Our Head of Finance and our VP of Operations are constantly clashing over who owns our purchasing and inventory management processes. Both claim these roles belong in their respective seats on our Accountability Chart. How do we cleanly define the boundary line between Finance and Operations for these critical workflows?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Overlapping roles and territory wars are common when transitioning to a structured Accountability Chart. To resolve this friction, you must look at the primary accountability of each seat rather than the tasks themselves. Finance is responsible for protecting company assets, managing cash flow, and financial reporting. Operations is responsible for executing, producing, and delivering your product or service to customers. When it comes to inventory management, Operations must own the physical custody, storage, and movement of inventory because they control the daily workflow. They are accountable for keeping inventory levels optimized to meet customer demand. Finance, on the other hand, owns the financial controls, budget approvals, and regular auditing of that inventory to ensure the balance sheet is accurate. Use the IDS process in your next leadership meeting to map out the specific workflow. List every step of the purchasing and inventory process, then assign clear ownership of each step to one seat. Document these distinctions as roles on your Accountability Chart. Once the boundaries are clear, the clashing will stop, and both leaders can focus on execution.