Maximising Efficiency with The Maker-Checker Process for Your Business

What is the Maker-Checker Process?

The Maker-Checker process is a quality control method that ensures no one has full control of a business’s financial transactions. Put simply, the Maker-Checker concept means that a minimum of at least two individuals will check over any transaction details: the “Maker”, or the person making the transaction request, and the “Checker”, or the person checking and signing off the details.

This system allows for internal controls on multiple transactions, such as managing invoice payments, employee salaries, and vendor or client reimbursements. It also plays a key role in financial planning tasks such as budget and expense management, updating financial records, and controlling employee access to financial approvals.

The core objective of the Maker-Checker process is to establish a secure and transparent approval workflow. By requiring multiple authorised individuals to review and approve each transaction, it helps build accountability and employer trust.

Benefits of the Maker Checker Process for Business

Many businesses and financial institutions have adopted the Maker-Checker process to secure their accounts and optimise their financial security. This option gives them better control of their business’s finances without the added work while also improving security and reducing operational costs. Some of the key benefits of adopting this “four-eye system” are:

Reduction of Human Errors

As the saying goes, “To err is human”. However, making mistakes can cost a business a lot of money in the long run, whether on hourly salaries for time spent fixing those errors or simply cash lost in erroneous transactions.

By adding another pair of eyes to check transaction details and input data, the Maker-Checker concept ensures a reduction of these human errors and unauthorised activities, which ultimately leads to better business efficiency and cost savings.

Risk Management

There are people who seek to profit from enterprises carrying out financial transactions with low security or minimal checks. One way these individuals can easily commit fraud is by purposefully inputting the wrong data or manipulating employees to set up payments that benefit them. Thus, adding a second person to verify all financial data and ensure accuracy, especially for high-value transactions, can reduce the success rate of these fraudulent activities.

An Atmosphere of Accountability

When employees know that the payments they set up or the financial data they input are being checked by someone else, they also know that there is a stronger audit trail. This concept ensures adherence to rules and a more responsible approach to company banking, as well as better employee accountability, which can lead to a more responsible work environment.

Simpler Adherence to Regulatory Requirements

Financial statements and accounting books can become complicated, but by using a system that includes both a Maker and a Checker, companies can ensure clear audit trails, verified payments, and tracked input data, all of which make implementing regulatory checks easier.

Additionally, companies can use the Maker-Checker system to nominate a second individual with good working knowledge of regulatory requirements as the Checker. This will reduce the risk of auditing and speed up the process if it is unavoidable.

Streamlined Workflow

Adding additional layers or increased human intervention can feel like an overcomplication. However, the Maker Checker method saves time and money in the long run since it improves security and payment accuracy, reduces the risk of fraud and mistakes, streamlines adherence to regulatory requirements, and creates an environment of accountability and responsible banking.

How Does the Maker-Checker Process Work?

The Maker-Checker process can be employed differently depending on industry requirements. The general steps are as follows:

1. The Maker makes the action:

The first person initiates an action, such as requesting a payment transaction, submitting an invoice, or updating the financial statements and records. These are the actions of the “Maker”.

2. The action is submitted for review:

The Maker’s action is sent to the second person, the “Checker”, via an automated channel or manual submission, depending on the available technology.

3. The Checker checks the action:

The Checker looks over the Maker’s request, checking for accuracy, conformity with company policies, and regulatory compliance. Following this, the Checker either validates the request, refuses it, or marks it as pending approval following further amendments by the Maker.

Additionally, depending on the company or value of the transaction, there can be multiple Checkers, so this step can be repeated multiple times.

4. The action is logged for regulatory requirements and audit trails:

With the Maker-Checker concept, every action taken is tracked and saved, meaning there is always a clear audit trail, a sense of undisputed accountability, and easier regulatory compliance. This process reduces risk and fraud. It also saves time, money, and stress during accountancy and audit processes.

Implementing a Maker Checker Process in Expense Management: How Aspire Can Help

If your business is looking to implement the Maker-Checker process in financial operations, Aspire’s Business Account offers a practical solution. This process is built into Aspire’s Payable Management and Expense Management solutions.

With Aspire’s Payable Management, you can customise approval workflows based on your internal spending policies. Instead of allowing your Accounts Payable team to process all invoices immediately, payments must go through up to three levels of approval. This ensures that each invoice is properly reviewed and authorised before funds are disbursed, giving you greater control and full visibility over your outgoing payments.

From the Expense Management side, Aspire also integrates the Maker-Checker process to streamline employee claims and reimbursements. Employees can easily upload or scan receipts using the Aspire mobile app. You can then set up customised multi-level approval workflows based on your company’s spend policies, making it easy to review and approve each claim. Once all designated approvers (or “checkers”) have approved the claim, the reimbursement can be processed.

Aspire’s centralised dashboard lets you track the approval status of each claim, disburse funds, and review claim history. This gives you full transparency over who is spending what, helping you prevent fraud and maintain tighter control over expenses.

How the Maker-Checker Process Works in Aspire

The Maker-Checker method is fully integrated into Aspire’s platform, empowering businesses to reduce financial risks through multi-level approval workflows. These workflows offer a structured and traceable system that enhances both internal control and financial transparency. By implementing this method, businesses can build trust within their teams and ensure responsible expense management—making Aspire a reliable choice for companies seeking smarter financial operations.

Moreover, there are two key features that strengthen Aspire's Maker-Checker workflow:

Parent Budgets and Sub-Budgets

Aspire’s parent budget and sub-budget systems allow for a tiered budgeting system with tight financial controls on expenses. One parent budget can have up to three sub-budget levels under its control, with each sub-budget level having multiple other sub-budgets within.

A business can have many of these budget structures, with each one opened at a client, team, or project level. This clear allocation of funds means clearer transaction traceability with digital logs for better expense management, simpler asset placement for individual projects, and tighter controls on cash flow.

Budget Owners

To properly adopt a Maker and Checker system, it’s important to understand the role of a budget owner. Each budget can have multiple budget owners who can access the budget and the information within. However, not every budget owner will have financial transfer rights. If a budget owner does not have transfer rights, they cannot give transfer rights to another budget owner. This means that only assigned budget owners can authorise transactions, leading to increased trust and security.

For additional layers of accountability, budget owners in the levels above or in the parent budget can view and assess every action. This system not only ensures that financial transactions are double-checked, but it also helps maintain a distributed workload for each project to assist in creating an efficient workflow. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Maker Approver process?

The Maker Approver process is a transaction verification method used by multiple businesses, financial institutions, and platforms. The process utilises multiple parties to validate financial transactions to create a more secure finance management system that reduces human error and fraud.

What is the role of the Maker Approver?

The Maker-Checker process requires a minimum of two people to check and validate a financial transaction. These two people are known as the “Maker” and the “Approver”, or “Checker”. The Maker is the individual requesting the creation of the financial transaction, while the Approver/Checker is the person, usually of a higher rank within the company, who checks and validates the Maker’s request.

Can the Checker and Maker be the same person?

In order for the Maker-Checker process to work properly, the Maker and the Checker have to be different people. Humans are prone to errors, such as adding an extra zero to a payment by mistake or deleting important financial information when editing documents. Ensuring each transaction is checked by more than one person can drastically reduce such outcomes.

Another reason that the Maker and Checker cannot be the same person is that this process can only avoid fraudulent activities if multiple people are involved. If a fraudster can validate their own transactions, there is little hope of stopping them. Proper Maker Checker functionality needs a different Maker and Checker.

What are the steps for approval?

The steps for approval in the Maker-Checker system are: “the Maker makes the request”, “the request is submitted for approval”, “the Checker checks the request” and “the Checker authorises or refuses the request”. In cases where an amendment is needed, “the request is sent to the Maker for modifications” and then “the request is sent back to the Checker for validation”. 

What is the difference between an approver and a decision-maker?

There are many stages of decision-making in the Maker-Checker process. However, in terms of the final decision to approve or deny a financial transaction request, there is no difference between the approver and the decision maker; the same person should occupy this important role.