Approval Form Template (Australia)

Delegation limits do the work

Most Australian organisations — companies, not-for-profits, schools, councils and government agencies alike — run a delegations schedule saying who may commit how much, for what. A team leader to one threshold, a manager to another, the CFO or the board above that. An approval form that does not record the approver's limit cannot answer the question an auditor, an audit committee or a board will ask afterwards: was the person who signed authorised to sign?

So this template asks directly for the approver's role and their delegation limit for the category, and routes the request to a second approver when the amount exceeds it. In smaller organisations the commonest control failure is not dishonesty; it is a capable manager approving something two tiers above their delegation because nobody built the check into the form.

For entities with external reporting or grant obligations, the same form is the evidence. A reviewer is looking for exactly this: the request, the amount, the budget line, the evidence seen, the approver and their delegation, and the decision with its date.

Separation of duties and conflicts of interest

The person requesting should not be the person approving, and ideally neither should release the payment. This template keeps the requester and approver blocks distinct, has the approver confirm they are not the requester, and adds an optional finance or compliance review step before the decision is recorded.

Use that review step for anything with a tail: a subscription that renews automatically, an agreement with an exit fee, a payment to a new supplier, a commitment crossing a financial year, or anything sharing personal information with a third party. Those are the requests where the real question is not whether the idea is good but what the organisation is still paying for, or still liable for, in eighteen months.

The approver's declaration also covers conflicts. Where the approver has a personal interest in the outcome — a related party, a family connection, a directorship — the form requires escalation rather than a signature. For companies and not-for-profits that is the day-to-day expression of the duty to avoid conflicts, and recording it on the form is what makes it demonstrable later.

A decision is more than yes or no

Binary forms throw information away. A great deal of real approval is conditional: yes, capped at this amount; yes, once the agreement has been reviewed; yes, monthly rather than annually; yes, for a three-month trial with a review date. If there is nowhere to put conditions they live in an email thread and are forgotten by the next renewal.

This template offers four outcomes — approved, approved with conditions, rejected, and referred to a higher delegation — and writes different closing wording for each. Conditions and reasons are captured on the document, so a rejection can be explained the next time the same request appears, and the conditions on an approval travel with it to renewal, audit or handover.

The amount field carries a GST position with it, because an approval given against an ex-GST figure and acted on inclusive of GST is a control failure hiding as an arithmetic one — particularly where the delegation limit sits between the two numbers.

Electronic signatures, privacy and the record

Electronic approval is the norm in Australia and is supported by the Commonwealth Electronic Transactions Act 1999 and its state and territory equivalents, which provide for requirements for signature and for the production of documents to be met electronically where the applicable conditions are satisfied. For an internal control record, the technology matters less than the trail around it: who submitted, when, which version the approver saw, who approved, and whether the record can be reproduced accurately later.

The template therefore records submission and decision dates separately, lists the attachments the approver actually saw, and sets a retention period and filing location on the face of the document — tied to what the approval supports rather than to who signed it.

Keep the form lean. Leave, expense and access requests attract personal information quickly, and the Australian Privacy Principles require an entity to collect personal information only where it is reasonably necessary for one of its functions or activities. A form that asks a colleague for medical details to approve a week off, or a home address to grant a database role, creates a privacy problem in exchange for nothing. Collect what the decision needs and keep the supporting material somewhere else.

Field-by-field guide

Reference and dates

A unique reference makes the approval findable from an invoice, a ticket or a contract file, and the submission date is kept apart from the decision date.

Request type

Purchase or new supplier, expense claim, document sign-off, leave, system access, or a discount or policy exception. The type drives what the approver needs to see.

Description and business case

What is being asked for, why, and what happens if it is not approved. The business case is what a later reviewer reads.

Amount and GST position

The value and whether it is inclusive or exclusive of GST, which matters when the delegation limit sits between the two figures.

Budget line and availability

The cost centre the spend comes from and whether budget exists. An amount with no budget line is a decision made without the key fact.

Recurring cost and term

Separates a one-off spend from a commitment that renews, which is the difference between a small approval and a large one.

Supplier and alternatives

Who would be paid and what else was considered — the first thing an auditor or audit committee asks about.

Attachments

Names the quotation, agreement, specification or policy the approver actually saw, so the evidence base is recorded rather than assumed.

Approver, role and delegation limit

The decision-maker, their role and their limit under the delegations schedule, with escalation built in when the request exceeds it.

Conflict declaration

Confirms the approver is not the requester and has no personal interest, with escalation rather than signature where a conflict exists.

Decision, conditions and reasons

Approved, approved with conditions, rejected or referred, with conditions and reasons written on the form rather than left in email.

Retention and filing

How long the record is kept and where, tied to the underlying commitment rather than to the approver's tenure.

Getting the control right in Australia

An internal document rather than a regulated one, but several points have legal or audit consequences.

• Match the form to your delegations schedule

  Record the approver's delegation limit for the category and require a second approver above it. An approval given above the signer's delegation is a control failure even where the decision itself was sensible.

• Keep requesting, approving and paying separate

  The requester should not approve their own request and should not also release the payment. Where a very small team makes that impossible, escalate to a director, committee or board member rather than dropping the control quietly.

• Rely on electronic signatures, but keep a reproducible record

  The Electronic Transactions Act 1999 and its state and territory equivalents provide for signature and document-production requirements to be met electronically where the applicable conditions are satisfied. The practical requirement for a control record is a retained version showing who approved what and when.

  Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth)

• Collect only the personal information you need

  The Australian Privacy Principles require an entity to collect personal information only where it is reasonably necessary for one of its functions or activities. Do not ask for medical details, home addresses or identity documents on an approval form unless the decision genuinely needs them.

  OAIC - Australian Privacy Principles

• State the GST position on the amount

  Say whether the figure approved is inclusive or exclusive of GST. Where a delegation limit sits between the two figures, the difference decides who was entitled to approve.

• Record conditional approvals as conditions

  Conditions agreed in conversation are unenforceable in practice. Capture them on the form so they travel with the approval to renewal, audit and handover.

• Set retention against the underlying record

  An approval supporting an agreement or a tax-relevant expense is normally kept as long as that record; a routine internal sign-off can go sooner. Put the period on the document rather than leaving it to memory.

• Check whether a sector rule sits on top

  Government procurement rules, grant conditions, not-for-profit governance standards and financial services obligations each add approval and documentation duties beyond an internal form. Confirm the ones that apply to your entity.

How to use this approval form

1. Choose the request type. Select purchase, expense, document sign-off, leave, system access, or a discount or exception, and the document adjusts its wording.
2. Describe the request and make the case. Say what is being asked for, why it is needed, and what happens if it is not approved.
3. Add the amount, GST position and budget line. Enter the value and whether it includes GST, any recurring cost or term, the cost centre, and whether budget is available.
4. Route it to the right approver. Name the approver, their role and their delegation limit, and add a second approver or a finance review where the value or risk requires it.
5. Record the decision and file it. Choose approved, approved with conditions, rejected or referred, add conditions or reasons, set the retention period, then download and store the signed record.

Frequently asked questions

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