Worksheet: Write the delegation of authority and check the terms

Approval by email works until the email is deleted, or until the biggest customer turns out to have no signed terms. This sheet writes who can approve what. It then checks the terms in your system against the signed agreements for your top twenty customers. It builds the Competent step of the check:

A written delegation of authority covers terms, promotions and one-off discounts; every deal outside the matrix has a recorded reason and approver; the terms in the system match the signed agreement.

Step 1. The delegation of authority

Decision	Account manager up to	Sales manager up to	Sales director up to	Above that, approved by
e.g. One-off discount on an order	5%	10%	15%	CEO and CFO
New term, or a change to a rate
Promotion inside the guidelines
Promotion outside the guidelines
One-off discount on an order
Free stock
Credit note

One person signs the document. Each limit is a number, not "at discretion".

Step 2. Log every deal outside the matrix

Date	Customer	Deal	Value ($)	Reason	Approved by	Approval kept where

Keep approvals in one place the auditors can read, for as long as they need them.

Step 3. System against signed agreement, top twenty customers

Customer	Date of signed agreement	Expired, or running on a rollover clause?	Every rate in the system matches?	Rebates in the system that no agreement supports	Fixed by (date)

Also check that each agreement carries a signature from your side.

Step 4. Customers with no written terms

Customer	Sales last year ($)	Terms paid today	Agreement drafted by (date)	Signed by (date)	Owner

For the four large grocery businesses, the mandatory Food and Grocery Code requires a written supply agreement. Ask a lawyer how it applies to an agreement that has lapsed.

Done when: a signed delegation covers terms, promotions and one-off discounts, deals outside it are logged with reason and approver, and system terms match the agreements.

Adapted from our own trade spend controls review (Deloitte, 2015).