By Liam Ridgill

15th September 2025

Multi-Level Payroll Approvals – your path to a smoother payday

Managing payroll is always critical, but when your organisation runs multiple payrolls (say, across different sites, departments, or branches), the approval process can quickly become a confusing maze of emails, spreadsheets, and internal sign-offs.

This complexity isn’t just time-consuming; it is also risky. When approvals get complicated, mistakes slip through. Deadlines get missed.

People don’t get paid on time. And that’s when the real headaches start.

That’s where a well-designed Multi-Level Payroll Approval workflow makes all the difference.

What is Multi-Level Approval for payroll?

Multi-Level Approval is simply a process where different payroll runs are reviewed and authorised separately, with the ability to involve multiple approvers in a set sequence.

Instead of one person giving a final “yes,” the payroll must pass through several checkpoints, therefore, ensuring maximum accuracy and compliance.

It’s not complicated – it’s just organised. Each payroll run follows a clear path through your approval process, with built-in checkpoints to catch problems before they become disasters.

Here’s how it works in practice

A company might run separate payrolls for different employee groups, each requiring a different approval structure, for example:

Level 1 (Payroll Team) – Approves the initial data for the salaried staff payroll.
Level 2 (Finance Team) – Reviews the final budget and cost implications.
Level 3 (Executive/CEO) – Provides the final, high-level sign-off.

Via Elementary, we can customise any number of levels to match your organisation’s unique structure and compliance requirements perfectly.
And it can be as granular as you need it to be.

Different payrolls can have a different number of levels
Within each level, there can be multiple people who can approve at that level
The rules on each level can be conditional, so for example, one person from each level or multiple people from level 2 and one person from level 2

Let’s say you’re running payroll for a company with office staff and field workers. Each group needs different people to sign off:

Office Staff Payroll

Level 1: HR team checks the basics (any 1 of 4 HR users has the authority to approve)
Level 2: Finance reviews the numbers (2 people have the authority and are required to approve)
Level 3: Finance Director gives final approval

Field Workers Payroll

Level 1: Operations Manager confirms hours
Level 2: Regional Director checks overtime against the budget
Level 3: Finance Director signs off on costs (3 people have the authority to approve)
Level 4: Director of People Services gives final approval

Every payroll follows its own route with no confusion about who needs to approve what and no chasing the wrong person for sign-off. Just a clear process that everyone understands.

Ascend’s seamless Multi-Level Approval solution

We built our Multi-Level Approval feature because we got tired of seeing businesses struggle with payroll chaos. Our Elementary platform handles all your different payroll runs in one place, with approvals that actually make sense. This newly launched Multi-Level Approval
feature is a key addition to the Elementary platform.

Assign unique approvers – specify who needs to sign off on which payroll runs.
Set the approval sequence – define the exact order of authorisation with the ability to have multiple approvers per level.
Track progress in real-time – see exactly where each payroll run stands. No more guessing or chasing emails.

You get to;

Set your own rules and change them when you need to
Have a complete view of what is happening at any point in your payroll
Keep things moving with automatic reminders
Track everything with a full audit trail of who approved what and when

Why this matters more than you think

Getting approvals right isn’t just about ticking boxes. It’s about protecting your business and your people.

When payroll approval is a mess, mistakes happen. Wrong rates get paid. Overtime gets miscalculated or missed. Statutory payments go missing. These aren’t small problems – they’re the kind of issues that end up costing serious money and damaging relationships with your team.

Most businesses think their current approval process is fine. Until they add up how much time gets wasted chasing approvals, fixing mistakes, and dealing with payroll problems that should never have happened.

Multi-level Approval catches these problems before they reach your employees’ pay packets. It ensures the right people are checking the right things at the right time.

Ascend includes Multi-Level Approvals by default

Multi-Level Approval might sound complex, but with the right tool, it becomes a streamlined, transparent, and error-resistant workflow.

Ascend’s Multi-Level Approval feature, now part of our Elementary platform, is uniquely designed to give your organisation granular control over each payroll step, ensuring compliance, reducing bottlenecks, and adapting to your specific approval processes. It’s built by people who understand that payroll isn’t just about processing numbers—it’s about accuracy and flexibility, every time, in a way that fits your organisation.

If you would like to see Multi-Level Approval in action, contact us for a demo

Author

Liam Ridgill
Liam started his career as a software services apprentice at a managed IT services and ERP software company, learning the technology and project management side of the business from the ground up.
He went on to join a data software development house as a Project Manager, moved into product management, then became Deputy Operations Manager. From there, he moved to one of the UK’s biggest payroll software providers, where he worked his way up to Product Management Manager.
In 2025, he joined the Ascend Group, bringing that product experience back to a business built by payroll people, for payroll people.
As Product & Commercial Director, Liam’s focus is on what clients see and use. He leads the development of Luna Software and the Elementary platform, deciding which features get built and how they fit into everyday payroll life. He also leads commercial growth across the Group.
As CISO, he looks after information security and quality across the Group. That covers Ascend’s ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certifications and its CIPP Payroll Assurance Scheme accreditation. He’s a finalist in the CIPP Spotlight Awards and, since November 2026, a full member of the CIPP.
For Liam, good technology should make life simpler for everyone it touches.
“The best payroll technology is the kind you barely notice. It does the heavy lifting quietly in the background, so payroll teams can spend their time on the people they’re paying.
I’ve worked on both the operations and product side, and I’ve learned that a feature only earns its place if it solves a real problem for the person using it. That’s why we build our software with payroll professionals, listen to the people using it every day and keep improving it with every release.”
That thinking runs through everything his team builds: start with the real problem, then make the fix as easy to use as possible.
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Liam is Product & Commercial Director and CISO for the Ascend Group, and a full member of the CIPP (MCIPP). He has 14 years of experience in payroll, accounting and HR software. He shapes the products and platforms Ascend’s clients use every day, making sure each one is built around how payroll teams and employees actually work.

Frequently asked questions related to this blog

What is multi-level payroll approval and why do businesses need it?

Multi-level approval is a process where different payroll runs are reviewed and authorised separately, with multiple approvers involved in a set sequence. Instead of one person giving a final yes, the payroll passes through several checkpoints to catch problems before they become disasters. When your organisation runs multiple payrolls across different sites, departments, or branches, the approval process can quickly become a confusing maze of emails, spreadsheets, and internal sign-offs. That complexity is not just time-consuming. It is risky. When approvals get complicated, mistakes slip through, deadlines get missed, and people do not get paid on time.

How does multi-level approval work in practice?

Each payroll run follows a clear path through your approval process with built-in checkpoints. A company might run separate payrolls for different employee groups, each requiring a different approval structure. For office staff, HR might check the basics at Level 1, Finance reviews the numbers at Level 2, and the Finance Director gives final approval at Level 3. For field workers, the route might involve an Operations Manager, Regional Director, Finance Director, and Director of People Services across four levels. Different payrolls can have different numbers of levels. Within each level, there can be multiple people who can approve. Rules can be conditional, requiring one person from each level or multiple people from a specific level. Every payroll follows its own route with no confusion about who needs to approve what.

What features does Ascend's Elementary platform offer for payroll approvals?

Ascend’s Multi-Level Approval feature on the Elementary platform lets you assign unique approvers for each payroll run, set the exact approval sequence with multiple approvers per level, and track progress in real time so you always know where each payroll stands. You can set your own rules and change them when needed, maintain a complete view of what is happening at any point, keep things moving with automatic reminders, and track everything with a full audit trail of who approved what and when. The platform handles all your different payroll runs in one place, with approvals that actually make sense for your organisation’s structure.

What problems does multi-level approval prevent?

When payroll approval is a mess, mistakes happen. Wrong rates get paid. Overtime gets miscalculated or missed. Statutory payments go missing. These are not small problems. They are the kind of issues that cost serious money and damage relationships with your team. Most businesses think their current approval process is fine until they add up how much time gets wasted chasing approvals, fixing mistakes, and dealing with payroll problems that should never have happened. Multi-level approval catches these problems before they reach your employees’ pay packets, ensuring the right people are checking the right things at the right time.

Is multi-level approval included with Ascend's payroll service?

Yes. Multi-Level Approval is included by default as part of Ascend’s Elementary platform. It is designed to give your organisation granular control over each payroll step, ensuring compliance, reducing bottlenecks, and adapting to your specific approval processes. The number of levels can be customised to match your organisation’s unique structure and compliance requirements, and it can be as granular as you need. Whether you run payrolls for office staff, field workers, or multiple sites with different approval chains, the workflow is built to fit how your organisation actually operates rather than forcing you into a one-size-fits-all process.

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About the Author

Liam is Product & Commercial Director and CISO for the Ascend Group, and a full member of the CIPP (MCIPP). He has 14 years of experience in payroll, accounting and HR software. He shapes the products and platforms Ascend’s clients use every day, making sure each one is built around how payroll teams and employees actually work.

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