How Maker-approver Benefits Your Business

Duplicate payments, incorrect amounts, or wrong recipients – depending on the slipped numbers and frequency, approving the wrong payment can range from irritating to wreaking havoc on a business's cash flow and reputation.

But you don't have to suffer this completely preventable misfortune if you optimize your transfer approval process.

And hold on, it doesn't need to be complicated. With "Maker-approver", also known as the "Maker-checker" flow, it can be efficient and organized, saving you time and trouble in the long run.

This article will guide you through Maker-approver concept and how it will benefit your business.

What Is Maker-approver?

Maker-approver principle is a key workflow step where two parties, entities, or individuals are required to make a transaction successful. In a nutshell, the workflow step involves:

• The transaction "Maker” who is responsible for initiating or proposing the transaction, 
• And the transaction "Approver" is responsible for verifying and authorizing the transaction.

The transaction Maker and the transaction Approver have a segregation of duties that prevents mistakes, fraud, or conflicts of interest. 

This follows a concept of the "four-eyes principle" which requires at least one party to authorize another party's information before implementation to ensure task success.

This also means that an additional pair of eyes can verify the accuracy of a transaction with utmost precision.

The concept is widely used in financial organizations and other sectors with strict control, such as expense management and data engineering.

💡Tip: "Maker-approver" and "Maker-checker" are synonymous. This process can also be referred to as "Dual Approval."

Why Maker-approver Matters for Businesses?

1. Accuracy and Efficiency

Maker-approver means the transaction is checked twice.

Hence it generally reduces human errors since the checker can rectify any oversights made by the maker. 

Having clear roles also reduce confusion and miscommunication, ultimately increasing efficiency.

2. Transparency

Unclear processes make it harder to track what went wrong. 

With Maker-approver, businesses can establish a transparent transfer approval process, assigning distinct roles to their teams - one for a transaction Maker and one for a transaction Approver. 

This clear role assignment adds transparency where steps in the workflow are documented, allowing for revisiting any alterations or additional documents.

The overall process makes it easier to trace back in case of future disputes or audits.

3. Security and Control

PwC global report points out that 51% of organizations have faced fraud in recent years. 

With fraud as a threat, relying on just one entity to handle financial transactions may be unsafe.

Instead, using Maker-approver transfer approval flow with more than one individual approving payments provides better security.

This approach enables more informed decision-making, as checkers can double-check transactions. 

Moreover, it acts as a deterrent to internal fraud through a traceable process that holds employees accountable for their actions.

Additionally, businesses could benefit from implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) in Maker-approver, which is a method of verifying the identity of a user by requiring two or more pieces of evidence, such as a password, a code sent to a phone, or a biometric scan. 

MFA prevents unauthorized access to payment systems and accounts by adding an extra layer of security at the outset.

💡Tip: If you are a Statrys Business Account user, we highly recommend enabling MFA in your account settings to further strengthen your financial transactions' security and protect your sensitive information.

4. Scalability

As the business grows, its transactions and complexity increase. Having Maker-approver from the start allows for easy adjustments in rules and workflow to handle the growth effectively.

How Maker-approver Works Through Statrys

Statrys' Maker-approver is a personalized transfer approval flow where you can assign a transaction "Maker" and a transaction "Approver." 

The transaction Maker prepares the transfer for confirmation, and the transaction Approver verifies and proceeds with the payment. 

With Maker-approver, comes a set of features where you can initiate transfers for future approval without balance, prepare FX transfers with indicative rates on weekends, and process large FX transfers anytime.

To implement Statrys Maker-approver workflow, follow the simple steps below:

Assigning the Maker-approver Roles

1. Log in to your account 
2. Go to the “Team” Page
3. Click on the name you want to assign a role
4. Scroll down. You’ll find “Role” with a drop-down list
5. Select the role of either “Transaction Maker” or “Transaction Approver”

Maker Steps

1. Log in to your account 
2. Go to the “Transfer” page
3. Click “Make a Transfer”
4. Fill in the information 
5. Click “Confirm Transfer”
6. You’ll be asked to enter an OTP code 
7. You’ll see that your payment is “Pending Approval”
8. An email will be automatically sent to the approver

Approver Steps

1. Log in to your account 
2. Go to the “Transfer” page
3. You’ll find the “Pending Approval” section
4. Click the binoculars icon on the right-hand side
5. You’ll see transfer details
6. After reviewing, select “Approve Transfer” or “Cancel Transfer”
7. You’ll be asked to enter an OTP code to authorize the transfer