A weekly payment schedule can change several times before it is final. A missing invoice arrives, a site manager adjusts an approved amount, or an item is held for clarification. Without a clear approval process, different people may work from different versions of the same list.
Contractors using MyRCT for RCT payment notifications can make the handover more effective by establishing one authoritative payment schedule. The same discipline helps businesses that handle their administration internally.
Start with one controlled list
Give the schedule a payment-run reference and identify its owner. Show the subcontractor, project, invoice reference, approved amount and intended payment date in a consistent format. Restrict editing where appropriate and make the current version easy to identify.
Avoid using colour alone to communicate status. A written label such as awaiting approval or held for query remains understandable when the schedule is printed, exported or viewed on a different device.
Make approval explicit
The person approving a payment should be able to see what they are authorising. Link the schedule to the supporting invoice and record any agreed adjustment. If a disputed item is excluded, make the exclusion visible rather than allowing someone to assume it was forgotten.
Record the approver and approval time. For a small business, this can be a short confirmation in the agreed system. The important point is that the final decision can be retrieved without relying on memory.
Introduce a controlled change process
- Mark the schedule as final before handing it over.
- Send later changes through one named contact.
- Identify the affected item and previous instruction.
- Obtain confirmation that the change has been received.
- Keep the updated approval with the payment record.
This prevents a correction in one spreadsheet from being mistaken for a correction everywhere else. It is particularly useful when administration and bank preparation are handled by different people.
Check the processing confirmation
Before releasing a payment, compare the relevant processing output with the approved instruction. Confirm the identity, amount and any issue raised during preparation. Leave time for questions rather than treating the last check as a formality.
Revenue explains payment notifications and deduction authorisations in its guidance for principal contractors. Keep the official requirements accessible to the staff responsible for the payment workflow.
Finish with a short reconciliation
After the run, mark items paid, held or carried forward and attach the supporting references. Investigate differences while the details are still familiar. A carried-forward item should have a reason and an owner, so it does not reappear next week without context.
A well-run weekly approval process makes the status of each payment visible. It also gives the business a dependable record of what was approved, what was processed and what still needs attention.
