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Setting Up Your Signing Workflow

Last updated August 24, 2026

How Signing Works

Volo Cash uses a staged signing workflow. Expenses move through up to three stages:

  1. Pre-Approve — Optional first stage, often used for committee chairs approving expenses in their programs
  2. Approve — Main approval stage, typically your check signers (treasurer, president, etc.)
  3. Review — Optional final review stage, often an auditor or financial secretary

Each stage must be fully signed before the next stage’s signers are notified. However, signers can sign in any order when logging in to review their queues.

Creating Sign Rules

Each Sign Rule represents a single signature line on a form. So if you need two people to approve an expense, you’ll need two sign rules.

  1. Go to Sign Rules
  2. Click New Sign Rule
  3. Choose which people/roles can sign for this rule (only one role will be required to sign per rule)
  4. Choose the stage (Pre-Approve, Approve, or Review)
  5. Optionally, set a condition that only requires this rule if the expense is above a certain amount

Example Configurations

Simple (President and Treasurer both required):

  • Approve rule with President
  • Approve rule with Treasurer

Alternate Signers (President or VP required, Treasurer required):

  • Approve rule with President and VP
  • Approve rule with Treasurer

Any 2 of 3 (2 of President, VP, and Treasurer required):

  • Approve rule with President, VP, and Treasurer
  • second, Approve rule with President, VP, and Treasurer

Staged (Chair pre-approval, President approval, Treasurer review):

  • Pre-Approve rule with Chair
  • Approve rule with President
  • Review rule with Treasurer

Backup Signers

Each sign rule can also have backup signers. A backup isn’t used unless every regular signer on the rule is recused, usually because the request is a reimbursement to that signer. The rest of the time, backups aren’t notified and aren’t asked to sign.

To add them, edit a sign rule and pick one or more Backup signers. A backup can’t also be a signer or alternate on the same rule.

Note:

  • If a rule is configured with alternates and no backups, the alternate signers can recuse themselves. A backup configuration is not strictly required.
  • If a regular signer on the rule is a check signer, their backups must be check signers too.
  • If no one could be an alternate for the signer because of your configuration, the option to recuse yourself will not be available.
  • A backup still signs only one line per request.

Example Configurations

Single backup for single signer

  • Signers and alternates as Recording Secretary
  • Backup signers as Financial Secretary
  • Result: If Recording Secretary recuses, Financial Secretary will be asked to sign

Implicit alternate fallback

  • Signers and alternates as President or EVP
  • Backup signers not set
  • Result: If EVP recuses, only President will be asked to sign

Alternates plus a backup

  • Signers and alternates as President or EVP
  • Backup signers as Financial Secretary
  • Result: If EVP recuses, President still signs. Only if both President and EVP are recused on the same request is Financial Secretary asked.

Check signers

  • Approve rule with Treasurer, Backup signers as President and VP
  • second, Approve rule with President or VP
  • All 3 roles are check signers
  • Result: If Treasurer recuses, one of President or VP signs on their normal line, the other signs as a backup on the Treasurer’s line.
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