Trade Shield | Knowledge Centre APPROVALS & ONBOARDING

Credit Approver Playbook & Onboarding Rules

⏳ 15 min read All approval levels New customer onboarding

This playbook guides all approval levels — Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3+ — through reviewing, approving, escalating, or declining credit applications on Trade Shield. It also covers the rules for onboarding new customers correctly.

Use this as your checklist before every decision. Tick each item as you complete it.

LEVEL 1 APPROVER

First line of risk control. Reviews applications, validates documents, approves within policy limits.

LEVEL 2 APPROVER

Senior review. Handles escalations, higher limits, and applications with elevated risk indicators.

LEVEL 3+ APPROVER

Executive approval. Handles exceptions, policy overrides, and highest-risk or highest-limit applications.

In this article

1. Confirm Basic Information	2. Review Supporting Documents
3. Check Existing Exposure	4. Review Comments & Documents
5. Recommended Action & Limits	6. How the Limit Was Calculated
7. Skip Application Exception	8. Knockout Rules
9. Risk Scores	10. Sales Motivation
11. Document Validation	12. Signature & Fraud Checks
13. Credit Report Review	14. Business Location Check
15. Final Approval Decision	16. Escalation Rules by Level
17. Onboarding Rules	18. Common Mistakes to Avoid

Confirm Basic Information

Start in the Overview section. Confirm all four identifiers before proceeding.

Customer Name — matches the legal entity on the registration document Registration Number — correct legal entity applying, not a related or subsidiary company Salesperson / Account Manager — matches the expected relationship owner for this account Application Date — recent; flag if significantly backdated

ⓘ Ask yourself: Do I recognise this company? Is the correct legal entity applying? Does the salesperson match the account?

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Review Supporting Documents

Open both document buttons and verify the following before making any decision.

Full Application reviewed — complete credit application submitted by the customer Credit Research Report reviewed — bureau data and Trade Shield risk analysis Requested Credit Limit — looks reasonable for the business size Requested Payment Terms — within standard policy terms Banking Details — present and matches supporting bank letter Uploaded Documents — all required documents attached (not bundled)

ⓘ Tip: Does the application look complete? Are there obvious missing documents? Do the requested terms look reasonable?

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Check Existing Exposure

If the company already trades with you, check the Group Exposure (Estimated) section.

Existing account checked — confirmed same legal entity under same registration number Current Exposure amount — within acceptable limits Combined exposure assessed — approval would not create excessive overexposure

⚠ Note: Approving a new limit on top of existing exposure can create overexposure. Always check the combined total before approving.

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Review Comments & Additional Documents

After submission, additional information may be added by the sales or risk team. Always check before deciding.

Internal comments reviewed — risk team notes or flags Sales comments reviewed — sales justification for the credit request Additional documents reviewed — financial statements, updated company docs uploaded after submission

ⓘ Ask yourself: Did someone add information that changes the risk picture? Did the sales team explain the credit request?

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Recommended Action & Limit Review

Review the Recommended Action section and compare all three limit values side by side.

Requested Credit Limit — what the customer asked for Recommended Limit — affordability adjusted for risk indicators (may be lower than requested) Maximum Risk-Adjusted Limit — maximum based on financial capacity only, no risk adjustments Risk Scores & Risk Indicators reviewed Recommended Terms confirmed

⚠ Important: The system recommendation is guidance, not an automatic approval. You are responsible for the final decision.

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How the Limit Was Calculated

Review the How We Calculated This Limit Recommendation section.

Bank Statements

Bank statements captured — three consecutive months provided Latest three months confirmed — check dates displayed by the system

Financial Statements

Financial statements captured — financial statement year confirmed Signed by auditor — unsigned statements may not be captured by Trade Shield

If Maximum Capacity is blank: No financial information was provided, or Trade Shield could not determine affordability. The limit recommendation is based on risk indicators only — proceed with extra caution.

ⓘ Note: Unsigned financial statements may not be captured. Always follow up before approving if statements were not auditor-signed.

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Skip Application Exception

If the application was submitted using Skip Application, Trade Shield validation did not review documents automatically. Level 1 must check manually.

Must Check Manually

Financial statements present and uploaded separately Bank statements present and uploaded separately Application uploaded separately (not bundled with other documents) Supporting Documents uploaded separately

⚠ Warning: If documents are missing — request from the customer, reprocess the application, and generate a new limit recommendation before proceeding. Do not approve without all documents.

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Knockout Rules — Business Status Check

Confirm the company is in valid business status before reviewing further. Applications must not proceed if the company is deregistered or inactive.

Company is in valid status — active and registered (not deregistered or inactive) If deregistered / inactive — confirmed trade on COD only; application not proceeding

⚠ Hard Rule: A deregistered or inactive company is a knockout. No level of approval can override this. Trade on COD only until status is reinstated.

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Review Risk Scores

Trade Shield provides two risk scores. Both must be reviewed before any decision.

Payment Risk Score reviewed — measures likelihood of being paid on time Default Risk Score reviewed — measures likelihood of financial distress in the next 6–12 months Unknown scores assessed — if both unknown, only statutory data exists; consider requesting financial statements

ⓘ Tip: Unknown scores are not the same as good scores. They mean insufficient data — which is itself a risk signal. Do not treat unknown as low-risk.

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Review Sales Motivation

Review the sales team's justification for the credit request. Required for all applications — especially where limits are above the system recommendation.

Sales motivation provided — if missing, request from salesperson before proceeding Supporting documentation attached — flag as incomplete if missing Justification makes commercial sense — if unclear, query with sales manager before approving

ⓘ Ask: Why is this specific limit required? Does the commercial justification match the risk profile of this customer?

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Document Validation

Download and check all attachments. Each document type has specific validation requirements.

Company Registration

Document issue date checked Directors listed — confirmed they match the credit report

Bank Letter

System generated, PDF format, correct company name confirmed

Identity Documents

Director ID copies provided for all directors listed

Custom Questions

All custom questions completed All required documents uploaded in correct format

ⓘ Tip: Directors on the registration document must match the directors on the credit report. Any mismatch requires investigation before proceeding.

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Signature Validation & Fraud Checks

Confirm who signed the application and that the email address is legitimate.

Correct person signed — must be an authorised director or representative Email address is a company domain — personal email addresses (gmail, yahoo, hotmail) flagged for further verification Signing authority confirmed — signing on behalf of a director without authorisation may constitute fraud

⚠ Fraud Risk: Do not approve if signature authority cannot be confirmed. Escalate to your manager if you suspect the signature is unauthorised.

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Credit Report Review

Open the Credit Research Report and confirm the following.

Directors match registration documents — same names, same spelling Director ID numbers match — IDs on credit report match uploaded ID documents Business information matches application — registration number, company name, address Other companies directors are involved in — confirmed those companies are in valid status Judgements checked — value and age of any judgements reviewed Director ages reviewed — flag unusually young directors or age discrepancies

ⓘ Tip: Director involvement in multiple distressed or deregistered companies is a risk signal — note it in your approval comments.

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Business Location Verification

Search the delivery address using Google Maps or Street View and confirm it is a legitimate business premises.

Address exists — confirmed on Google Maps Location appears to be legitimate business premises — not residential, vacant land, or unrelated building Any address red flags — if flagged, explanation requested from sales team

⚠ Note: A residential or vacant address is a fraud indicator. Request an explanation from the sales team and consider escalating.

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Final Approval Decision

Before clicking Approve, confirm all of the following. If the approved limit or terms differ from the request, update them before submitting.

Risk scores reviewed and noted Financial information reviewed VAT information confirmed Signatures and identity verification completed Approved limit is correct — updated before submitting if different from request Approved payment terms are correct — updated before submitting if different from request

Example Approval Note:
"Reviewed financial capacity, bank statements, and risk scores. Directors and ID documents match the credit report. No validation issues identified. Limit recommendation aligns with requested terms."

ⓘ Tip: Always add an approval note summarising what you reviewed, any concerns, and confirmation that documents were validated. This is your audit trail.

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Escalation Rules by Approval Level

Each level has defined escalation criteria. Know your limits and escalate proactively — do not approve outside your mandate.

Level	✓ Approve When	⇧ Escalate When	? Request Info When
Level 1	Information complete; exposure acceptable; recommendation aligns with policy	Risk indicators require senior review; limit unusually high; fraud signals present	Missing documents; incomplete application; unsigned statements
Level 2	Elevated risk within policy; limit above L1 mandate but within L2 authority	Limit exceeds L2 authority; multiple risk knockouts; policy exception required	L1 review was incomplete; additional financial data required
Level 3+	Executive mandate; policy exceptions; highest-risk or highest-limit applications	Board-level decisions; applications outside all defined policy bands	Any gaps in documentation that could not be resolved at L1 or L2

⚠ Rule: Never approve outside your mandate. If in doubt, escalate — it is not a failure, it is correct process.

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New Customer Onboarding Rules

When onboarding a brand-new customer, the following rules apply in addition to the standard approval checklist above.

Correct legal entity applying — not a trading name or subsidiary unless authorised All documents uploaded individually — not bundled; each document type uploaded separately Company active and registered at time of onboarding — if not, trade COD only Director ID verified for all signing directors before account activation Initial limit set at system recommendation — escalate to L2/L3 if higher limit required COD rule confirmed — if any knockout criteria are met, customer trades on COD until resolved; no credit extensions

ⓘ Tip: For new customers, the first application sets the risk precedent. Take extra care — it is easier to increase a limit later than to recover an overexposed account.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Use this as your final pre-submission check. Every item below is a real mistake that leads to bad debt or compliance failures.

Confirmed the correct legal entity was reviewed (not a related company) Existing exposure checked before approving All three limit values compared side by side (requested vs recommended vs maximum) Every uploaded document opened and reviewed (not just noted as present) Late-added comments and documents checked before deciding Approval note added — summarising what was reviewed and any concerns Approval is within my mandate — not approving outside my authority level

⚠ Remember: Speed is not a reason to skip steps. A missed check that results in a bad debt costs far more than the few minutes saved.

Need more help?

The support team is ready to assist

support@tradeshield.ai

+27 (0) 10 753 1630

Level 1 Approver Playbook & Checklist

Credit Approver Playbook & Onboarding Rules

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