You have just closed a big sale.

Sales is unsure when exactly stock will be available. The purchasing team places orders to replenish stock. Then finance raises a red flag: cash-flow looks tight.

This happens because procurement and finance often operate in parallel, not together.

They have different priorities, and different tools. Procurement focuses on supply and service levels. Finance focuses on costs and cash-flow.

Both are right. Yet when they are not aligned, they react to each other.

Lack of cooperation results in

• Communication gaps that slow down decisions

• Missed opportunities for cost savings and better supplier terms

• Surprises in cash flow if purchases do not match payment schedules

• Inefficient manual work in spreadsheets, leaving less time for strategy

When both teams work together, they plan together. They control costs, safeguard a steady cash-flow, and make better informed decisions.

Here is how to achieve more cooperation

Share inventory visibility

Sales want to give reliable information to customers. Procurement wants service levels. Finance worries about tied-up capital. Shared inventory data reveals how stock levels impact cash flow, so both sides act on the same facts.

Exchange intelligence regularly

Procurement knows when supplier markets shift. Finance knows where liquidity is strained. Shared strategy sessions help avoid surprises and align short-term actions with long-term goals. Best of all: a shared knowledge base where insights of all sides are recorded and available to all.

Mainly, invest in technology

Manual reports and disconnected spreadsheets slow all teams down with busywork. The right tool gives procurement and finance one place to see the same numbers, track decisions in real time, and plan based on reliable forecasts.

Try Autopilot

Autopilot, for instance, connects procurement and finance (and even sales or manufacturing) through a single source of truth, as you can grant access anyone in your company to:

• Real-time demand forecasts

• Service levels linked directly to cash flow

• Transparent inventory and purchase visibility

• Faster, data-driven decisions for all teams

• Pinned notes from all users

When you need to plan, Autopilot gives you real-time feedback on what service level and stocking decisions will cost over time. Contact us to inquire about our most advanced inventory planning tool.

Conclusion

Procurement and finance should stop reacting to each other. Instead, they should plan together, control costs, and protect margins, while reducing surprises and freeing time for what really matters.