Abstract: In a continuous alkoxidation-phosphorylation process for producing tributyl phosphate having low color utilizing excess butanol in the alkoxidation reaction which is heated by an alcohol flasher wherein the excess butanol is recovered after phosphorylation by two stage flash distillation, the bottoms product from the first stage going to the second stage, the overhead product from the second stage returning to the first stage flash distillation, and the bottoms from the second stage distillation going to final product washing and drying process while the overhead from the first stage flash distillation is fed to the process alkoxidation alcohol flasher, the improvement which comprises distilling in a distillation column the overhead product from the first stage flash distillation and then feeding the overhead from the distillation column to the alkoxidation alcohol flasher.