split just under the threshold — review same-supplier, same-day spend that each sits below the line.
03
Lesson 3 of 4 Practice 9 min

Category rules and routing

Beyond value, approvals can depend on category — capital items, certain suppliers, or sensitive spend may always need review regardless of amount. Routing then sends each request to the right approver: a department head, finance, or a specific manager.

Good routing gets the request to someone who can actually judge it. Sending every approval to one overloaded person is how workflows become rubber stamps; matching approver to context keeps the check meaningful.

Always define a backup approver and an escalation path, or the workflow stalls the moment the named manager is on leave — and a queue of stuck purchase orders is how a “control” turns into the reason people start working outside the system. Set requests to escalate to a deputy after a day or two unactioned, so approval pending never quietly becomes approval forgotten.

Key takeaways

  • Category rules can require review regardless of amount.
  • Routing sends each request to the right approver.
  • Matching approver to context keeps approvals meaningful.
  • Define a backup approver and escalation, so an approver’s absence doesn’t stall the queue and push people around the system.
04
Lesson 4 of 4 Reading 9 min

Control versus speed

Every approval step adds friction, so the art is adding just enough. Too few checks and risky actions slip through; too many and the business grinds, people work around the system, and approvals become reflexive clicks.

The best workflows are proportionate: light where risk is low, firm where it is high. Reviewing how long approvals take, and where they pile up, keeps the balance right over time.

Watch two warning signs in the approval data. If average time-to-approve for a given step is minutes, the approver is almost certainly rubber-stamping and the gate adds friction without judgement; if it is days, that step is a bottleneck choking the business. Either reading is a prompt to act — raise the threshold, change the approver, or remove the step — rather than leaving a workflow that looks like control but isn’t.

Key takeaways

  • Each approval step adds friction; add just enough.
  • Too many checks cause workarounds and rubber-stamping.
  • Proportionate workflows are light on low risk, firm on high.
  • Read approval timings — minutes signal rubber-stamping, days signal a bottleneck; both are prompts to retune the step.

Finished the material?

Take the 5-question assessment and earn your certificate — 70% to pass.

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