Offer Approval Workflow: How to Stop Offers Going Out Over Budget

An offer that goes out above budget is hard to take back. The candidate has seen the number, and withdrawing or lowering it damages trust before they've even joined. An offer approval workflow makes sure the right people agree to the terms before the candidate sees them.

What an unapproved offer costs

• Budget drift: a few offers slightly above band add up across a year of hiring.
• Internal pay gaps: a new hire paid more than the team they join creates questions you'll need to answer.
• Withdrawn offers: pulling back an offer after the fact hurts your employer brand and the candidate.
• No record: when someone asks later who agreed to the number, there's nothing to point to.

Start with budget bands

Give every job an internal salary band (a minimum and maximum) when the role is approved. It's the reference point for every offer: inside the band, the recruiter can send it; above it, someone has to approve. Keep the band internal. It shouldn't appear in job adverts or feeds.

Decide which offers need approval

Keep the chain as short as the risk allows. If every offer needs three approvals, approvers stop reading them.

Re-approve when terms change

Negotiation changes offers. If the CTC, the joining bonus or the designation changes after approval, the earlier approval no longer covers what you're sending. The safe rule is simple: any change to those terms starts approval again.

Track acceptance and drop-off

Once the offer is approved and sent, track it to the end:

• When the candidate opened it, and whether they accepted or declined.
• Offers close to their expiry date, so someone follows up in time.
• Why candidates declined, so you can see whether the band itself is the problem.

Checklist

1. 1Every job has an internal budget band before it goes live.
2. 2Offers above the band can't be sent until approved.
3. 3A joining bonus triggers approval.
4. 4Changing the CTC, bonus or designation restarts approval.
5. 5Approvers can act from email, with a comment on rejection.
6. 6Every approval is recorded with who approved and when.

Who should approve which offers

Match the approver to the risk. A recruiter can send an offer inside the band. Above the band, the person who owns the budget should approve. Joining bonuses and non-standard terms (a notice-period buyout, relocation, a sign-on equity grant) usually need HR as well, because they set precedents for future offers.

Negotiation and counter-offers

Expect some candidates to negotiate. Decide in advance how much room the recruiter has without going back to approvers (for example, anywhere inside the band) and who decides beyond that. When a candidate brings a counter-offer from their current employer, the decision is about the role, not just the number: is this person worth more than the band, and what does that mean for the team they're joining?

Keeping the candidate warm while you wait

• Tell the candidate when to expect the offer, and keep that promise.
• If approval takes longer than planned, call them; silence is when other offers win.
• Don't share numbers that haven't been approved, even informally.

Keep a record

For every offer, keep who approved it, when, and what the terms were at that moment. If terms change and are re-approved, keep both versions. That record answers the questions that come up at appraisal time, in audits and in disputes.

Doing this in OneATS