Solution · Finance · Operations · Procurement
Purchase approvals that follow the policy, at every amount
Spend policies are precise on paper and vague in practice. Ovenbird applies the thresholds, the categories and the supplier rules to the request in front of the person.
Reads the documents you already have. Writes to no customer. One afternoon to set up.
Sounds familiar?
- Requests go to the wrong approverRouted by habit, bounced back.
- Evidence chased after approvalQuotes and reports attached late.
- Exceptions become the ruleEmergency branches used without the conditions.
Where it shows up
- ManufacturingSpares, maintenance contracts, capital requests: thresholds, emergency branches, approved-supplier rules.
- HospitalityFood and beverage orders, event hires, property repairs: par levels, approved vendors, who signs above the limit.
- TechnologySoftware subscriptions and cloud spend: security review, data-processing terms, the budget owner by category.
- Professional servicesSubcontractors and expenses billable to clients: client approval first, then internal.
- EducationEquipment and services under public-procurement rules: tender thresholds and documentation.
What changes
- The right approver, first timeBy amount, category and urgency, from the policy, with the deciding fact asked before routing.
- Evidence attached before approvalQuotes, breakdown reports, security reviews: required at the step the policy sets, not chased afterwards.
- Supplier steps includedNew-supplier onboarding, approved-list checks and contract terms as part of the same request.
- Requesters learn the policy by using itFewer rejected requests; new managers trained on the policy with scenarios.
- Policy exceptions become policyRecurring exceptions are surfaced as proposed edits with the requests that prompted them.
How it works
- 1
Point it at the documents you have
Confluence, Google Docs, Notion or a web page. No rewriting; Ovenbird reads the live version and shows which one it followed.
- 2
People ask on the work in front of them
In Slack, on the web or from the record: the one next step, the fact it depends on asked first, the paragraph quoted.
- 3
Corrections and training come from the same page
Every "this is wrong" becomes a proposed edit. Every procedure becomes a short course with refreshers and records.
Built for
- Finance directorSpend inside policy, audit findings down.
- Operations and plant managersThe right approver first time, with the evidence.
- ProcurementSupplier steps included in the same request.
What a pilot measures
- Requests approved first timeShare of requests routed to the right approver with complete evidence.
- Policy breachesPurchases outside threshold or supplier rules found at audit.
- Cycle timeDays from request to purchase order.
Agreed before the pilot. Reported after 90 days, before and after.
Questions buyers ask
Does Ovenbird approve or raise the purchase order?
No. It tells the requester and approver what the policy requires next. Approvals and orders stay in your finance system.
Can it handle emergency branches?
If the policy writes them, yes. It asks whether the exception applies and follows that branch, citing the paragraph.
See it on one of your own documents
Paste a link to a procedure. The next step and the course exist the same minute.