Define approval precisely
Tie approval to a legal entity and controlled category taxonomy. Record scope, sites, thresholds, geography, contract dependencies and any conditions. Prevent users from treating a related company or different service as automatically approved.
Use governed status transitions
Define prospect, onboarding, approved, conditional, suspended, rejected and inactive states, plus who may change them. Expired mandatory evidence, critical incidents and confirmed sanctions findings should trigger explicit workflows rather than silent status changes.
Monitor what can change
Schedule reviews by risk and trigger reassessment for ownership, bank, scope, access, location, incident, performance or regulatory changes. Notify accountable owners before evidence expires and prevent low-value reminders from overwhelming critical alerts.
Measure the list's usefulness
Track approved coverage by category, unused suppliers, concentration, conditional approvals, expired evidence, cycle time, exception age and purchases outside approved channels. Rationalise redundant records while preserving competition and resilience.
Related resources
Sources and research basis
This guide distinguishes general control recommendations from legal requirements. It is general information, not legal advice; applicability varies by entity, sector, jurisdiction and contract.