Finance Function & CFO Advisory
Every decision still comes back to the owner
“Every decision still comes back to my desk.”What owners tell us
The situation
Signs you are facing this
- Every payment needs the owner's signature
- Managers wait for approval on routine spending
- No budget to judge decisions against
- Holidays mean the business slows down
The situation
Every decision still comes back to the owner
Driver 1
No delegated authority
Nobody knows what they are allowed to approve.
Driver 2
No budget
Without agreed limits, every spend feels like a new decision.
Driver 3
Trust gap
Reports are not good enough to monitor others' decisions.
- 1
Diagnose
Set a budget
Agreed spend by department and month.
- 2
Design
Define approval limits
A delegation of authority matrix by role and amount.
- 3
Embed
Report by exception
Owners see variances, not every transaction.
- Decision rights and approval matrix
- Delegation limits and reporting
- Owner oversight dashboard
- Handover plan for key decisions
Common questions
What is a delegation of authority matrix?
A simple table showing who can approve what, up to which amount, so routine decisions are made without escalating to the owner.
How does a budget help delegation?
Managers can act within agreed limits, and owners review variances instead of approving each item.
Related situations
- “Our finance team records numbers but gives us little insight.”Finance records the numbers but gives no insight
- “There are too many reports and I still do not know which numbers matter.”Too many reports, and still unclear which numbers matter
- “Our business has grown faster than our systems.”The business has outgrown its systems