Managing the organisation's mandates

It is a good idea to start considering practices from the current situation if your organisation is already using Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. Find out

• in which matters someone is acting on behalf of your organisation with Suomi.fi e-Authorizations
• who has mandates
• who may act on the basis of their role (e.g. the managing director of a company or the chairperson of an association).

Read more about who can act on behalf of the organisation.

Particular attention should be paid to whether there are mandates for people who do not need them or who have already left your organisation. Also ensure that your organisation’s information is up to date in basic registers, such as the Patent Register.

The planning of practices begins with what kind of needs your organisation has. Take into account at least the following things:

Mandate themes

• In what matters do your employees and partners need mandates?
• In what matters do you need someone to act on your behalf right now?
• In what matters do you need someone to act on your behalf in the future?
• In what tasks are mandates needed?

Granting mandates

• Who in your organisation may grant mandates?
• How may your organisation grant mandates?
• When can you grant mandates in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations?
• When do you need a mandate application?

Mandate requests

• Are mandate requests used in your organisation?
• Are mandate requests used internally when granting mandates?
• Are mandate requests used for working with partners?
• Who can see incoming mandate requests?
• How often are incoming mandate requests checked?

In order to create a functional management model for your organisation, i.e. practices for managing mandates, you must identify different roles, tasks and responsibilities related to authorisation. The most important ones are presented here.

The organisation should select the owner(s) of the mandate management model. They are responsible for operating methods and for the documentation, supervision and deletion of granted mandates. The management model owner should apply for a mandate to view the mandates and data in the authorisation register so that they can see in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations which of your organisation’s mandates are valid and which have expired within the past 15 months.

In practice, persons with the right to grant mandates grant Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. These may be, for example, unit supervisors. The right to grant mandates may be granted independently in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. If your organisation does not have a person who has the right to grant mandates independently, you must apply for a mandate from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

Read more about authorisation with an application.

Once the right to grant a mandate has been granted, the person with the right to grant a mandate may grant and invalidate mandates for transactions in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations independently and no new mandate applications need to be submitted. This significantly speeds up and simplifies the management of mandates.

With mandates for transactions, assignees, i.e. the employees or partners of your organisation, may act on behalf of your organisation in different services. Persons with the right to grant mandates grant mandates for transactions at http://www.suomi.fi/e-AuthorizationsOpens in a new window..

Agree on and write down how mandates are granted, invalidated and managed in your organisation. Use the list of your organisation’s needs from section 2. Agree on practices for maintaining mandate information in your organisation. For example, a mandate map can be a useful way to structure mandates.

Mandate map facilitates the management of mandates

It is a good idea to create a mandate map for the management of mandates. A mandate map table helps you manage what kind of mandates that your organisation needs and to whom they are granted. 

The mandate map, which is maintained internally, contains all the mandates and roles that your organisation has for transactions that require a mandate for transactions. For example, the mandate map can be item-specific or sector-specific.

The sector-specific mandate map contains a separate table for each sector that uses Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. The mandate map contains separate columns for mandates for transactions needed in the sector, service channels in which mandates are required, and information on why a mandate is required for work.

For example, a sector executive can consult the sector-specific mandate map to see what mandates are needed to perform sector work tasks.

The item-specific mandate map indicates which mandates are needed for certain tasks. The mandate map contains separate columns for mandates for transactions needed in a given work task, service channels in which mandates are required, and information on why a mandate is required for work.

An item-specific mandate map allows both the employer and each employee who needs mandates for transactions to manage their work tasks to find the mandates for transactions required for work.

Make sure that you write clear instructions for employees and supervisors to apply for mandates. These instructions explain to the employee how they will be granted the mandates they need in their work.

Think about at least the following things:

• Has the employee been instructed to submit a mandate request in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations? How is information on a new mandate request conveyed within the organisation?
• Are employees instructed to fill out an internal form, based on which they are granted mandates?
• Are both models supported at the same time, or is there some other practice that is more effective for you?

Mandates require continuous maintenance and inspection tasks when

• an organisation hires new employees
• an organisation has new needs for someone to act on its behalf.

The owner of the mandate management model ensures that the mandate management practices are kept up to date.

Regularly check that your organisation has up-to-date information on the mandates as well as on the persons who have been granted mandates and who have the right to grant mandates.