The PO is Not The Decision

Send us Fan MailThe PO landed on her desk on the 28th. The contract had been signed three weeks earlier. The supplier had been picked four months before that. She was being asked to find budget for a decision that had been made without her, and to do it before close.By the time the purchase order is cut, every meaningful procurement decision has already been made. Supplier picked. Scope defined. Pricing structure locked. Commitments sitting on the balance sheet whether anyone has booked them or not. Finance keeps showing up to the wrong artifact at the wrong moment, and then takes the heat when the numbers don't reconcile. This episode is for finance and accounting partners: controllers, FP&A leaders, AP managers, and the CFOs they support. It covers why the PO is the wrong artifact to organize the partnership around, how to read accruals as a procurement signal instead of a closing entry, where budget timing creates real leverage with suppliers, and a working operating cadence built on the four moments in the fiscal year when finance and procurement need to be in the same room.Primary audience: Finance & Accounting Partners---New episodes every Monday. Subscribe wherever you listen. Website: https://procurexcellence.com Email: [email protected] Topics covered: vendor proposals, procurement rejection, discovery process, risk management, mission-driven purchasing, stakeholder alignment, supplier relationships