Approval Form Template (UK)

Updated on 8 August 2026

An approval form records someone asking for authority to commit the organisation to something, and a named person deciding. It covers purchase orders and expense claims, but also the approvals that never touch a finance system: signing off a document before it goes out, granting access to a system, approving a discount, agreeing leave, or waiving a policy for one case. Its value is not the signature — it is that the request, the reason, the limit the decision was made under and any conditions attached all end up in one findable place.

This template replaces a source page with no document at all: no description, no example, no FAQ and a broken link to its own PDF. It is built instead around the things a UK organisation's internal controls actually need — a defined request type, an amount tested against a budget line, a named approver with their delegated authority limit recorded, a decision that can be conditional, and a retention period so the record outlives the mailbox it was created in.

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Approval Form

Reference:
Date submitted:
Type of request:
Requester:: ,
Department:
Required by:

1. The Request

Business case: Impact if this is not approved:

2. Financial Detail

Amount requested:
VAT position:
Recurring cost or term:
Budget line or cost centre:
Budget available:
Supplier or payee:

Budget is available on the cost centre named above and this request falls within the approved budget for the current financial year.

Alternatives considered:

This is a request to commit to a purchase or engage a supplier. Approval authorises the commitment described and does not authorise a change of supplier, an increase in value or an extension of the term without a further approval. Where the supplier is new, the usual checks on their status, insurance and terms are completed before any order is placed.

3. Evidence Provided

The following were provided to the approver with this request:

OptionalInclude a finance or compliance review step

4. Decision

Approver:: ,
Authority limit for this category:
Decision:
Date of decision:

The request is approved as submitted, within the approver's authority limit shown above. The requester may proceed on the terms described in the request and no others.

OptionalRequire a second approver

OptionalInclude the separation and conflict declaration

The approver confirms that they are not the requester, that they have no personal interest in the outcome, and that they are approving within the authority delegated to their role under the organisation's scheme of delegation. Where a conflict of interest exists, the request is escalated rather than approved.

5. Record

This approval is retained for and filed at , together with the attachments listed above, so that the decision, its basis and any conditions can be reconstructed later.

OptionalInclude the data minimisation note

Only the personal data needed to make and evidence this decision is collected on this form, in line with the requirement that personal data be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary. Supporting personal, medical or identity documents are held separately under the organisation's data protection arrangements and are not attached to it.

Requester

Date:

Approver

Date:

Second approver (if required)

Date:

Delegated authority is the point of the form

Most organisations, from small charities to listed companies, run a scheme of delegation: who may commit how much, for what. A team leader up to one threshold, a head of department up to another, the finance director or the board above that. An approval form that does not record the approver's limit cannot answer the only question an auditor or a trustee will ask afterwards — was the person who signed allowed to sign?

So this template asks directly for the approver's role and their 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 limit because nobody built the check into the form.

For charities and companies with governance obligations, the same form doubles as evidence. A trustee body reviewing spend, or an auditor testing controls, is looking for exactly this: the request, the amount, the budget line, the evidence seen, the approver and their authority, and the decision.

Separation of duties and conflicts

The person requesting should not be the person approving, and ideally neither should be the person who then makes the payment. This template keeps the requester and approver blocks distinct, states that the approver is 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, a contract with an exit penalty, a payment to a new supplier, a commitment that crosses a financial year, or anything involving personal data being shared with a third party. Those are the requests where the real question is not whether the thing is a good idea but what the organisation is still paying for, or still liable for, in eighteen months.

The approver's declaration also covers conflicts of interest. Where the approver has any personal interest in the outcome, the form requires escalation rather than a signature — which is the practical form the general duty to avoid conflicts takes in day-to-day spending decisions.

A decision is more than yes or no

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

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

Signatures, personal data and keeping the record

Electronic approval is the norm, and in the UK electronic signatures are admissible in evidence: the Electronic Communications Act 2000 provides for the admissibility of an electronic signature and its certification in legal proceedings. For an internal control record, though, the technology matters less than the trail around it — who submitted, when, which version of the request the approver saw, who approved, and whether the stored record can be reproduced accurately later.

The template therefore records submission and decision dates separately, lists the attachments the approver actually saw rather than implying them, and sets a retention period and filing location on the face of the document.

Keep the form lean. Leave, expense and access requests attract personal data quickly, and the UK data protection regime requires personal data to be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purpose. A form that asks a colleague for medical details to approve a week off, or a home address to grant a database role, has created a data protection problem in exchange for nothing. Ask for what the decision needs and hold 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 separate 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, budget line and availability: The value, the cost centre it comes from, and whether budget exists. An amount with no budget line is a decision made without the key fact.
Recurring cost and contract 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 trustee asks about.
Attachments: Names the quote, contract, specification or policy the approver actually saw, so the evidence base is recorded rather than assumed.
Approver, role and authority limit: The decision-maker, their role and their limit under the scheme of delegation, with escalation built in when the request exceeds it.
Finance or compliance review: An optional pre-decision check for renewals, new suppliers, contractual lock-in or data-sharing implications.
Decision, conditions and reasons: Approved, approved with conditions, rejected or referred, with the 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 what the approval supports rather than to who signed it.

Getting the control right in the UK

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

Match the form to your scheme of delegation
Record the approver's authority limit for the category and require a second approver above it. An approval given above the signer's limit 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 or trustee rather than dropping the control quietly.
Rely on electronic signatures, but keep the record
The Electronic Communications Act 2000 provides for the admissibility of electronic signatures and their certification in legal proceedings. The practical requirement for a control record is a retained version that can be reproduced accurately and shows who approved what and when.
Electronic Communications Act 2000, section 7
Collect the minimum personal data
UK data protection law requires personal data to be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purpose. Do not ask for medical details, home addresses or identity documents on an approval form unless the decision genuinely needs them.
ICO - the data protection principles
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 a contract 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
Public-sector procurement thresholds, grant funding conditions, charity governance requirements and regulated financial services each add their own approval and documentation duties beyond an internal form. Confirm the ones that apply to you.

How to use this approval form

Choose the request type. Select purchase, expense, document sign-off, leave, system access, or a discount or exception, and the document adjusts its wording.
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.
Add the amount, budget line and attachments. Enter the value, any recurring cost or contract term, the cost centre, whether budget is available, and list the evidence attached.
Route it to the right approver. Name the approver, their role and their authority limit, and add a second approver or a finance review where the value or risk requires it.
Record the decision and file it. Choose approved, approved with conditions, rejected or referred, add any conditions or reasons, set the retention period, then download and store the signed record.

Frequently asked questions

What should a UK approval form contain as a minimum?

A unique reference, the requester and submission date, what is being requested and why, the amount and budget line, the attachments the approver saw, the approver with their role and authority limit, the decision with any conditions, and the decision date. Anything less and the decision cannot be reconstructed later.

Can the same person raise and approve a request?

They should not. Separating requesting, approving and paying is the basic control that catches both error and misuse, and it is what auditors and trustees look for. In a very small organisation, escalate to a director, owner or trustee rather than abandoning the separation.

Is an electronic signature enough on an internal approval?

For internal purposes, generally yes. The Electronic Communications Act 2000 provides for the admissibility of electronic signatures in legal proceedings, and what matters for a control record is a retained version showing who approved what and when, capable of being reproduced accurately.

What is an authority limit and why put it on the form?

It is the maximum value or type of commitment a role may approve under your scheme of delegation. Recording it turns the form from a formality into a check: if the request exceeds the limit, it routes to a second approver instead of being signed by someone who was not entitled to sign it.

How should conditional approvals be handled?

Use the approve-with-conditions option and write the conditions on the form — a spending cap, monthly rather than annual payment, legal review before signature, or a trial period with a review date. Conditions left in an email do not survive the renewal cycle.

Can I use the same form for leave and system access?

Yes, which is why the request type is a selector rather than a heading. Keep the personal data minimal on those types: a leave request needs dates and cover arrangements, not medical detail, and an access request needs the system, the role and the business reason with a review date.

How long should approvals be kept?

Tie retention to what the approval supports — an approval behind a contract or a tax-relevant expense is normally kept for as long as that record, while a routine sign-off can be disposed of sooner. The template asks for the period so the answer sits on the document.

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Disclaimer

This template and guide are for general information only and are not legal, audit, accounting or tax advice. Procurement, grant, charity and financial-services rules can impose approval and documentation requirements beyond an internal form — check the ones that apply to your organisation.