Move budget ownership before the invoice

Integrity · Little Light original

A manager is told she owns the budget when the monthly report arrives. By then, the contract has been signed, the new request has been promised and several small decisions have already become costs. She is accountable for the total but was absent from the moments that created it. Put ownership earlier in the work. Show the assumptions before approval, agree which commitments require her view and let her see the trade-offs while alternatives still exist. She does not need to inspect every receipt or become an obstacle to ordinary spending. She needs enough authority and timely information to shape the number she will later be asked to explain. Financial responsibility is not the ability to describe yesterday's choices with a red or green variance. It is the chance to make considered choices before money and expectations harden. If someone carries the answer at the end of the month, give their judgment a real place near the beginning. Accountability becomes fair when it arrives before the invoice does.

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