In the procure to pay process, the responsibility for creating a requisition and the responsibility for creating a purchase orders are separated so that typically, one person is not permitted to do both. Why is this separation a good business practice?

Typically, department managers have control over spending within the limits of their departmental budgets. There are signing limits set however, as to expense amounts a manager can approve; expenses over that approval limit have to be authorized by a more senior manager in the reporting line (i.e., “up the food chain”). Suppose for instance, a department manager has a budget limit for total supplies expense set at $20,000 for the year, and a signing limit of $1,000 on any given purchase. That manager will therefore be able to approve an individual requisition for $300 (since it is less than $1,000), as long as the total spending is within the overall budget limit of $20,000. If a requisition is worth $1,500 however, then the managers boss, or someone more senior up the reporting line would have to approve the requisition before the requisition could be passed on to the Purchasing department for further processing.

Some have suggested that the Purchasing department should be involved in the approval process, such that if a department is over-spending, the Purchasing department should be able to refuse to act on the requisition. Explain why this approach is not a good idea. Note that the answer is not in the textbook — you’ll have to think your way through this one.

To receive credit, your posting must be at least 75 words, in clear, well-written English, and must effectively address the question asked.

In the procure to pay process, the responsibility for creating a requisition and the responsibility for creating a purchase orders are separated so that typically, one person is not permitted to do both. Why is this separation a good business practice?