Approval Chains

Custom approval flows for secure payments. Approval chains let you configure who must approve payments based on your internal policies. When a payment is created, all approval chains are evaluated:

• If a chain’s conditions are met, its approval steps are added to the payment.
• A single payment can trigger multiple approval chains.

Key rules:

• Within a specific chain, the same user cannot approve more than one step.
• The same user can approve steps across different chains for the same payment.
• Changes to approval chains apply only to new payments—existing payments retain their original approval steps.

How to Configure an Approval Chain

1. Navigate to Approvals → Approval Chains.
2. Click Actions → Create Approval Chain (top-right corner).
3. Set up the basic information:
   • Give the chain a recognizable name (e.g., Manual Payments, Internal Transfers).
   • Optionally define conditions that must be met for this chain to apply (e.g., creator role, entity, payment type).
   • Click Select Approval Steps.
4. Configure approval steps:
   • Choose Automatic Approval if no approval is required.
   • Select the currency used for evaluating approval limits (foreign currencies will be converted at the rate when the payment is created).
   • Set the number of required approvals.
   • For each step, assign roles and amount limits—at least one role is required for an unlimited amount.
   • Optionally define an automatic approval limit for small payments.
   • Click Review Approval Chain, then Create Approval Chain to save.
5. The chain is now active and will apply to all new payments matching its conditions.

Approval Conditions

Approval conditions determine whether a chain is triggered for a payment. All defined conditions must be met for the chain to apply.

Creator Role

The condition is met if the role of the user creating the payment is or is not one of the specified roles.

Entity

Triggers the chain if the source or destination account belongs (or does not belong) to a specified entity.

• Credit transfers: checks the source account’s entity.
• Direct debits: checks the destination account’s entity.

Bank

Triggers the chain if the initiating account’s bank is or is not one of the specified banks.

• Credit transfers: source account.
• Direct debits: destination account.

Type of Payment

Restricts the chain to credit transfers or direct debits.

Internal or External

Limits the chain to internal transfers or external payments.

Approval Chain Types

Approval chains can either require user approval or allow automatic approval when conditions are met.

Automatic Approval

Payments are automatically approved if the trigger conditions match.

Approval Steps

Define who is required to approve the payment.

• Roles – Users with one of the listed roles must approve the step.
• Allow creator approval – Enable approval by the payment creator (disabled by default to enforce the four-eyes principle).

Fallback Approval Chain

As a safeguard, a fallback approval chain exists. It is triggered if no other chain’s conditions are met.

• Only the approval steps can be modified.
• By default, the owner role is required to approve each payment.

Approval Chain Examples

Below are example setups with screenshots from the Atlar dashboard. Click images to expand. For help designing custom flows, contact your Delivery Manager or reach out via our contact page.

Example: Approval Chain with Approval Limits

• Payments under 10,000 EUR – automatically approved.
• Payments 10,000–100,000 EUR – require approval from Treasury Analyst, Head of Treasury, or CFO.
• Payments 100,000–250,000 EUR – require approval from Head of Treasury or CFO.
• Payments above 250,000 EUR – require approval from the CFO.

Example: Approval Chain with Entity Condition

Applies only to payments from the entity Demo Sweden AB.

• Payments under 100,000 SEK – require approval from the Treasury team.
• Payments above 100,000 SEK – require approval from the CFO.

Conditions can be combined to build chains specific to your organization’s structure, including filters on role, entity, internal/external status, and more.

Example: Approval Chain for ERP-Initiated Payments

In this setup, all payments initiated via NetSuite are automatically approved by the owner role, regardless of amount.

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Note: When creating a dedicated approval chain for ERP-initiated payments, exclude the relevant role from other chains to avoid conflicting flows.