Electronic approvals
Electronic approval cycles
On-line electronic approval systems provide a greater efficiency and enhanced transparency to internal controls and governance.
This is the FIRST KEY ISSUE in evidencing internal controls and Activa achieves this by actually reducing the cost of administration and processing lead times.
This process removes the paper trail and renders the entire process electronic and in real time. All requests for approval of expenditure come with project value and scope, definition of goods and services, source of funds, list of required signatories and full supporting documentation such as justifications, quotations and statutory approvals.
This process removes the paper trail and renders the entire process electronic and in real time. All requests for approval of expenditure come with project value and scope, definition of goods and services, source of funds, list of required signatories and full supporting documentation such as justifications, quotations and statutory approvals.
Approval cycles consist of a series of electronic endorsements from relevant authorised signatories. The signatories for any document are determined by the value of the document concerned and the associated, pre-defined areas of responsibility taking into account the financial limits of authority for each signatory. Key factors influencing this process are;
- Organisational areas of responsibility
- Financial limits of authority for Capex or Opex or both
- Fiscal areas of responsibility
- Management team membership
An approval cycle is made compulsory for all capital investment applications that require a formal proposal using the Capex system. It is also required for operating expenditure requisitions but is provided on a more automated, but no less thorough, basis where rigid limits of authority apply.
Signatories cannot be made optional for any situation but can be applied in such a way that they reflect individual corporate policies and procedures. In the context of procurement, documents requiring authorised signatories include all Capital Expenditure Applications and Requisitions; subsequent approvals flow through to resulting Purchase Orders.
Once configured, a list of required authorised signatories for any expenditure is compiled automatically in the sequence of their increasing level of authority. Signatories are advised by email of their requirement to review proposed expenditure within scope of their responsibilities.
Once initiated, approval cycles are inflexible in following the prescribed sequence. Any failure to approve, review or reject a request on the part of any signatory stalls the process indefinitely. A special report provides a detailed review of approval cycles.
Signatories cannot be made optional for any situation but can be applied in such a way that they reflect individual corporate policies and procedures. In the context of procurement, documents requiring authorised signatories include all Capital Expenditure Applications and Requisitions; subsequent approvals flow through to resulting Purchase Orders.
Once configured, a list of required authorised signatories for any expenditure is compiled automatically in the sequence of their increasing level of authority. Signatories are advised by email of their requirement to review proposed expenditure within scope of their responsibilities.
Once initiated, approval cycles are inflexible in following the prescribed sequence. Any failure to approve, review or reject a request on the part of any signatory stalls the process indefinitely. A special report provides a detailed review of approval cycles.
Individual signatures cannot be removed or by-passed and this ensures that all approval cycles are strictly adhered to. However, approval requests can be officially delegated to an approved proxy signatory, or alternately, re-allocated to a completely different signatory if the required signatory becomes unavailable. All such changes are security protected and fully audited.
Not all signatories are application users and not all signatories have access to the corporate network all of the time. For this reason Activa provides a secure internet application that can be accessed from any PC or mobile device using full Activa application security protocols and SSL authentication.
This provides independent global 24/7 access to key executives, regardless of where they are, to log in and review expenditure applications without incurring unnecessary delay to project approvals.
This provides independent global 24/7 access to key executives, regardless of where they are, to log in and review expenditure applications without incurring unnecessary delay to project approvals.
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| Article last updated : Feb 21 2012 4:49PM |  |