Independent Review

An approval needs to identify what the reviewer actually assessed. Each decision records the source revision, reviewer, decision date and reason against the opportunity. The available decisions are Approve, Reject and Return. The Sales Manager uses this record to explain a commercial judgment; the Relationship Owner uses it to understand what can proceed or what needs correction.

The reviewer must be independent of the person preparing the request. The App Administrator’s ability to maintain accounts and membership does not confer business approval authority. An Auditor can inspect the evidence without executing the action. Keeping those responsibilities clear matters when a proposal changes while the customer and owner are still discussing it.

• Exact revision. Present the current opportunity or renewal work with the revision expected by the action. The reviewer checks that version before deciding. A decision on earlier scope must not authorize a later edit simply because both requests concern the same customer.
• Useful reasons. Record why the reviewer approved, rejected or returned the request. A returned decision should name the question the owner needs to resolve. A rejection should explain the commercial concern so the owner can respond to the customer accurately.
• Action evidence. Keep the decision linked to the operation that requested it. The action receipt records what happened after the decision. Read both when investigating a request: a manager’s approval alone does not establish that the resulting work completed.

Assign eligible Sales Managers who can review independently of the Relationship Owner. Agree the evidence needed for proposal scope, customer acceptance and renewal-risk decisions. These cases have different commercial questions, even though they use the same decision vocabulary. The reviewer should be able to locate the relevant activity and attachment before authorizing the action.

Decide how returned work reaches its owner and what explanation the manager must provide. Review the process for a changed revision so the owner does not reuse a prior approval after editing the request. Define the access the Auditor needs for inspection and test that it remains read-only throughout the decision and receipt history.

A Relationship Owner submits Cedar Analytics’ proposal scope for review. While the Sales Manager is reading it, the owner records a material change requested by the customer. The manager’s earlier revision is now stale. The team should reopen the current work and assess the changed scope before advancing the opportunity. The decision history must still explain which revision each judgment covered.

Run the same exercise with the owner attempting to approve their own work. That request must be refused. Then ask an independent Sales Manager to return the current request with a clear reason, such as an unresolved customer acceptance condition. The owner gathers the evidence and presents the current work again. Finally, have an Auditor trace the reason, reviewer and action receipt without changing any of them.

• Returned Decisions — Review reasons that tell owners what requires clarification before work can proceed.
• Approved Decisions — Approved source revisions with the reviewer and decision reason preserved.
• Renewal Review Queue — Submitted renewal work awaiting an independent commercial decision.

Review proposal and outcome decisions or renewal decisions. Check the role responsibilities before rehearsing access.