Payment Approval Level

The use of this set of payment approval levels was agreed by the board at the Board Meeting on 4th July 2023.

Overview

When expenditure is approved (see Managing Financial Approvals Process) a payment approval level is assigned, to show how any actual payments should be validated when they are requested.

The table below describes the levels

APPROVAL LEVELS

Approval Level	Approval Process	Used For	Example
Level 1	Treasurer submits payment request in Unity Payment is authorised by 2nd person (Payment Authoriser) in Unity	Where: An approval is already in place The amount is less than the approved amount / average spend The item is clearly directly related to the budget item	Paying for services supplied by contractor where contract in place Paying for technical services specified in the budget
Level 2	Treasurer polls Finance Subcommittee (FSC) to obtain confirmation/approval A simple majority of all FSC members required to progress Treasurer submits payment request in Unity Payment is authorised by 2nd person (Payment Authoriser) in Unity	As per level 1, except: The budget line item is a broad category and further scrutiny is required to confirm the expenditure falls within that item The total spend is less than the approved amount, but the run rate indicates a breach in the future	Expense payments made for Media, Councils or IT
Level 3	Finance Director polls board to obtain confirmation/approval A simple majority of all board members required to progress Treasurer submits payment request in Unity Payment is authorised by 2nd person (Payment Authoriser) in Unity	As per level 2, except: No approval is in place The payment will breach the approved amount for that budget line The budget line item is a very broad placeholder and confirmation is required that the expenditure falls within it	New spend items where the approval has not yet been put in place