The six questions in an AI purchase approval process
- Objective: What work will the tool support, who needs it and what evidence would justify continuing?
- Inputs: Which records or information will the workflow use, and is that use permitted by the firm's policy and obligations?
- Authority: Who may commit the firm, assign access, change usage settings and approve renewal?
- Boundaries: What is the complete cost commitment, what usage can add to it and which controls are actually enforced?
- Review: When will the owner review the evidence, and is that date early enough for contractual notice?
- Escalation: Who decides when a limit is reached, evidence is missing or the intended use changes?
The evidence pack
Prepare a short record the approver can check without opening every billing portal. An unknown field should name the person who will confirm it; an unknown charge is not zero.
| Record | What the approver needs |
|---|---|
| Inventory entry | Tool, plan, billing account, workflow owner and the work it supports. |
| Commercial terms | Verified price, currency, billing cadence, commitment, seats and separate usage charges. |
| Dates | Renewal date, contractual notice period, required notice method and proposed decision date. |
| Use and controls | Evidence period, supported work, permission boundary and the administrator's confirmation of usage settings. |
| Requested action | Keep, Resize, Test or Retire, the reason, authorized action owner and next review date. |
Use the AI tool inventory template to organize the source records, then follow the AI subscription audit guide where a fuller review is needed.
The decision record
Keep continues a supported arrangement. Resize changes the proposed capacity or commercial terms. Test sets a bounded evaluation with an owner and an end date. Retire plans the account, data and workflow transition before required notice. None of these decisions changes a vendor account until an authorized person completes the action.
Get the free AI Decision Record PDF through a $0 checkout with your email, country and ZIP/postal code. Keep the approver, notice deadline and four-choice decision in that companion or your own records; these are not dedicated fields in the paid Control Center or workbook.
Prepare an internal review email
The link opens an editable email draft with no recipient. Replace the bracketed prompts, check the evidence and choose the approver in your email application. Opening it does not send a message.
What the data says about approval
In KPMG's U.S. Q3 2026 AI Pulse survey, 74% of respondents said their organizations included cost reviews in AI approval processes; 43% reported implementing usage or token budgets.
The sample covered 314 U.S. C-suite and business leaders at organizations with annual revenue of at least US$1 billion. Responses were collected July 24 to August 25, 2026. These are enterprise findings, not an adoption benchmark for a small professional-service firm.
Source verified October 28, 2026: KPMG US, Q3 2026 AI Pulse release, September 24, 2026.
The practical implication is a question for your own firm: where are purpose, cost, authority and the next review documented? The survey does not show that this template produces savings.
Questions about approval
Who should approve AI purchases in a small firm?
Use the person or role with authority under the firm's spending rules. The workflow owner supplies the purpose and evidence, finance confirms the commitment, and information or professional reviewers contribute where the proposed use requires them.
What if the tool is already in use?
Record its current owner, billing terms and actual use before deciding. An existing subscription still needs an authorized Keep, Resize, Test or Retire decision, with any transition planned before an account change.
How often should approvals be reviewed?
Revisit the decision before its notice deadline and when price, access, purpose, usage or the responsible team changes. Set the recurring cadence to reach the firm's earliest action dates rather than relying on the renewal day itself.
Turn the approval into a recorded action
Start with one invoice and one upcoming renewal. Use the AI Renewal Checklist with no signup, then follow the AI subscription audit guide to build the wider review.
Keep the evidence, approver, notice deadline and Keep, Resize, Test or Retire decision in your own records or the free companion templates. These are not dedicated fields in the paid Control Center or workbook. Compare AI subscription review options if you need a different collection method.
The AccruePilot AI Spend Control System costs US$59 once for a local browser Control Center, editable Excel workbook and 12-page field guide. It is for one purchasing U.S. organization's internal use. Your team supplies and maintains the records; the toolkit does not discover accounts, enforce budgets or cancel services.
Start the free renewal checklist
Published by AccruePilot, which sells the manual toolkit discussed here. Vendor names identify the services reviewed and do not imply endorsement.