Systems and methods for identifying which of a plurality of roles is required to authorize a business process. In one embodiment, an approval matrix includes rows and columns, where each column defines a potential condition and each row defines an approval role. Each entry in the approval matrix is defined by a corresponding row and a corresponding column, and contains information defining whether the approval role in the corresponding row is required for the business process when the potential condition in the corresponding column is met. A set of conditions that apply to the business process is determined and a set of entries in the columns defining conditions that apply to the business process are identified. The approval roles defined by the identified entries in the approval matrix are then determined to be the roles required to authorize the business process.