Escalation matrix

What it means

An escalation matrix is a table stating, for each type and severity of issue, who handles it, by when, and who is next if it is not resolved. It is the written answer to "who do I call when something breaks".

It usually has three or four levels, each with a name, a contact and a deadline. Those names and hours are what separate it from an org chart: the chart says who reports to whom, the matrix says who acts.

A good matrix separates two things that are often blurred: severity, meaning how large the impact is, and urgency, meaning how quickly action is needed. A missing document due in a week is urgent but less severe; a suspected error in a filed return is severe even with no deadline close. Risks are rated in a similar way in a risk matrix.

How it works in practice

Where accounting is outsourced, the matrix belongs in a schedule to the contract alongside the SLA. The levels are typically: the accountant for routine work, the supervisor for contested postings and deadlines, the director for decisions with a financial impact.

It is complemented by a RACI matrix for day-to-day responsibility and by SOPs for repeated procedures. Together those three documents remove most arguments about who was supposed to do what.

When taking on a client we add contacts to the matrix that nobody usually writes down: who has access to the electronic mailbox, who signs for the company at the bank and who decides while the director is on holiday. Those are exactly the names missing when a tax office request arrives with a short deadline.

What to watch out for

A matrix that is not updated when people change is worse than none - in a crisis someone calls a number nobody answers. So it is reviewed on every personnel change on either side.

A matrix with too many levels or overly long response times is a formality. If it takes longer for an issue to reach the director than the filing deadline it was meant to protect, it solves nothing. Response times in the matrix are therefore derived from the nearest statutory deadline, not from what suits the people involved.