twelfth · Glossary · Working in twelfth
Authority limit
An authority limit is the largest value a person can commit without escalation; above it, a decision waits for sign-off from someone more senior.
What it means for retail and category teams
Authority limits, also called approval limits or delegated authority, are common in retail buying and finance. They are usually set by role and may differ by decision type, such as a higher limit for routine decisions than for a new supplier. They control the size of a commitment, separately from margin rules such as a gross-profit floor.
Why it matters
The limit lets a team push routine decisions to the people closest to the category without pushing the consequential ones down with them. Set too low, it floods managers with approvals and slows the trade; set too high, it removes a useful second look at the largest commitments.
Illustrative example
The business and figures are illustrative, not customer data
A buyer has a $25,000 authority limit. A routine $8,000 decision goes ahead on their approval. A $40,000 order for a seasonal range is routed to the category manager, who approves it after checking the forecast and the supplier's delivery dates.
In twelfth
In twelfth, the authority limit is a workspace guardrail. Larger commitments wait for a manager's sign-off, and the decision record shows who approved them.
Related terms
Related on twelfth.ai
- twelfth for heads of category
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