PO Approval
by
Purchase order decisions for ecommerce teams: weigh each PO against cash position, stock cover and margin, then approve, delay or split it with the quantity attached.
A purchase order commits cash months before the revenue arrives, and it is usually approved on a demand forecast alone. The cash side is checked separately if at all, and the alternative to approving in full is rarely considered: splitting the order into two deliveries costs a little in unit price and buys a great deal in flexibility. This skill reads the requested quantity against demand, current cover, supplier lead time, the margin the products carry and your cash position through the delivery window, then returns approve, delay or split with the quantity and the dates.
What It Does
- Compares requested quantity against demand, current cover and lead time.
- Projects cash position across the payment and delivery window.
- Prices the margin the order carries at the supplier's quoted cost.
- Models splitting the order into two deliveries against ordering in full.
- Flags the orders that would breach your cash buffer on arrival.
- Returns approve, delay or split with quantity and dates attached.
Use Cases
- Stop approving purchase orders on a demand forecast with no cash check.
- Split an order where the unit price premium costs less than the risk.
- Delay a purchase order past a payroll week rather than squeezing the buffer.
- Give a supplier a defensible answer rather than an approval by default.
Example Session
Should I approve this $140k purchase order for spring stock?
Approve it split rather than in full. The full order lands in the same week as payroll.
- Option | Cash out | Timing | Cover on arrival | Unit cost | Risk
- Approve in full | $140k | Mar 3 | 22 weeks | $11.40 | Buffer breached Mar 5
- Split 60/40 | $84k then $56k | Mar 3, Apr 14 | 13 then 22 weeks | $11.95 | Buffer holds
- Delay 3 weeks | $140k | Mar 24 | 22 weeks | $11.40 | Stock-out risk weeks 9 to 11
- Reduce to 70% | $98k | Mar 3 | 15 weeks | $12.30 | Buffer holds, cover thin
The split costs $0.55 a unit, about $6,200 across the order, and removes a buffer breach three days after delivery. Delaying is cheaper on paper and opens a stock-out window in weeks nine to eleven, which on this product costs more than the premium. Approve 60% now with the balance dated April 14.
Why This Beats Prompting It Yourself
A Demand Forecast vs The Cash Behind It: The Hidden Risk
A generic prompt checks the quantity against the forecast and approves. That misses the half of the decision that bites: what the payment does to cash in the week it clears, and whether a split delivery would have cost less than the risk it removes. Purchase orders approved this way are why a profitable business can be short of money in March.
When You Still Need The Split Priced
The choice is rarely approve or refuse. This skill prices the split at $0.55 a unit against a buffer breach it removes, and prices the delay against the stock-out window it opens. Each option carries its cash timing and its cover, which is what lets a purchasing lead and a finance lead settle the order in one conversation.
Known Limitations
The cash projection is only as good as the committed outflows it can see, so an unlogged recurring cost will make the buffer look healthier than it is. Split pricing assumes the supplier will quote a premium for two deliveries, which the skill estimates from your own history until a real quote replaces it. It recommends the decision and does not place or amend the order with the supplier.
Install It
- Download the ZIP.
It is free and there is no account to create. - Unzip it into your agent's skills folder.
Claude Code reads ~/.claude/skills/, which is hidden by default: the command in the folder block opens it. Other agents scan their own directory, so drop the same folder there instead. - Ask your agent to use it.
Restart the agent if it was already running, then it picks the skill up with no config.
skills folder
Copy
~/.claude/skills/po-approval/
SKILL.md
references/split-pricing.md
decisions/
# one file per PO, with the options priced
# macOS: create the folder and open it in Finder
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && open ~/.claude/skills
# Windows: paste in the Explorer address bar
%USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\Frequently asked questions
How is this different from checking the order against the forecast?
The forecast answers how much you need. This adds what the payment does to cash in the week it clears, what the products earn at the quoted cost, and what a split or a delay would cost instead. Those are the parts that turn a routine approval into a decision.
Which agents does the skill run in?
Any agent that supports the open SKILL.md format: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Manus, Grok and others load it unmodified. The format is portable, the location is not. Each agent scans its own skills directory, so you drop the same folder into whichever one yours uses. There is no config file to edit and no API key to provision.
What does it need connected to work?
The purchase order with quantities, cost and dates, current inventory and demand, and a cash position with committed outflows. Without the cash side it still checks quantity and cover, and says explicitly that the cash check did not happen.
Why does it so often recommend splitting?
Because the premium a supplier charges for two deliveries is usually small against the flexibility it buys, and most buffer breaches are timing problems rather than affordability problems. Where the premium is genuinely expensive the skill prices it and recommends the full order.
Can it negotiate with the supplier?
No. It gives you the priced options to negotiate with, including what a split is worth to you, which is the figure most useful to have before the call. The order itself is placed by a person in your purchasing system.
What is included with the skill?
The skill itself, the split pricing reference, the decision template, and the cash projection method. It is free and security scanned. We re-publish the ZIP when the pricing model changes, so download it again if your split estimates drift.
A PO is cash committed months before revenue arrives.
Polar reads cash position, cover and margin on one definition, so approving, delaying or splitting is decided against runway rather than habit.
<script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How is this different from checking the order against the forecast?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The forecast answers how much you need. This adds what the payment does to cash in the week it clears, what the products earn at the quoted cost, and what a split or a delay would cost instead. Those are the parts that turn a routine approval into a decision."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which agents does the skill run in?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Any agent that supports the open SKILL.md format: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Manus, Grok and others load it unmodified. The format is portable, the location is not. Each agent scans its own skills directory, so you drop the same folder into whichever one yours uses. There is no config file to edit and no API key to provision."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What does it need connected to work?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The purchase order with quantities, cost and dates, current inventory and demand, and a cash position with committed outflows. Without the cash side it still checks quantity and cover, and says explicitly that the cash check did not happen."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does it so often recommend splitting?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Because the premium a supplier charges for two deliveries is usually small against the flexibility it buys, and most buffer breaches are timing problems rather than affordability problems. Where the premium is genuinely expensive the skill prices it and recommends the full order."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can it negotiate with the supplier?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. It gives you the priced options to negotiate with, including what a split is worth to you, which is the figure most useful to have before the call. The order itself is placed by a person in your purchasing system."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is included with the skill?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The skill itself, the split pricing reference, the decision template, and the cash projection method. It is free and security scanned. We re-publish the ZIP when the pricing model changes, so download it again if your split estimates drift."}}]}</script>