The approval limit that stopped being a control

Spend thresholds get set once and then left alone. As prices and volumes rise, the same number quietly turns from a control into a queue.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for The approval limit that stopped being a control

Somewhere in most businesses there is a number that decides who may commit money without asking. It was probably chosen quickly, years ago, by someone reasoning from the size the business was then. Everything around that number has since moved (input prices, headcount, order volumes, the range of things the business buys), and the number has not. What was designed as a control has drifted into being a routing rule for the owner’s inbox. This is a small problem that behaves like a large one, because of how spend is…

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