Independent review

The Accounting Reviewer examines the instruction’s organization, owner, counterparty, amount and attached evidence before deciding. The decision record contains the source revision, reviewer, time, reason and operation key. This lets an auditor identify the actual contents that were approved even when the preparer later opens the instruction again. That separation lets the finance team explain who authorized a settlement.

• Record owner. The Accounting Preparer keeps the instruction and its revision ready for review.
• Decision owner. The Accounting Reviewer checks authority and records the reason for a decision.
• Evidence owner. The Reconciliation Analyst connects source events and balances to the instruction.

Approval moves the instruction from Review to Approved only for the frozen revision. Rejection records its reason and moves the instruction to Rejected. A return decision gives the preparer a reason to amend and resubmit, with the next revision receiving its own review. The reviewer must be independent of the preparer; administrator membership alone does not confer financial authority.

Agree the reviewer assignment and the evidence needed to authorize a provider submission. Try a self-approval attempt and a stale revision in the rehearsal. Both should be refused, while the failed action leaves a traceable operation receipt. Compare the decision’s source revision with the instruction before any submission. A visible Approved label without a matching decision should not release the instruction.

The reviewer can compare the source request and account scope with the instruction in one pass. If the supporting document describes a different amount or party, record the reason for returning or rejecting the work. A second reviewer should be able to see who decided, when, and which revision was involved. This is especially useful when a provider outcome arrives days later and the team must explain why the original instruction was allowed to proceed.

Send a prepared instruction for review, then try to approve it as the same person who prepared it. The Accounting Reviewer should make the decision from another identity, with a reason tied to the reviewed revision. Change the amount afterward and check that the earlier decision cannot authorize submission. The Auditor should be able to see both the original decision and the later revision.

• Review Queue — Inspect the owner, counterparty, amount and revision awaiting a decision.
• Instructions in Review — Follow the same review work with organization and status context.

Follow instruction review and provider confirmation to rehearse the handoffs.