28 | The One Where Finance Meets Supply Chain

Finance isn’t just bookkeeping—it’s oxygen for your supply chain.When the cash stops flowing, production stalls, warehouses choke, and ads can’t move inventory.In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, host Lara Guevara sits down with Judy, a controller who’s seen firsthand how missing financial visibility can quietly collapse even the strongest supply chain. Together they unpack the decisions that tie your numbers to your operations—forecasting, purchase timing, cash allocation, and the messy realities that make or break peak-season readiness.You’ll learn:✅ Why finance and supply chain aren’t separate worlds and what happens when they operate in silos✅ How weak cash-flow forecasting leads to delayed deposits, missed cutoffs, and “rush” freight that kills margin✅ The early-warning signs in your numbers that reveal brewing supply-chain problems✅ How to set optimal inventory levels without freezing cash or over-stocking slow movers✅ The bare-minimum dashboards every founder needs: real inventory balance, cash runway, and SKU-level margins✅ Why having “too much” money can be just as risky as not having enough and how to plan around bothReal examples include a founder who lost weeks of production waiting for budget approval, a team that paid for inventory but couldn’t afford the ads to sell it, and brands that scaled faster only after syncing their controllers with their supply-chain planners.Explore more and plug in:Supply Chain Moves podcast hub: movesupplychain.com/supply-chain-movesVendor Visits (China & Vietnam): vendorvisits.movesupplychain.comLara’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/@supplychainlaraSupply Chain Lounge (free Slack): tinyurl.com/move-supplychain-loungeIf you’ve ever treated “finance” as something separate from “ops,” this episode will change how you run your business.Because every supply-chain decision is a financial one and visibility is your real profit margin.