Approval

Here you will find information about approving invoices, travel expense reports, etc. as well as instructions.

Definition

Approval = authorisation to allocate public authority funds and responsibility for ensuring that the funds are used:

within the limits of the public authority’s activities,
within the limits of the resources allocated by the public authority,
in accordance with applicable rules.

This responsibility does not only apply to decisions regarding payments but all decisions that involve entering into financial obligations on behalf of the University, for example:

procurement decisions,
product orders,
supplier invoices,
requests for/replenishment of card for petty cash,
remuneration for temporary or hourly workers,
compensation for additional working hours, overtime, inconvenient and on-call working hours,
travel cost advances,
travel expense and reimbursement reports.

Costs related to yourself

You may not approve your own expenses (travel invoices, personal equipment purchases, travel expense reports etcetera). Such personal expenses must be approved at a higher level. For example, travel expenses incurred by a head of department in their research activities must be approved by the head of the faculty office.

For a complete list, see the Approval rules (Section 5):

Approval rules – regulations regarding the right to allocate public authority funds I 2020 I (PDF 240 kB, new tab)

Duties of the head of department

The head of department has the right to allocate public authority funds through the approval of the decisions above (see example under Definition). When the head of department is not available, the acting head of department has this right.

The head of department is always responsible for the entire financial situation and internal control of the department, regardless of delegation.

Read what to consider when drawing up authorisation and approval procedures in your organisation (Finance Pages, in Swedish)