The four roles that actually exist
In a small company one person may hold several of these. The important part is that approving a reduction is never the same action as recording it, and that the reviewer is not the same person as the chaser.
- Chaser — works the list, makes contact, records promises and outcomes.
- Resolver — the person who ran or sold the job, brought in for disputes.
- Approver — signs off credits, discounts, payment plans and write-offs.
- Reviewer — reads the AR report weekly and asks about the top exposures.
Why separation of duties matters even in a small team
It is not primarily about fraud. It is about drift: without a second pair of eyes, discounts get given to make an awkward call end, and nobody notices the pattern for a year.
A simple rule — reductions above an agreed amount need an approver, and all of them are visible on a weekly report — costs almost nothing and prevents the slow erosion of margin.
Access, not just responsibility
- Financial records should be visible to the roles that need them, and only those.
- Anything sensitive — banking details, signing tokens, portal access — is a narrower group again.
- Every reduction, note and status change should record who did it.
- Turnover should not require rebuilding history from someone's inbox.