Walk any fast-moving technical workplace and you will find a plastic card in a drawer, a virtual number in a password manager, or a founder’s personal card “just this once.” Spend happens. Policy arrives later — usually as an angry spreadsheet.
What finance actually needs
Finance needs a ceiling, a trail, and a way to escalate when a buy exceeds a role’s authority. That is a credit facility: monthly or project limits, manager seals when needed, and a live remaining balance at the moment of purchase.
Store surfaces those numbers in the same flow as the product link. You do not “go look up policy.” The lane either has room or it routes for approval.
Hold is a first-class action
Not every confirmed quote should settle today. Hold lets commercial terms sit under the line until cash, inspection, or a manager is ready — without losing the thread in email.
The payments analogy
Card networks separated authentication, authorisation, and capture for a reason. Procurement deserves the same separation: confirm terms, authorise against budget, then settle. That is why credit appears before checkout in Store — not after the goods are already on a truck.