The mandate
one page that says what the autopilot may pay
A mandate is a budget with a name on it: what part of the company may pay, from which account, up to how much, and what still waits for a person. Your company signs it once, and the autopilot never steps outside it.
A sample mandate
Four things on one page
for a studio of forty people
- DDeliveryMira$11,400 of $18,000By itself to $2,000
- TToolsAlex$2,650 of $3,000By itself
- MMarketingSam$1,900 of $6,000Pilot · day 12
- Over $10,000
- Both founders sign
- New payee
- Sanctions check, then an owner
- Invoice to a client
- Sent at your press
- 1Positions
Delivery, Tools, Marketing: parts of the company, each with the person who runs it now.
- 2Budgets
What each may spend this month, and how far a single payment goes by itself.
- 3How far it goes alone
From a press to by itself, turned on by the position's owner after the pilot.
- 4Rules above it
Signing rules and policies that hold whatever a budget says.
Positions
A budget belongs to a job
not to whoever holds it today
- DeliveryMiraAlex stands in until 20 Oct
- ToolsAlexPays by itselfResearch agentAn agent of the Tools position
- SalesVacantSpends nothing, agents only propose
- Someone new on the job
- The budget, the positions under it and its agents stay. Only the name changes.
- Someone away
- A deputy acts for the position inside its limits until a date, and the log says for whom. On that date it all returns by itself.
- Someone gone
- The position falls vacant: it spends nothing, its signatures go one level up, and its agents can only propose until someone is named.
Past the budget
Who signs when it does not fit
and the rules no budget can override
- $1,000 to $10,000
- Mira or Alex signs
- Over $10,000
- Both founders sign
- A new payee
- Sanctions check, then an owner
- Bank details changed
- A person, always
- One signature from the issuer
- A payment past a budget or a limit goes to the position that gave the mandate. One signature, unless the signing rules ask for more.
- The stricter of the two
- Signing rules stand above every mandate. Where a rule asks for two people, two sign, whatever the budget says.
- Rules in bands
- Signing rules run top to bottom in amount bands, each with its own accounts and named signers. A payment that falls between two bands is refused, never sent unsigned.
- An allowance per person
- A person can get a monthly allowance. Payments, bills marked paid and deposits all count against it, and past it the next payment waits for a signature.
Policies
A policy on every record
not only on payments
- Allow
Your usual supplier, its usual bill.
- Allow and tell
Team card spend; the owner hears.
- After a check
A new payee: sanctions, bank details, documents.
- After a review
A client invoice, read by its owner first.
- Forbid
A personal card paid by the company.
- Your written policy
A reviewer reads claims and card spends against it, quotes the clause, and decides nothing.
Roles stay the floor: what someone may do at all. A policy on top only narrows how. An account can be hidden from everyone but the people you pick.
Changing it
Loosening waits
tightening is instant
- Raise Tools to $5,000Waits for the second founderWaits
- Let Marketing pay by itselfWaits for the second founderWaits
- Lower Delivery to $15,000Applied nowApplied
- Pause every paymentApplied nowApplied
- Anything that loosens control
- A bigger budget, a new person, a position going by itself, a new agent key: it waits for a second owner or an admin.
- Anything that tightens it
- A smaller budget, a pause, taking someone off a position: it applies the moment you press.
Your first mandate
Drafted in one conversation
on a thirty minute call
- 1What you pay every month
We read last month's bills and payouts with you and group them into the parts of the company that own them.
- 2Who owns each part
A position per part, the person on it, and a budget that fits what it really spends.
- 3How far it may go
Every position starts at the press. The ones you trust most go into the pilot first.
Questions
About the mandate
the short answers
Does the autopilot pay anything outside the mandate?
No. Past a budget or a limit a payment waits for the position that issued the mandate, and the signing rules above it still hold.
What happens when someone leaves?
Their position falls vacant. It spends nothing, its signatures go one level up, and its agents can only propose until you name someone new. The budget stays.
Can one person loosen a budget alone?
No. Anything that loosens control waits for a second owner or an admin. Tightening applies at once.
Is a policy the same as a role?
No. A role says what someone may do at all. A policy on top only narrows how: after a check, after a review, or not at all.
In the cabinet
- The space
Decide who signs and what connects
- People and papers
Keep every payee with their papers
Read next
- How the money autopilot works
You sign the mandate, the code moves the money
- Autonomy and the pilot
Nothing acts alone on day one
- For finance teams
Who write the rules, not the payments
- What is a payment mandate?
Who may pay, and up to how much
Bring last month's bills
and leave with your first mandate
On a thirty minute call we draft it with you and show which of your accounts would pay by itself.