Review Queue

No instruction should leave treasury on one person’s word. A review decision records the outcome (Approve, Reject or Return), the reason, the approver, the time and the version number it applies to. The approver is a different team member from the preparer, in the same entity.

Before approving, the approver checks the mandate, the amount, the value date and that the debit and credit lines balance. If the instruction changes after submission, the earlier decision no longer applies and the new version waits for its own review. Coupon and maturity reconciliations go through the same queue.

• Approve. The instruction becomes Authorized, or the cash flow Approved, and the decision is kept with its reason.
• Return. The work goes back to the preparer with a reason, for a revised version.
• Reject. The work stops, with the reason recorded.

Name the approvers and their deputies, and confirm no one approves their own instruction. Agree the approval limits by amount or instruction type, and what evidence the approver needs: the trade ticket, auction result or board mandate. Decide the turnaround needed to meet bank cut-offs.

A preparer submits an instruction to buy $2,000,000 of a two-year note through a broker-dealer for settlement tomorrow. The Treasury Approver opens the instruction and sees the debit line is on the payroll account, which the mandate does not allow for investments. She returns it with that reason.

The preparer moves the debit to the investment operating account and resubmits. The approver checks the new version, sees the lines balance and the mandate is attached, and approves it. The decision records the version, reason and time, and the earlier return stays in the log.

• Awaiting Action — Instructions waiting at each step, including those in review.
• Cash Flows Awaiting Approval — Submitted coupon and maturity reconciliations for the approver.
• Review Decisions Log — Every decision with reason, approver and version.

• Instruction to settlement: See where approval sits before submission.
• Coupon and maturity reconciliation: Approve a coupon or maturity against custodian evidence.

Rehearse access with a preparer account before go-live.