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Compliance & Governance

Delegation of Authority (DOA)

Also known as: DOA, Authority Matrix

Delegation of authority (DOA) is the documented set of spending limits that defines who in an organisation can approve purchases of what value.

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A DOA, often shown as an authority matrix, maps roles or positions to approval thresholds — for example, a manager can approve up to a certain ringgit value, a director higher, and the board or a committee above that. It ensures larger commitments get proportionate scrutiny while low-value buys are approved quickly.

The DOA underpins the approval workflow: every requisition is routed to the right approver based on its value and category. Enforcing it in a system, rather than on paper, prevents purchases from being split to dodge a threshold and gives auditors clear evidence that each order was approved at the correct level.

Example

If the DOA sets a manager's limit at RM10,000, a RM25,000 requisition must escalate to the next authorised level rather than being approved by the manager or split into smaller orders.

Frequently asked questions

What is a delegation of authority in procurement?
A delegation of authority is the documented matrix of approval limits that sets who can authorise purchases of a given value, so bigger commitments receive higher-level sign-off.
How does a DOA prevent order splitting?
When the DOA is enforced in a system, requisitions cannot be broken into smaller amounts to stay under a threshold — the total value determines the required approver.

Go deeper

Approval matrix templateApproval workflow cost calculator

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