When one person does all the buying, purchase orders live happily in that person’s head. When three people start buying, those same orders start living in three heads, two inboxes, and one sticky note that nobody can find.
The fix isn’t a bigger memory. It’s a simple, shared way to approve, track, and see every open order before it surprises you.
If your business has grown and your buying habits haven’t, this one’s for you.
What actually changes when more than one person is buying?
One buyer is a system all by themselves. They know what they ordered, who they ordered it from, and roughly when it should show up. It works beautifully… right up until it doesn’t.
The moment a second or third person starts placing orders, the unwritten rules stop traveling. Maybe the owner used to approve every big order with a nod across the room. Maybe the warehouse lead orders supplies “whenever we’re running low.” Maybe sales requests inventory for a promotion and assumes someone else will place the order. Each person is making a perfectly reasonable decision. Nobody can see the whole picture.
That’s the real shift: buying stops being a task and becomes a team activity, and team activities need a shared view.
How does double-ordering happen?
It’s less dramatic than it sounds, and a lot more common than anyone admits.
Imagine a business that sells outdoor accessories. The warehouse lead notices a popular item is running low and emails the supplier for a reorder on Monday. On Wednesday, the purchasing manager sees the same low stock in the system, doesn’t see any order on the way, and places another one.
Both orders are legitimate. Both were placed in good faith. Now there’s twice the stock on the way and a cash-flow question nobody planned for.
Nothing in that story is anyone’s fault. The first order simply wasn’t visible to the second person. Double-ordering is almost always a visibility problem wearing a people-problem costume.
Why do approvals matter more as you grow?
Approvals have a reputation problem. They sound like red tape, a way to slow people down. Done well, they do the opposite: they give people permission to move quickly because everyone knows where the lines are.
A lightweight approval setup answers a few simple questions in advance:
- Who can place an order? Everyone? Only buyers? Anyone for supplies, but only buyers for inventory?
- When does an order need a second set of eyes? Many businesses pick a spending threshold, or any order from a new supplier.
- Who gives the okay? A named person, with a backup for vacations and sick days.
That last one matters more than it seems, because an approval process that grinds to a halt due to one person being on a beach isn’t a process. It’s a hostage situation.
The goal isn’t to make buying hard. It’s to make the right thing the default and the unusual thing visible.
What does “visibility into open orders” really mean?
It means anyone who needs to know can answer these questions in under a minute, without emailing three people:
- What have we ordered that hasn’t arrived yet?
- Who is it coming from, and when was it promised?
- How much of it is already spoken for by customer orders or production?
- Has anything arrived partially, and what’s still outstanding?
When those answers live in one place, a surprising number of daily headaches vanish. Sales can tell a customer when stock is genuinely on the way instead of crossing their fingers.
Receiving knows what to expect at the dock. Purchasing can spot a late shipment before the customer notices it’s late.
When those answers live in individual inboxes, you get what many growing businesses get: a lot of “let me check on that and get back to you.”
Where do things go sideways as you scale?
A few patterns show up again and again.
Orders placed outside the system
A quick email or phone call to a supplier feels faster in the moment. But an order that never makes it into your records is an order your team can’t see, receive against, or reconcile later.
Fuzzy ownership
When everyone can buy and nobody owns buying, you end up with gaps (nobody ordered it) and overlaps (everybody ordered it).
Partial shipments with no paper trail
Suppliers don’t always send everything at once. If the system only knows “ordered” and “received,” half-delivered orders get lost in the middle.
Changes made in conversation
The supplier agrees to a new quantity or date over the phone, and the purchase order never gets updated. Three weeks later, the paperwork and the reality are strangers.
Approvals by hallway
“I mentioned it to Dana” is a lovely sentiment and a terrible audit trail.
How do you tighten things up without becoming the purchasing police?
You don’t need a giant overhaul. A few small, sensible habits do most of the work.
- Put every order through one front door. Whatever tool you use, make it the single place orders get created. If it isn’t in the system, it isn’t an order yet.
- Pick a simple approval rule and stick to it. One clear threshold beats a dozen exceptions. You can always refine it later.
- Name an owner for each supplier relationship. Not to hoard the work, but so someone is accountable for questions, changes, and follow-ups.
- Record changes where everyone can see them. If a date or quantity changes, update the order. Future you will be grateful.
- Review open orders on a regular rhythm. A short weekly check on what’s outstanding, what’s late, and what’s coming catches most problems while they’re still small.
- Receive against the order. When goods arrive, match them to the original purchase order, including partials. This is how discrepancies get caught while the supplier still remembers what they shipped.
Is this a software problem or a habit problem?
Both, honestly. Habits decide whether people use the process, and tools decide whether the process is easy enough to use. A great workflow in a clunky system gets quietly abandoned, and a great system without agreed habits is just an expensive place to store disagreements.
That’s why it helps to have purchasing tools that fit how your team actually works. LilyPad builds ordering and inventory tools (like LilyPad Nexus) that sit on top of the ERP you already use, so you can add structure to buying without starting over. But whatever you use, the principles stay the same: one front door, clear approvals, shared visibility.
FAQ
What is a purchase order, and why does it matter?
A purchase order is a document that records what you’re buying, from whom, in what quantity, and on what terms. It gives both you and your supplier a shared reference, and it gives your team something to receive and reconcile against.
How do I prevent duplicate purchase orders?
Make open orders visible to everyone who buys, and require orders to be created in a single shared system. Duplicates usually happen when one person can’t see what another has already ordered.
Do I need a formal approval process for purchase orders?
Not necessarily a heavy one. Even a simple rule, such as requiring a second approval above a certain amount or for new suppliers, adds helpful guardrails as your team grows.
What should I do when a supplier ships only part of an order?
Record what actually arrived against the original purchase order and keep the remainder open. That way, the outstanding balance stays visible instead of disappearing.
How often should I review open purchase orders?
Many teams find a short weekly review works well. The right rhythm depends on your lead times and how fast your inventory moves.
The bottom line
Growing means more people, more suppliers, and more moving parts, and buying that worked when it lived in one person’s head needs a little structure to keep working.
Give your orders one front door, your approvals a clear rule, and your whole team a shared view of what’s on the way. Your future self (and your cash flow) will thank you.
