Key takeaways
- This is the only authority table on the website. Use it to resolve conflicts between multiple documents, such as guarantee authority and intercompany transactions.
- All limits are examples for a company with annual revenue above THB 2,000 million. Adjust them to the size of the business and the company's articles of association.
- Related-party transactions, or transactions that bind the whole group, must go to the board even when the amount is small.
Why a single table
When the finance policy, procurement policy and project handbook state different limits, staff will pick whichever version is most convenient, and banks or auditors will raise questions. Set an order of precedence: the articles of association and board resolutions come first, then this table. Other documents should refer to the single table and not copy the figures again.
In preparing this page, the rules were consolidated into a single framework. Bank guarantees are tiered by amount: CFO, CFO with CEO, and the board. Intercompany transactions have three tiers: CFO, CEO with a director, and the board.
Design principles
- Segregation of duties: the preparer, approver and recorder must be different people.
- Aggregate approval: do not split a transaction to avoid a limit.
- Within budget first: limits apply only to items in an approved budget. Anything outside the budget must follow the budget amendment table.
- Interested parties abstain: a director with an interest in a transaction does not vote on it.
- Holding and SPV: an SPV needs its own resolution under its articles even if the Holding has approved, and a JV must be checked against the reserved matters in the joint venture agreement.
Payment authority table
This applies to payments already within budget, both general expenses and construction progress payments. A construction progress payment must always have a payment certificate first.
| Level | Limit per transaction (THB) | Approver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ≤100,000 | Head of department |
| 2 | 100,001–500,000 | Department manager |
| 3 | 500,001–2,000,000 | Treasurer + CFO |
| 4 | 2,000,001–10,000,000 | CFO + CEO |
| 5 | 10,000,001–50,000,000 | CEO + authorised director |
| 6 | Over 50,000,000 | Board |
Topic-specific table (THB million)
| Transaction | Conditions | Approver |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase of new land | In all cases | Board |
| Launch of a new project | Every project | Board |
| Project budget | Initial budget, and amendments over 10% | Board |
| Budget amendment within contingency | Up to 10% | CFO + CEO |
| Approved bank list and signatories | In all cases | Board |
| Opening/closing accounts within the approved framework | Project, Escrow, DSRA | CFO, with a report to the board |
| New project loans, mortgages and collateral | All amounts | Board |
| Refinancing within the existing limit and structure | In all cases | CFO + CEO |
| Refinancing with a change of structure | In all cases | Board |
| Drawdown Notice | Within the approved limit | CFO + CEO |
| Bank Guarantee / L/C | ≤20 | CFO |
| Bank Guarantee / L/C | >20–100 | CFO + CEO |
| Bank Guarantee / L/C | >100 | Board |
| Letter of guarantee for housing estate allocation | In all cases | CFO + CEO |
| Intra-group corporate guarantee | In all cases | Board |
| Annual intercompany loan framework | Set a cap per counterparty | Board |
| Transfers within the intercompany framework | ≤20 | CFO |
| Transfers within the intercompany framework | >20–50 | CEO + director |
| Intercompany transfers over the framework or >50 | In all cases | Board |
| Investment in instruments on the approved list | ≤50 / ≤200 / >200 | CFO / CEO / board |
| FX Forward | ≤50 / ≤100 / >100 | CFO / CEO / board |
| Interest Rate Swap | In all cases | Board |
| Refunds of booking deposits/down payments where the company is not in breach of contract | In all cases | CFO and above |
| Purchases from related companies outside the budget framework | In all cases | Board |
| Variation Order | <10 / ≥10 | Division director / CFO within budget |
Matters reserved at group level
| Topic | CEO | Board | Shareholders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Establishing or winding up a subsidiary | Propose | Approve | — |
| Investment in a JV | Propose | Approve | — |
| Acquisition or sale of a business | Propose | Approve | — |
| Merger, capital increase, capital reduction | Propose | Propose | Approve |
| Interim dividends | — | Approve | — |
| Annual dividends | Propose | Propose | Approve |
| Amendment of the articles of association | Propose | Propose | Approve |
| Personal guarantee by a director or shareholder | — | Acknowledge | Approve |
Shareholder authority must be checked against the law and the articles of association of each company.
Procurement and contracts (THB million)
| Transaction | Manager | Director | CFO/COO | CEO | Above that |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PO for goods | 0.5 | 2 | 10 | 50 | Board |
| PO for services | 0.3 | 1 | 5 | 30 | Board |
| Single Sourcing | 0.1 | 0.5 | 2 | 10 | Board |
| Office CAPEX | 0.1 | 1 | 5 | 30 | Board |
| General contracts | — | 1 | 10 | 50 | Board |
| Bad debt write-off | — | 0.1 | 1 | 10 | Board |
A procurement limit is the approval to incur a commitment, while the payment authority table is the approval to pay. Every transaction must pass both steps, and the same person should not handle all of them.
Putting it into practice
- Check the table against each company's articles of association and certificate of registration.
- Check the resolution requirements the bank needs.
- Set up access rights in e-banking and the ERP to match the table.
- Review at least once a year, and whenever executives change.
- Sample-check smaller transactions that may have been split to avoid a limit.