— Capex Approval Software —
How a global company put an unyielding approval workflow on autopilot.
Challenge: When workarounds and burdens become unsustainable
It’s not that they didn’t have an existing approval process; they did. But it couldn’t do what it needed to do, and it became a big liability.
A reorg meant weeks of manually rebuilding approval queues and patching delegation-of-authority gaps. New budgeting criteria from leadership? Another workaround with a patchwork of email notices, template edits and spreadsheet comments. During budget season, when the process hit its peak, status updates went stale, queues backed up, and teams skirted the process just to keep projects on schedule.
When did the “dam” finally break? It was a combination of a custom solution reaching end-of-life status and the only person who truly knew how to navigate it deciding to take another job elsewhere.
Opportunity: Workflow Purpose-Built for Enterprise Capex Complexity
What this company needed was an approval system that could change seamlessly as the company did, whether due to shifts in how and when projects were evaluated, or changing demands for the essential data needed to manage the entire portfolio.
In Finario, those changes are configuration, not code. A process owner updates routing rules, forecast thresholds, and approver hierarchies in minutes; no IT ticket, no development queue, no release window. The change takes effect dynamically across every in-flight and future request, and the system enforces process compliance rather than relying on people’s memory.
Routing by spend level, project type, asset class, business unit, risk category, or any combination the organization defines is automatic; overrun thresholds instantly trigger re-approval when breached; and every action is time-stamped and logged, producing an ironclad audit trail. No versions to install, no upgrade projects to schedule, and no end-of-life cliffs waiting downstream.
A 5-Point APPROVAL AUTOMATION Action Plan
Standardize the request input requirements -- and make it adaptive
Every capital request should capture the same core data: project rationale, costs, required ROI, risk assessment, and strategic alignment. When requirements change, update the template once, centrally; they’ll apply to every new request immediately. No forms circulating in three versions, no IT involvement.
Build tiered routing logic designed to be reconfigured as needed
Define routing rules that escalate based on spend level, asset class, risk category and business unit. Then treat reconfiguration as a benefit, not a crisis: when the org chart shifts or authority levels change, a process owner can update the rules in minutes so that the right requests reach the right approvers automatically, every time.
Bring requests and approvals into the modern age
Improve decision-making by enabling approvers to evaluate projects in their local currency and language, easily compare projects across multiple cohorts with stack ranking, and benchmark days-to-approval metrics to enforce decisiveness. Moreover, give stakeholders visibility into the entire approval funnel, at any time.
Create a real-time approval dashboard visible to all stakeholders
A shared, live view of every request in the pipeline, including status, approver queue, and elapsed time, will eliminate follow-up burden and nudge slow movers. Keep peak periods orderly and surface bottlenecks in the dashboard instead of in the “ether.”
Connect approvals to the capital plan automatically
An approved project that doesn’t update the forecast is a governance gap. Ensure that every approval triggers an immediate update to committed spend, budget availability, and cash flow projection. Connected to the ERP, every approval triggers the downstream capital planning updates that keep forecasts accurate and portfolios current. Meanwhile, the process and its history stay intact, even when projects carry over, year over year.
Trusted by industrial enterprises worldwide
The fact that people can see where their investments are in the workflow all the time has certainly simplified people’s lives. We get kudos for this is the greatest thing ever.
PMO LEADER PAPER & PACKAGING
Finario has increased the speed of our approvals; reporting is much faster, and I have much more confidence in the data. It allows us to maintain all project-related information in a single location.
FP&A, Global Consumer Products Manufacturer
“Every time an investment is raised in Finario, hand on heart, I can tell you that it’s going through the right approval process. There is no chance I would put money on that pre-Finario. And you can’t put a dollar figure on the time and anxiety we’re now saving by administering and rolling out this system. ”
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTANT AND BUSINESS ANALYST, WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTION
Solution Plan: Schedule a Demo
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