Payables
Payables matches each Bill to its Agreement, gets it approved within a Mandate, pays it on its due date, and reconciles the payment.
Outcome
| Part | This Process |
|---|---|
| Outcome | Each Bill matches an Agreement, is approved within a Mandate, is paid on its due date and is reconciled to the ledger. |
| Reads | Bill, Agreement |
| Leaves | Transaction, Entry, Bill |
| Runs in | Each Startup |
Accountable
Responsible: Treasurer.
Consulted: Operations Lead.
Informed: Founder.
Workflows
| Workflow | Runs | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Pay bills | on Bill.created | Finance Team |
Who does each step
| Workflow | Step | Role | Calls | Approval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay bills | 1. Match the Bill to its vendor’s Agreement and code it. | Finance Lead | Bill.update | None |
| Pay bills | 2. Approve the Bill within the Finance Lead’s Mandate, or ask the Founder above it. | Finance Lead | Bill.approve | Asks first; waits 1 business hour |
| Pay bills | 3. Pay the Bill before its due date. | Treasurer | Bill.pay | Asks first; waits 1 business hour |
| Pay bills | 4. Reconcile the payment to the ledger. | Treasurer | Transaction.reconcile | None |
Events
| Direction | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| In | On Bill.created | Starts Pay bills |
| In | On Bill.created | Wakes this Process, the first time only. The first Bill arrives. |
| Out | Bill.updated | Raised by step 1 of Pay bills |
| Out | Bill.approved | Raised by step 2 of Pay bills |
| Out | Bill.paid | Raised by step 3 of Pay bills |
| Out | Transaction.reconciled | Raised by step 4 of Pay bills |
Plays
No Play names this Process.
Controls
No Control names this Process or a Workflow of it.
Settings
| Setting | Type | Default | Say | Set with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
bills.approveBelow | money | $1,000 | Approve bills under $1,000 without asking me | Setting.update |
bills.payBeforeDays | integer | 2 | Pay bills two days before they are due | Setting.update |
Failure
A failed step retries; when retries run out, the Action goes to the Finance Lead.
| Step | On failure |
|---|---|
| Pay bills 1. Match the Bill to its vendor’s Agreement and code it. | noAgreement: No Agreement covers the Bill, so it goes to the Founder before anything is paid. |
| Pay bills 3. Pay the Bill before its due date. | Goes to the Finance Lead. |
Loop
| Step | Value |
|---|---|
| Hypothesis | Paying each Bill on its due date, not on receipt, keeps more cash on hand with no late fees. |
| Measure | Default alive over 90d, at least 30 observations |
| Learn | The learn step reads the Readout, records Evidence and a Decision, and drafts the next Variant. |
Code
Turn on payablesEnable
On by default for every Product Template. Process.pause stops new Actions; Actions in progress finish.
Approve bills under $1,Example
A hosting Bill for $412 arrives by email. It matches the vendor’s Agreement and falls under the $1,000 threshold. It is paid two days before its due date, and no one is asked.