What does a delegated approval look like when the usual approver is away?

At Aster Financial, a relationship manager submits `APP-2187`, a request to lift a small-business overdraft limit from $40,000 to $65,000. The credit policy sets a credit officer's personal limit at $50,000 for customers rated medium risk, and a regional credit manager's limit at $150,000.

The system routes `APP-2187` to the regional credit manager, but the delegation register shows `DELEG-0031`: that manager is on leave until the end of the week, and a senior credit officer is acting with the manager's authority for amounts up to $100,000. The head of credit recorded the delegation, and it carries an end date.

The senior credit officer reviews the file and notes that the customer's risk rating was lowered from medium to high two weeks earlier. Under the policy, high-risk exposure above $50,000 needs two approvers. The senior credit officer approves at the first step and the approval record shows `status: pending_second`. The head of credit supplies the second approval, and the overdraft change posts.

**What it teaches** - Authority is resolved at decision time from the delegation register, not from a job title alone. - Amount and risk rating interact; one rule can add an approver that another rule did not require. - A correct trace records why the approver was valid, not only the outcome. - A model that approved at the first step and closed the case would leave a record that fails audit.