Who should approve refunds, discounts and overtime in a field services company?
Give each approval one owner and a limit. For example: the dispatcher approves refunds up to $100, the service manager up to $500 and discounts up to 10%, and the general manager approves overtime inside the weekly budget. Anything above a limit goes to the owner. Review the limits after 30 days.
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An example approval table
Every number below is an example. Replace it with yours.
| Role | Refunds and credits | Discounts | Overtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dispatcher | Up to $100 per job | None | None |
| Crew lead | None | None | Up to 2 hours per tech per day, to finish a job |
| Service manager | Up to $500 per job | Up to 10% off the quote | Up to 5 hours per tech per week |
| General manager | Up to $2,000 per job | Up to 15% off the quote | Inside the weekly overtime budget |
| Owner | Above $2,000 | Above 15%, or any change to standard pricing | Above the budget |
If a role has no number, it doesn't approve.
How to set your own limits
Answer three questions for each approval:
- What do you already approve without reading? If you'd sign a $300 refund without a second look, that's a limit someone else can hold.
- What does a wrong call cost? A $100 credit on a missed appointment costs $100. A 15% discount on a maintenance contract repeats every year. Set the limit lower where the mistake repeats.
- How often does it come up? Approvals that happen every day go to the person closest to the work. Approvals that happen once a month can sit higher.
What goes back to the owner
The limit covers the amount. The escalation trigger covers everything else. Common triggers:
- The amount is over the top limit on the table. - The same customer asks a third time in 90 days. - The customer mentions a lawyer, a review site or cancelling the contract. - A discount changes standard pricing instead of one job. - Overtime pushes the week over budget, or the same tech goes over two weeks in a row.
Everything else stays with the person named. The owner sees the list of exceptions once a week, not each approval as it happens.
How to roll it out in one meeting
- Bring the table to the leadership meeting, with your numbers in it.
- Go row by row. Each person agrees to their limit out loud.
- Agree on the triggers. Write them under the table.
- Put the page where dispatch and the field team can see it.
- From the next morning, send any request inside a limit back to the person named.
Refunds, discounts and overtime are three rows. The full version, with hiring, vendors and payables, is a decision authority matrix. You can download the 12-decision matrix and fill it in at the same meeting. If approvals still pile up on you after that, start with the 7-day decision log.
What an AI agent can approve once the limits are written
Once a limit is written down, an agent can follow it. A refund request under $100 with a logged missed appointment: the agent issues the credit and notes it on the job. A request for $800: the agent stops and sends it to the general manager with the job history attached.
Every agent runs until it hits a gate a person still owns. The table above is where those gates are. Each limit also goes into the SOP for that process, as its authority limit.
You always need to know who is responsible. And it can't be AI.
Where this sits in SCOPE™ by Efficiency Sprint
SCOPE™ by Efficiency Sprint maps where a company stands: Stabilize, Codify, Ownership, Pulse, Engine. Approval limits are Ownership: people run it reliably. It comes before Pulse, where AI watches and reports, and Engine, where AI acts within guardrails.
In one engagement, $1.2M of $1.4M in overdue receivables was collected in three months once one person owned receivables.
Find out where your company stands
Efficiency Sprint makes companies operationally ready for AI. The operational AI readiness check takes about two minutes and shows where your company stands.
Questions
Who should approve overtime?
The person who builds the schedule, up to a weekly budget. Crew leads can hold a small daily limit to finish a job. Anything over budget goes to the owner.
What is a reasonable refund limit?
Start with the amount you already approve without reading. For example: $100 for the dispatcher, $500 for the service manager. Raise it if the same request keeps reaching you.
Should discounts need approval?
Above a set percentage, yes. Under it, the person quoting decides. A discount repeats on every invoice that follows, so the limit for discounts is usually tighter than for refunds.
How often should limits be reviewed?
After the first 30 days, then every quarter. Prices change, people get promoted, volume grows. If the same exception shows up three weeks in a row, the limit is wrong. Change the number and keep the decision where it is.