Published October 22, 2026
An assistant who can order supplies, book a venue, or renew a subscription saves time. An assistant who can commit the company to an unapproved amount creates a financial control problem. The difference is a threshold table.
The table does not need to be complex. It needs to name the category, the amount, the approver, and the evidence required. Without it, every purchase becomes either a bottleneck or an unauthorized commitment.
Table of contents
- Separate preparation from commitment
- Build the threshold table
- Require evidence with every purchase
- Handle recurring and emergency purchases
- Review the pattern, not just the receipts
- Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions
Separate preparation from commitment
The assistant can research options, collect quotes, check availability, prepare a purchase request, and confirm delivery details. The commitment happens when someone with authority approves the spend and the order is placed under the approved process.
Write the verbs:
- May: research, compare, request a quote, prepare a request, confirm receipt.
- May with approval: place an order, accept a quote, renew a subscription, pay an invoice.
- May not: split a purchase to avoid a threshold, change a vendor's payment terms, use a personal card for company spend, or approve their own request.
The anti-splitting rule matters. Three purchases of $490 are not three small purchases if they form one $1,470 commitment.
Build the threshold table
| Category | No approval | Owner approval | Finance approval | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office supplies | Up to $100 | $100–$500 | Above $500 | Approved vendor list |
| Software subscription | None | Any new subscription | Renewal above $1,000 | Security review for new tools |
| Travel | Per travel policy | Exception fare | Above policy cap | Receipts required |
| Client entertainment | None | Any amount | Above policy cap | Attendee list required |
| Equipment | None | Up to $1,000 | Above $1,000 | Asset tag required |
| Professional services | None | Scope only | Any contract | Legal review for terms |
The amounts are examples of form, not recommendations. Each organization should set its own thresholds with finance and legal.
Name a backup approver for each row. A threshold with one approver becomes a bottleneck during leave.
Require evidence with every purchase
A purchase record should include:
- requester and business purpose
- vendor and item or service
- amount, currency, and tax
- quote or proposal
- approval and approval time
- payment method and cost center
- receipt and delivery confirmation
- asset tag or subscription owner, if applicable
Do not reimburse a purchase that bypassed the threshold. Handle exceptions explicitly rather than normalizing them.
Handle recurring and emergency purchases
Recurring subscriptions need an owner, a renewal date, a cost, and a review. The assistant can maintain the renewal calendar and flag upcoming charges. The owner decides whether to renew.
Emergency purchases, such as a replacement laptop before a client meeting, need a defined fast path: a named approver, a spending cap, and a requirement to document the exception within one business day. An emergency path that is used weekly is not an emergency path.
Review the pattern, not just the receipts
Monthly, review:
- purchases near the threshold
- repeated purchases from the same vendor
- subscriptions with no named owner
- exceptions and their reasons
- purchases split across invoices or dates
The pattern reveals whether the thresholds are working. A cluster just below the approval line may indicate gaming or a threshold set too low for the actual work. The NIST Privacy Framework is relevant when a purchase involves personal data or a new vendor with access to it; it does not replace finance or procurement policy.
Sources
- NIST Privacy Framework
- O*NET OnLine: Executive Administrative Assistants
- U.S. Department of Labor: Hiring
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an assistant use a company card?
Only under the written card policy, with the same thresholds and evidence requirements. A card does not create spending authority.
What if a purchase is urgent and the approver is unavailable?
Use the named backup or the documented emergency path. Record the exception and notify the primary approver as soon as possible.
How do we stop threshold splitting?
Define a single commitment as the total value of related purchases over a stated period. Require approval at that total, and review near-threshold clusters monthly.
Review cadence
Review every override at month end. Record the amount, the approver, the reason, and whether the purchase should have been split or planned. A pattern of small overrides suggests the threshold is too low or the planning cycle is unrealistic. Adjust one variable at a time and keep the approval record.
A good threshold is low enough to catch routine spend and high enough to avoid a queue for every supply order. Test it with real requests from the last quarter: how many would have needed an approval, and how long would the queue have taken. If the answer is most of them, the process is mispriced. Record the test with the policy so the next review starts from evidence. Keep the test notes with the policy so the next reviewer can see why the number changed.