Multi-site operations
Purchase approvals across twenty-two sites
A multi-site operator where every site manager requested purchases over messaging, and two directors approved them from their phones. Nobody could reconstruct why a purchase had been approved, and finance discovered commitments only when invoices arrived.
Illustrative scenario — not a named client engagement
Before
- Requests raised in three separate messaging groups
- Approval evidenced only by a message reply, often ambiguous
- No visibility of committed spend before invoicing
- Delays of two to five days when either director travelled
System shape
- Mobile requisition capture with category, budget line and justification
- Authority matrix with delegation windows and automatic reversion
- Committed-spend view available before invoices arrive
- Immutable approval audit against the exact version approved
Approach
Process Audit
Two weeks observing actual request behaviour across six sites, including the informal escalation paths people used when the formal one was too slow.
System Blueprint
An authority matrix by value band and category, with time-boxed delegation, parallel approval for capital items and a defined exception route.
Working Prototype
Three sites on a mobile request-and-approve workflow within three weeks, running alongside the existing process.
Build & Integrate
Rollout to all sites with accounting integration for committed spend and vendor master consolidation.
Signals we would measure
Targets agreed before the build, not claims made after it.
Approval cycle time, measured per value band
Proportion of purchases raised outside the workflow
Committed versus invoiced spend variance
Escalations caused by approver unavailability
Sound familiar
Most of these start with one spreadsheet nobody trusts.
If any part of this resembles your operation, a Process Audit will tell you exactly where the leverage is.