If you’re in finance and your company uses Alyce to send business gifts, you know the drill: budgets matter, approvals get messy, and “just trust the process” isn’t a policy. This guide is for finance teams who need real control over gift spend and want to avoid surprises on the monthly statement. We’ll walk through setting up budgets and approvals in Alyce, point out what actually works, and call out what to skip.
No jargon, no fluff—just how to keep your gift-giving program tight and drama-free.
Why Budgets and Approvals Matter (More Than You Think)
Let’s get this out of the way: unchecked gifting is a recipe for headaches. Without clear limits and workflows, it’s easy to blow past what you thought you’d spend. Or worse, get flagged by compliance because someone thought a $500 bottle of whiskey was a “thank you.”
Alyce is built for gifting, but it won’t magically enforce financial discipline. You need to set it up right. Here’s what finance teams should care about:
- Budget Control: Prevent overspending before it happens, not after.
- Audit Trails: See who sent what, when, and why.
- Approval Workflows: Make sure gifts over a certain amount get a second look.
- Reporting: Tie spend back to teams, campaigns, or individuals.
If you skip any of these, you’re either trusting people too much or setting yourself up for a spreadsheet nightmare.
Step 1: Map Out Your Budgeting Approach Before You Touch Alyce
Here’s a hard truth: Alyce can handle complex setups, but if you’re not clear about your own rules, you’ll get lost in the options. Before logging in, answer these:
- Who should be able to send gifts? (Everyone? Just sales? Only managers?)
- What’s our total budget for gifting this quarter/year?
- Do we want budgets per team, campaign, or person?
- When does a gift need approval—and by who?
- Are there types of gifts (or recipients) that need extra scrutiny?
Pro tip: Write this down. You’ll refer back to it when you set up Alyce. If you skip this, expect a lot of “Why can’t I send this?” Slack messages later.
Step 2: Set Up Budgets in Alyce
Alyce lets you set budgets at different levels: company-wide, team, campaign, or even down to the user. Here’s how to keep it sane:
2.1. Decide Where the Money Lives
- Organization-Level Budgets: Good for companies that want one pot of money and close monitoring.
- Team/Group Budgets: More flexible. Set different limits for sales, marketing, or regions.
- Campaign Budgets: Useful if you run time-bound campaigns and want to limit spend just for that purpose.
- User Budgets: For real control freaks, but usually overkill unless you’ve had issues with rogue senders.
What actually works: Most finance teams stick to team or campaign budgets. Company-wide budgets are fine if you’re small, but things get chaotic fast as you grow.
2.2. Creating or Editing Budgets
- Go to the Admin section in Alyce.
- Find the 'Budgets' tab.
- Add a new budget (or edit an existing one), choosing which users/teams/campaigns it applies to.
- Set the amount and timeframe. Monthly, quarterly, annually—it’s up to you. Don’t forget to build in some buffer for “oops” moments.
- Assign an owner who gets notified if you’re running low.
What to ignore: Per-user budgets for everyone. It sounds precise, but you’ll spend more time tweaking than it’s worth. Use team or campaign budgets unless you’ve got a good reason.
Step 3: Configure Approval Workflows
Budgets stop most overspending, but approvals catch the outliers—big gifts, sensitive recipients, or anything you want to eyeball.
3.1. When Do You Need Approvals?
- Above a certain dollar amount (e.g., any gift over $100 needs sign-off)
- Specific gift types (alcohol, electronics, etc.)
- Certain recipients (government, healthcare, international—check compliance)
- Bulk sends (e.g., if someone tries to send 100 gifts at once)
Be honest: If you make approval rules too strict, people will find workarounds or just stop using the tool. Balance is key.
3.2. Setting Up Approvals in Alyce
- Go to Admin > Approvals.
- Choose your triggers. (Amount, recipient type, campaign, etc.)
- Assign approvers. This can be a manager, finance, or someone else. Make sure they actually respond—bottlenecks kill momentum.
- Set up notifications. Alyce can alert approvers via email or within the app.
- Test the workflow. Send a test gift and make sure the approval process works as expected. Better to catch issues now than during a real campaign.
What doesn’t work: Making the CFO the sole approver for every gift. Unless you like being the bottleneck, delegate.
Step 4: Train Users (and Yourself) on How It Actually Works
Alyce is pretty user-friendly, but people will still make mistakes if you don’t show them how budgets and approvals work.
What to cover:
- How to check your available budget before sending.
- What triggers an approval.
- What to do if you hit a limit.
- Who to ask if they get stuck.
Short video walkthroughs or screenshots go a long way here. Most people won’t read a manual, but they will watch a two-minute demo.
Pro tip: Run a “fire drill”—simulate hitting a budget limit or triggering an approval to see how your team reacts. Better to debug now than in front of a customer.
Step 5: Review and Adjust Regularly
No system is perfect out of the box. Once people start sending gifts, patterns will emerge.
- Check reports weekly or monthly. Alyce can show who’s spending what, pending approvals, and budget burn.
- Spot outliers. If one team is burning through budget way faster, figure out why.
- Adjust budgets and rules. Don’t be afraid to tweak as you go. If you set limits too low, people will just stop gifting (or get creative).
- Audit approvals. Make sure they aren’t being rubber-stamped, but also watch for unnecessary delays.
What works: Monthly reviews with team leads. Keep it short—just look for unexpected spikes or anything that needs fixing.
Step 6: Don’t Overcomplicate It
It’s tempting to build a perfect control system with tons of rules. Resist the urge. The more hoops people have to jump through, the less likely they’ll use Alyce—or worse, they'll start working around it.
Focus on:
- Clear, simple budgets.
- One or two approval triggers, max.
- Easy-to-read reports.
Ignore fancy features you don’t need. Start simple, see what breaks, and then layer on controls as needed.
Common Pitfalls (And How to Dodge Them)
- Setting budgets too low. Leads to constant exceptions and admin work.
- Too many approvers. Slows everything down and frustrates users.
- Not training new hires. They’ll make the same mistakes as everyone else, just later.
- Ignoring reporting. Surprises on the finance dashboard are never fun.
Real talk: If you keep getting “Can I get an exception?” requests, your setup needs work. Iterate until the noise dies down.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Managing gift budgets and approvals in Alyce isn’t rocket science, but it does take a bit of planning and regular attention. Don’t chase perfection. Set the basics, see how people use it, and adjust as you go.
If you ever feel like you’re fighting the tool, stop and ask: “Are we making this harder than it needs to be?” Most of the time, the simplest setup is the best one. Stay flexible, stay sane, and let Alyce do the heavy lifting—just keep your eye on the numbers.