How to Design Approval Workflows

Overview:

Approval flows allow you to automate internal controls by requiring specific team members to authorize high-risk operations before they execute.

This guide covers:

• Setting up a Workflow: A step-by-step guide to accessing settings and designing your first approval rule.

• Configuring Approval Scenarios: A look at the different operational triggers that can require authorization.

• Operational Use Cases: Examples of automated triggers for payroll, treasury deposits, and high-value transfers.

• Institutional Governance: Best practices for balancing security with operational speed.

Setting up a Workflow

Follow these steps to access and design your custom approval flows:

1. Access Settings: Click the Settings gear icon located at the bottom left-hand corner of the navigation bar.

2. Navigate to Approval Flows: Under the Entity section, select Approval Flow to view all available triggers.

   

3. Choose a Scenario: Toggle the switch "On" for the specific category you wish to secure (e.g., Transaction Management).

4. Design the Flow: Click into the specific workflow to define the number of required approvers and the specific individuals authorized to sign off.

   

Configuring Approval Scenarios

You can enable or disable approvals for specific categories within Reah. Disabling a scenario allows actions to bypass approval and execute directly.

According to your Approval Permissions dashboard, you can set rules for:

• Transaction Management: Workflows for transfers, accounts used, and initiators.

• Approval Flow Management: Rules for creating, modifying, or deleting the flows themselves.

• Owner Controls: Specific workflows that apply only to transactions initiated by an entity owner.

• Entity Management: Approval steps for adding or removing users.

• Permission Management: Workflows for updating user roles or permission groups.

• Wallet & Banking Account Management: Rules for adding/removing wallets or bank accounts.

Common Approval Scenarios

Use these examples to help design a workflow that balances speed with institutional oversight:

1. Automated Thresholds

• Low-Value Efficiency: Auto-approve any transaction under $500 to keep daily operations moving without manual intervention.

• High-Value Security: Require 4/7 multi-sig approval from Finance Directors for any transaction exceeding $100,000.

  

• Execution Safeguards: Set a 48-hour time limit for high-value signatures; if execution does not occur, the request automatically falls back to the Entity Owner for review.

2. Treasury & Payroll Management

• Vault Deposits: Require 2/7 approvals for deposits over $50,000. Set a 24-hour auto-reject to ensure unapproved transfers are cancelled, and funds remain in your primary wallet.

• Bulk Payroll: Require 3/7 approvals from Finance Directors for stablecoin payroll bulk sends exceeding $10,000.

3. Asset Conversions (Swaps)

• Crypto ←→ Fiat: Require 1 approval for any conversion over $1,000 to maintain treasury oversight.

Institutional Governance

To maintain a secure and efficient treasury, we recommend the following standards:

• Dynamic Thresholds: Set higher approval requirements for large transfers while allowing smaller, recurring payments to flow with fewer sign-offs.

• Multi-Role Requirements: For high-risk actions like Permission Management, require at least one Owner and one Admin to approve the change.

• Redundancy: Ensure you have multiple authorized approvers for each flow to prevent operational bottlenecks when a team member is unavailable.