How to Set Up Payment Approval Controls for Your Team with Slash

Overview

Payment approval controls allow you to create custom authorization workflows that determine who can review and approve outgoing transfers before they're sent from your Slash account.

With approval policies in place, you can ensure that every payment receives the appropriate level of review based on your organization's internal controls and compliance requirements. Approval workflows can be configured to require sign-off from specific roles (such as Owners or Admins) or individual team members, and you can specify how many approvals are needed before a payment is released.

By default, Slash accounts are set to auto-approve all outgoing transfers, meaning no manual approvals are required. Once you enable approval rules, any outgoing payment that meets your defined criteria will be held pending review until the required number of authorized reviewers have approved it.

How to Configure Payment Approval Rules with Slash

After logging into your Slash account, follow these steps to set up approval controls for your team:

Step 1: Navigate to the Payment Policies Page

From your Slash dashboard homepage, locate the 'Payments' section in the left-hand sidebar and click on it. This section contains all payment-related settings and controls for your organization.

Step 2: Access Payment Policies Settings

Click on 'Payment Policies' to access the approval configuration area. This is where you'll manage all approval rules and workflows for your account.

Step 3: Locate the Outgoing Transfer Approval Rule

Find the 'Outgoing Transfer Approval Rule' section within Payment Policies. Click the dropdown arrow to expand this section and view the current configuration. By default, this policy is set to 'Auto-approve transfers', meaning no approvals are required for any outgoing payments.

Step 4: Edit the Approval Rule

Click the pencil icon next to the approval rule to begin editing the policy. This will open the rule configuration interface where you can customize your approval requirements.

Step 5: Enable Manual Approvals

Select 'Require reviews' to turn on manual approval requirements for outgoing transfers. This changes the policy from automatic approval to requiring designated reviewers to authorize payments before they're sent.

Step 6: Define Your Approval Policy

Configure the specific requirements for your approval workflow:

Number of reviews required: Specify how many approvals must be obtained before a payment can be processed (e.g., 1, 2, or more reviewers)
Authorized reviewers: Assign who can review and approve payments by selecting either:
Specific roles (Owner, Admin)
Individual users from your organization

You can choose to require approval from any authorized reviewer, or configure rules that require specific combinations of reviewers depending on your organizational needs.

Step 7: Review and Save Your Policy

Once you've configured your approval requirements, carefully review the policy settings to ensure they align with your organization's financial controls. When satisfied, click 'Save' to activate the approval rule.

The policy will take effect immediately for all future outgoing transfer requests that meet your defined criteria.

How Approval Workflows Function

Once approval rules are enabled, the payment process works as follows:

A team member initiates an outgoing transfer request
Instead of processing immediately, the payment enters a pending state
Designated reviewers receive notification that a payment requires approval
Authorized reviewers can view payment details and either approve or reject the request
Once the required number of approvals is obtained, the payment processes automatically
If rejected, the payment requester is notified and can revise or cancel the request

This workflow ensures that no payment leaves your Slash account without receiving the appropriate level of oversight from authorized team members.

Additional Information

Transaction Amount Thresholds

You can configure approval rules to apply based on transaction amounts. For example, you might require approvals only for payments above a certain dollar threshold, while allowing smaller payments to auto-approve.

Role-Based vs User-Based Approvals

When configuring reviewers, consider whether role-based or user-based assignments work better for your organization:

Role-based approvals: Any user with the designated role (Owner, Admin) can approve. This provides flexibility when specific individuals are unavailable.
User-based approvals: Only designated individuals can approve. This provides tighter control but may create bottlenecks if those individuals are unavailable.

Many organizations use a combination approach, requiring approval from specific roles for routine payments and specific individuals for high-value or sensitive transactions.

Approval Notifications

Designated reviewers automatically receive notifications when payments require their approval. Ensure your team members have notifications enabled so they can respond promptly to approval requests and avoid payment delays.

Need More Help?

If you have questions about configuring approval controls or need assistance with your payment policies:

Contact Slash customer support through your dashboard
Reach out to your account manager for guidance on approval workflows that fit your organization's needs

Setting Up Payment Approval Controls for Your Team