Setting up your Custom Approval Workflows on Ebury Web helps you manage global payments securely while staying fully aligned with your internal financial policies. This guide takes you through how to configure, activate, and manage your workflow framework step by step.
Before you begin: Setting up your account administrators
To get your framework up and running, you will first need to request your Account Manager to onboard your initial Approval Administrator on our end.
Once this first administrator is active on Ebury Web, they—and any subsequent administrators added later—can seamlessly designate other Approval Administrators for the account by following these steps:
Go to the Admin Approval
Go to “Admin Approval Users”
You will be able to add more contacts as Approval Administrator by clicking on the drop down menu and selecting them from there.
Please note: To maintain a secure framework, only users who have been successfully added as Approval Administrators can be included in your custom approval groups.
If you are ready to begin, follow the sequential steps below to map out your framework:
How to Set Up an Approval Workflow Framework
Configuring custom rules ensures your corporate outlays go through the exact levels of authorization your business requires. Follow these steps to build your framework:
1. Assign Users to Predefined Groups
Step 1: Log in to Ebury Web and go to the Approval Workflow settings area.
Step 2: Select Group of Users.
Step 3: Select the specific group you want to manage (Group A, Group B, Group C or Group D).
Step 4: Choose the option to add users.
Step 5: Select the required users from the available list. The contacts displayed here will be the ones added in the “Admin Approval Users” step.
Step 6: Confirm the assignment, and repeat this process for all other necessary users and groups.
2. Define Payment Thresholds and Approval Rules
Set your payment limits in EUR, GBP, or USD to determine which exact combination of approvers applies to each tier.
Step 1: Select Payment Approval Rules.
Step 2: Create a new threshold range (for example, EUR 0 - EUR 5,000).
Step 3: Specify the required combination of Approval Groups for that specific tier. For example:
Tier A (EUR 0 - EUR 5,000): Might require 1 x Group A.
Tier B (EUR 5,000.01 - EUR 250,000): Might require a combination like 1 x Group A + 1 x Group B, or 3 x Group B.
Step 4: Repeat this process for all remaining thresholds to achieve complete coverage.
Note: Ensure your configured thresholds cover all possible ranges from 0 to unlimited.
Step 5: Modify your approval rules whenever your corporate layout or business needs change.
Update user assignments within your predefined approval groups as internal roles evolve.
Update payment thresholds dynamically to stay aligned with changing financial policies.
Please note: Rule changes do not apply to payments already in progress. To apply new rules to an active payment, you will need to invalidate and resubmit it after updating your rules.
3. Save and Activate the Workflow
Step 1: Once all configurations (Thresholds and Rules) are finalized, click Save.
Step 2: Click Activate. From this moment on, every payment will automatically require authorization from the designated group users.
Admin Approvals & Activity Log
Account administrators can easily amend platform permissions from this dedicated page:
Admin approval users: Mentioned and explained on the initial step of the tutorial.
Dual admin approval: Activating this feature ensures that any changes made to groups or thresholds by one administrator must be reviewed and confirmed by a second administrator before taking effect.
Count payment creator as approver: When enabled, the platform counts the initial payment creation as the first required approval.
Activity log:
This is where you go to review and approve configuration changes if dual admin approval is enabled.
This section provides a complete audit history to review any changes made to any rule over time.
Security Guardrails
To protect your business from errors and ensure seamless oversight, Ebury Web includes built-in safety features:
Self-Approval: To mitigate financial risk, the Count Payment Creator as Approver feature is turned off by default. If you want users to be able to approve their own initiated transactions, you must explicitly opt-in via the admin page.
Single Approval Rule: A user can only authorize a payment once per workflow execution, even if they happen to belong to multiple groups required for that specific threshold tier.
Best Practice Recommendations
Reflect Internal Policy: Define clear, logical boundaries that mirror your actual corporate signatory matrix.
Plan for Absences: Maintain a manageable yet sufficient number of users in each approval group to ensure business continuity when team members are away.