Test a purchase order against your cash buffer.

A purchase order tested against your cash buffer before it locks in, with the options laid out while the supplier can still change terms.

Start with a finance review How it works

Week 9 cash by option · winter orderBuffer $250,000

Pay the deposit as agreed$205,000$45,000 under
Collect $50,000 sooner$255,000$5,000 over
Split the deposit in two$305,000$55,000 over

Illustrative figures. The order can change for 10 more days.

The same order, three ways to pay for it, against the buffer.

Sound familiar?

The order is approved on margin and demand, and cash gets checked afterward.
Nobody knows the last day the deposit can still change.
Splitting a deposit means a week of back and forth with the supplier.

Once an order is irrevocable, a cash problem becomes a financing problem.

What changes.

TodayWith the engine

When it’s checked: After the supplier invoice arrivesBefore the order is confirmed
The question: Can we afford it?What is the low point, and how far under the buffer?
Options: Argued out with the supplierDeposit change, split order or earlier collection, each priced
The deadline: UnknownThe last day the order can change, on the page

How it works. 4 steps, 4 stages.

AI1
Rules and automation1
Your team2
Approval

1Frame
1. Your team
  Name the order and its deadline
  Amount, deposit, payment dates and the last day the supplier accepts a change.
2Test
1. Rules and automation
  Add the order to the 13-week view
  The schedule recalculates the low point and how far it sits from the buffer.
  - NetSuite
  - Excel or Sheets
3Compare
1. AI
  Draft the options
  Deposit change, split order or earlier collection, each with its cash effect and what it needs from the supplier.
4Decide
1. Your teamApproval
  Decide and record
  Finance and supply choose. The supplier conversation is theirs. The decision, owner and date are logged.

The terms agreed update the forecast

What you get. Real work, every week.

PO decision · Winter Waxed field jacketChangeable for 10 days

Split the deposit to keep week 9 above the buffer.

Order: Winter Waxed field jacket · $200,000 deposit
Low point: $205,000 in week 9, $45,000 under the buffer
Options: Split the deposit, move it later, or collect $50,000 sooner
Draft advice: Split the deposit. Supply confirms terms with the supplier
Decides: Finance lead, with the supply chain lead

The decision card the finance lead and supply chain lead decide from. It prepares the choice and moves no money.

How you’ll know it’s working.

Orders checked before they locked
The share of purchase orders tested against the buffer before the supplier confirmed.
Lead time from a flagged order to a decision
Days between the check and the call, against the supplier’s change window.
Stockouts or expedites after a change
A deposit moved to protect cash shouldn’t cost you the stock.

Baselines agreed before we build.

Works with what you have.

Commerce

NetSuite

Accounting

QuickBooks

Planning & BI

Excel or Sheets
Pigment

We configure first: Your ERP’s open purchase orders and the cash schedule you already keep. We connect the two before adding anything.
We build when: Purchase orders and cash live in separate files, and the check happens after the order is confirmed.

What a first build includes.

Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start.

1Design
2Build
3Run it, or hand it over

Start with a review Scope this build

We build

A purchase order check on the 13-week view
Options with their cash effect
A decision card with an owner and a deadline
A register of open orders and their change windows

We start from

Open purchase orders and supplier terms
The current 13-week cash view
Your cash buffer

From your team

Owner: Finance lead, with the supply chain lead
Involves: Finance
Supply chain
Merchandising

Questions teams ask.

Who sets the cash buffer?

You do. Finance sets the buffer and what counts as under it. We apply it the same way to every order and show the gap.

Will it tell us to buy less?

It shows what an order does to cash, and the ways to change it. Whether to change the order is a call for finance and supply. Sometimes the right answer is to go ahead.

Who owns it once it’s running?

You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your finance lead, with the supply chain lead. We can keep running it with you, or step back.

How do we start?

Usually with a finance review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly.