Every payment qualifies before it goes out
Approval thresholds, budget caps, category restrictions and real-time alerts. Every payout, every bill, every card swipe is checked against the rules before it qualifies. Nothing moves until it should.
- Approval workflows
- Budget tracking
- Real-time alerts
Free to open · No monthly fee · Included with your account
Spend controls
August 2026
Department budgets
₦7,500,000
total budget · ₦4,500,000 spent
Engineering
On track
Marketing
Near limit
Operations
On track
Marketing at 89%, approval required for next spend
Spending rules only work if they are enforced
Every business has a policy about what can be spent, by whom, and under what approval. The problem is never the policy. The problem is that the policy lives in a document, and the payment happens before anyone checks it.
Rules before payment, not after
Approval thresholds, category restrictions, budget caps and date windows are checked before a payment qualifies. Nothing moves until it meets the rules, and nobody can override a rule, not even an admin.
Budgets that update in real time
Each department, each category, each project. The budget you set adjusts as payments go through, so you see what is left before you spend it, not after.
Alerts before you overshoot
When a department reaches 80% or 90% of its budget, you are told before the next payment goes through. The alert is proactive, not a month-end surprise.
From policy to enforcement, in four steps
Set the budgets
Allocate budgets by department, category, project or any combination. Each budget carries its own rules and its own alerts.
Define the thresholds
Set who can approve what, at what amount, and in what order. Single-step for small amounts, multi-step for larger ones.
Payments follow the rules
Every payout, every bill, every card swipe is checked against the budget, the threshold and the category before it qualifies.
See the full picture
Budget utilisation, pending approvals, alerts triggered and exceptions, all on one screen, updated in real time.
Every payment qualifies before it goes out
Set a threshold by amount, by category or by department. Payments below the threshold go through instantly. Those above route to the approver or approvers you set, in the order you set.
- Single or multi-step approval chains
- Thresholds by amount, category or department
- Full audit trail of who approved and when
Approvals
3 requests
Emeka O.
₦1,200,000 · vendor payment
Fatima A.
₦450,000 · travel advance
Tunde B.
₦320,000 · equipment
Approval threshold: ₦1,000,000
2-step required above ₦500,000
Know what is left before you spend it
Budgets update in real time as payments go through. You see the allocated amount, the spent amount and the remaining balance for every department, category and project.
- Real-time budget utilisation per department
- Alerts at configurable thresholds
- Exportable for board meetings and reviews
Spend controls
August 2026
Department budgets
₦7,500,000
total budget · ₦4,500,000 spent
Engineering
On track
Marketing
Near limit
Operations
On track
Marketing at 89%, approval required for next spend
What changes when rules are enforced at the point of payment
The usual way
- Approval by WhatsApp message or phone call
- No central view of what each department has spent
- Budget overruns discovered at month end
- No audit trail of who approved what
- Spending rules in a policy document nobody reads
With Niimbu
- Approval workflows enforced by the system
- Real-time budget utilisation across the business
- Alerts before you overshoot, not after
- Every approval recorded with timestamp and reason
- Rules enforced at the point of payment, not in a document
The spend control detail that real businesses need
No add-on modules and no higher tier to unlock the basics. These are part of spend controls from the first day you open an account.
Approval thresholds
Set a maximum amount each role can approve. Anything above routes to the next approver in the chain.
Multi-step approvals
For high-value payments, require two or more approvals in sequence before the payment qualifies.
Category budgets
Set a budget per spending category. The system tracks utilisation and alerts when thresholds are reached.
Department budgets
Allocate budgets per department, with real-time visibility into what is left and what has been spent.
Project budgets
Track spend against a specific project, with category rules and approval chains that apply only to that project.
Budget alerts
Get notified when a budget reaches 80%, 90% or any custom threshold, before the next payment goes through.
Spending reports
Exportable reports by department, category, project and time period, for board meetings and reviews.
Exception tracking
Payments that bypass a rule, approved overrides and rejected requests, all logged with the reason and the approver.
Role-based permissions
Who can approve what, who can set budgets, who can view reports. Granular permissions for every role.
Every business controls spend differently
The thresholds, the budgets and the approval chains change by trade. Pick the closest fit.
Retail and supermarkets
Set store-level budgets, approve vendor payments above a threshold and track category spend across outlets.
Distribution and wholesale
Control transport costs, approve supplier payments by value and track spend against delivery routes.
Construction and contracting
Set project budgets, require multi-step approval for material purchases and track cost overruns in real time.
Schools and education
Department budgets for teaching, admin and maintenance, with approval chains for each.
Professional services
Control client entertainment spend, approve travel costs and track project profitability against budgets.
Spend management software
See how Niimbu compares with approval-by-email, spreadsheet budgets and month-end surprises.
A policy nobody can enforce is a suggestion.
Written rules depend on everyone remembering them on a bad day. Rules the system holds apply on every payment, to everyone, without a conversation about whether this one is an exception.
Included with your Niimbu account
Spend controls cost nothing extra. You pay for the payments and cards that follow the rules, not for the rules themselves. Setting budgets, thresholds and approvals is part of the platform.
- No monthly platform fee
- No charge for approval workflows
- No charge for budget tracking or alerts
Frequently asked questions
If your question is not here, the Help Centre goes deeper, or you can talk to someone on the team.
How do approval thresholds work?
You set a maximum amount each role can approve. Payments below that amount go through instantly. Payments above it route to the next approver in the chain you define. The payment does not move until every required approval is in place.
Can I require more than one approval?
Yes. For high-value payments, you can require two or more approvals in sequence. Each approver sees the request, the amount, the category and the budget impact before deciding. The full approval chain is recorded.
Can budgets be set by department and category?
Yes. A department can have a total budget, and within that, category budgets for specific types of spend. The system tracks utilisation at both levels and alerts at the threshold you set.
What happens when a budget is nearly exhausted?
You receive an alert when the budget reaches the threshold you set, whether 80%, 90% or a custom value. The alert is proactive, so you can adjust the budget or approve the next payment with full visibility, rather than discovering the overrun at month end.
Can someone override a spending rule?
An override is possible but it is logged. The person overriding must provide a reason, and the override appears in the exception report. The audit trail shows who overrode what, when and why.
Does spend control apply to card transactions too?
Yes. Card transactions are checked against the budget and category rules before the sale is approved. A card restricted to fuel will be declined at a restaurant, regardless of the remaining balance.
What does spend control cost?
There is no monthly platform fee. Spend controls are included with your Niimbu account at no extra charge. You pay for the payments and cards that follow the rules, not for the rules themselves.
The rest of Pay
Paying out works best when every channel shares one balance, one approval flow and one audit trail. Each of these feeds the same account and spend record.
The simpler way to scale your business!
Start free and see it working today, or talk to us about pricing for teams and higher volumes.