A one-page software approval policy for a ten-person company

A policy does not need to be long to work. It needs to say who can buy software, how it is paid for, who owns it afterward and what to check first. Below is a page you can paste, edit and adopt today, followed by the reasoning behind each rule.

Run it afterward · guide 2 of 4 · Reviewed Oct 25, 2026

The policy text

Replace the bracketed fields and delete any rule your team will not follow. A shorter policy that is followed beats a longer one that is not.

Purpose: we pay for software on purpose, we know who owns each tool, and we can leave any tool without losing our data.
Who may buy: anyone may request a tool. [Approver name] approves. For a recurring cost above $[amount] a year, [second person] also agrees.
How to request: send one message with the tool's name, the job it does, the price and billing period, who will own it and how many people need it.
How we pay: software is paid on the company card or by invoice through accounts payable. No personal cards, and no personal accounts for company work.
Trials: sign up with a company email address, not a personal one. Do not enter company or customer data during a trial unless the checklist is complete. Put the trial's end date on the calendar the day it starts.
Owner: every tool has one named owner. The owner keeps the admin login, reviews who has access, and answers for the renewal.
Checklist before approval: single sign-on or at least two-step sign-in is available; data can be exported in a usable format; there are at least two admins; the contract's renewal date, notice window and price on renewal are recorded; we know where the data is stored.
Register: the owner adds the tool to the vendor register before the first payment.
Renewals: the owner confirms keep or end at least 30 days before the notice date. No answer means the tool goes on the cancel list.
People who leave: the owner removes access on the last day. The admin list is reviewed quarterly.
Review: [Approver name] reviews this policy every year and when the company's size changes.

Why each rule is there

If your company issues purchase orders, they sit on top of this; most ten-person teams do not need them.

One approver and a same-day answer, so buying through the front door is faster than buying around it.
Company card or invoice, so every charge lands in the books under a vendor name and the accounts payable and card reports are complete.
Company email on trials, so the account belongs to the company when the trial turns into a plan.
An owner per tool, because a tool nobody owns is a tool nobody cancels.
Two admins, so one person leaving does not lock the company out of its own data.
Export before approval, because leaving is easier when you decided how before you joined.
Sign-in checks, so removing a person from the company removes them from the tool.

Rolling it out

When a request is a tool that could be replaced by something you already own or by open source, the self-hosting math guide shows how to cost it honestly.

Adopt
Fill the brackets, read it aloud to the team in ten minutes and put it where people will find it.
Seed the register
Build the register from your books using the vendor register guide and assign an owner to every line.
Check monthly
On the first of each month, review new charges against the register. Anything not in it was bought around the policy; ask why, and fix the policy if it was too slow.

Common questions

Is this a legal document?

It is a starting point, written in plain words. It is not legal advice. Have your counsel or advisor read it if it will become part of employment agreements or if customers ask to see your policies.

How do we keep it from slowing people down?

Rules stop mattering when they are slower than a card swipe. Keep the approval to one message to one person, with an answer the same day, and keep the checklist short enough that people actually use it.

Do we need a committee?

Not usually. Name the approver, a backup, and a spending line above which a second person agrees. Change the line when the company changes.

What about tools we already pay for?

Put them in the vendor register with an owner, then decide to keep, move or end each one. The policy applies to new purchases; the register handles what already exists. See the [vendor register guide](/savings/how-to/vendor-register-and-renewal-calendar).

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