What is FloQast Approval Workflow?

Definition

FloQast Approval Workflow is the structured routing, review, and sign-off of finance close activities within FloQast or a FloQast-supported close environment. It helps accounting teams manage approvals for reconciliations, journal entries, close tasks, supporting schedules, variance explanations, and reporting deliverables with clear ownership, timing, evidence, and status tracking.

How It Works

The workflow starts when a preparer completes a finance item and submits it for review. The item is routed to the assigned reviewer or approver based on account, entity, task type, risk level, due date, or close responsibility. The reviewer checks the evidence, validates the numbers, adds comments where needed, and records approval digitally.

For example, a balance sheet reconciliation may be prepared by an accountant, reviewed by a senior accountant, and approved by a controller before the account is marked complete. This structure is similar to a Multi-Level Approval Workflow used in broader finance operations.

Core Components

• Task ownership for preparers, reviewers, approvers, and controllers.

• Approval status for pending, submitted, reviewed, approved, rejected, or reopened items.

• Evidence such as reconciliations, schedules, comments, and attachments.

• Due dates aligned to the month-end close calendar.

• Audit trail records showing reviewer, timestamp, decision, and sign-off history.

Role in Financial Close

FloQast Approval Workflow supports close discipline by making approvals visible across accounting teams. It helps controllers confirm that account reconciliations, journal support, variance explanations, and close checklist items are reviewed before final reporting. This improves financial reporting quality and helps prevent unsupported balances from moving into management reports.

It is especially useful for Journal Approval Workflow activities, where journal entries need proper support, review comments, and sign-off before or after posting depending on company policy.

Common Use Cases

Finance teams use FloQast Approval Workflow for account reconciliation reviews, close task sign-offs, journal entry approvals, variance analysis, flux review, entity close certification, and audit evidence preparation. It can also support approval paths for accounting items connected to revenue, expenses, assets, leases, vendors, and budgets.

For example, a Revenue Approval Workflow may be used to review billing adjustments or revenue schedules, while an Expense Approval Workflow may support accrual reviews, prepaid expense schedules, and department-level spending checks.

Key Metrics

Useful metrics include approval completion rate, overdue approval count, average approval time, reopened item count, rejected submission count, pending review value, and close task sign-off rate. These metrics help finance leaders understand whether the close is progressing on time and whether key approvals need attention.

For example, if 900 close tasks require approval and 846 are approved before the deadline, the approval completion rate is 94%. If the remaining 54 include cash, revenue, or tax accounts, controllers may prioritize those items before final reporting sign-off.

Specialized Approval Areas

FloQast approval structures can support different finance review needs. A Budget Approval Workflow may help review forecast updates and department submissions. A Vendor Approval Workflow may support supplier setup, bank detail changes, or payment term reviews. A Credit Approval Workflow can support customer limit changes and blocked order decisions.

Other finance areas may include Asset Approval Workflow for capital additions or disposals, Lease Approval Workflow for lease accounting reviews, and Model Approval Workflow for financial planning or valuation models.

Best Practices

• Define approval owners by account, entity, close task, and materiality level.

• Use clear status categories so teams can see what is pending or approved.

• Require evidence and reviewer comments for material balances.

• Track reopened items to identify recurring close quality issues.

• Align approval timing with reporting deadlines and controller sign-off.

Summary

FloQast Approval Workflow helps finance teams route, review, approve, and document close activities in a controlled approval structure. It improves financial reporting quality, audit readiness, cash flow visibility, and operational efficiency by making approvals timely, traceable, and evidence-based.