Busting common myths about financial controls and approvals

Do you or your clients still hold misconceptions about the benefits of approval automation? Let's take a closer look at three common myths and how to debunk them to help build more robust financial controls.

By ApprovalMax

February 20, 2025

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Strong financial controls are a must for protecting your clients' businesses, yet many still have misconceptions that put them at risk. To debunk some of these myths, we spoke with ApprovalMax’s Head of Accounting in North America, Helina Patience, about the common misunderstandings clients have about approvals, fraud prevention, and financial controls.

Myth #1: Manual approval processes work just fine

Many businesses still rely on complex manual approval workflows. While this might seem fine, in reality it can be slow, clunky, and quickly drains resources and revenue. Client teams often have limited time so spending it on slow processes is a waste of time for everyone involved.

One of Helina’s clients had a team of 50 people, yet their approvals involved manually stamping, signing, and copying paper documents that were then circulated around the office. This led to too many misplaced documents, frequent approval bottlenecks, and an overall lack of efficiency.

One major issue was expense reimbursements. Employees had to pay out-of-pocket, submit reports with physical receipts, and then wait for multiple approvers to review – sometimes up to five layers! By shifting to an automated approval system, the organisation eliminated the paperwork chaos and significantly sped up approvals.

This became even more critical when, just two weeks after building their tech stack, the pandemic forced everyone to work remotely. Thanks to putting the right tools in place, employee reimbursements ran smoothly without any more financial burden falling on staff.

Myth #2: It’s fine to trust a family member or friend with financial management

Many small clients often turn to family members or friends to manage their finances. While this might seem cost-effective, it can create major risks if proper financial controls aren’t in place.

Helina recalls a case where a wholesale business, owned by a brother and sister, brought in a trusted family friend – a qualified CPA – to take care of their financial operations. Assuming their finances were in good hands, they gave him full control over all of their approvals and other bookkeeping needs.

Over time, he manipulated multiple QuickBooks files, making it impossible to reconcile accounts properly. After years of investigation, it turned out that he had embezzled funds, hiding transactions through a web of disorganised financial records. This fraud went undetected for a long time and resulted in a major financial loss.

Myth #3: Our business is too small to need scalable approval processes

Many clients don’t realise how quickly their business operations might scale and put off thinking about financial processes until later. It’s much easier – and smarter – to set up scalable approval processes sooner rather than later.

Helina works with several high-growth companies who have experienced this problem. She mentions one who started with a simple operating system in place but soon expanded internationally. Fortunately, they already had an automated approval system in place for accounts payable and expenses so when their team began traveling overseas more often, it was easy to manage reimbursements without impacting financial controls.

This structured approval process also protected them from fraud. A very clever phishing scam tried to divert payments but was caught immediately because of their strong controls. you’ll want to explain or prove to them that their outdated manual processes are costing them more time and money in the long run. With approval automation, they'll start seeing time and cost savings in just days or weeks.

The importance of robust financial controls

While financial controls might seem like extra work when everything is running smoothly, they offer critical protections when problems arise.

By sharing real-world examples – like fraud cases and inefficiencies – clients can clearly see the value of automated approvals and workflows. Trust is important, but it should always come with built-in checks and balances. Approval workflows and financial controls don’t slow down operations; they protect and secure them.

Helina Patience has 15+ years of global experience in Finance & HR across many industries, including tech and manufacturing. She is a QuickBooks Elite Level ProAdvisor, sits on the Canadian Intuit Proadvisor Accountant's Council, and is a mentor for CPABC, Futurpreneur, and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs.