From Potential to Realized — Savings With Audit Trail
SpendGuard tracks savings through five distinct states: potential, accepted, validated, realized, and sustained. No fixed savings guarantees — only evidence-backed recovery.
Five-state savings lifecycle
Source-cited evidence per opportunity
Approval-gated dispute and validation
Separate potential from realized
Why five states matter
Conflating potential with realized savings is how vendors and consultants overstate value. SpendGuard never collapses these states.
Potential savings
A finding has been identified with evidence. Not yet reviewed or accepted.
Accepted
User has reviewed and accepted the finding. Action is queued — dispute, hold, credit request.
Validated
Action taken. Vendor disputed, credit requested, or invoice corrected. Awaiting outcome.
Realized
Credit received, invoice reduced, or avoided cost confirmed. The dollar is in the bank.
Sustained
The pattern is monitored. Recurring issue resolved at the source, not just one-off recovered.
Evidence on every transition.
Each state transition is approval-gated where policy requires, audit-logged with reviewer and reason, and tied to source records — invoice, contract, RFQ, work order, pickup, manifest, or credit memo.
Multi-step execution with rules and human oversight ensures the savings number leadership sees is the same number AP can defend in a vendor conversation.
Trust the savings number because it cites the source.
Source-cited evidence per opportunity
Approval-gated state transitions
Audit log: who / when / why
Separation of duties (creator ≠ approver) where required
Opportunity Queue and Opportunity Detail
Two surfaces drive the savings workflow: the Opportunity Queue (portfolio list) and the Opportunity Detail (per-opportunity record).
Opportunity Queue
Portfolio-level list of every open savings opportunity. Sortable by potential value, status, owner, vendor, category, site, and aging. Entry point for review.
Opportunity Detail
Per-opportunity record with rule rationale, source citations (invoice, contract, RFQ, manifest), evidence trail, accept / dismiss controls, dispute draft, validation state, and approval log.
Queue → Detail flow
Reviewer opens the Queue, scans aging and value, drills into the Detail, reviews citations, and routes the opportunity into Accepted / Validated / Realized. Every action is logged.
Filters that match operations
Filter Opportunity Queue by site, vendor, category, owner, source rule, confidence, and date range. The same filters apply to the Executive Dashboard for consistency.
Reporting that finance trusts
The CFO conversation needs separate columns — not a single hopeful total.
Monthly savings report
Potential, accepted, validated, realized, and sustained — by site, vendor, category, and opportunity type.
Credit recovery cycle time
Days from credit request to credit received. Reduce over time.
Acceptance rate
Accepted opportunities ÷ reviewed opportunities. Used to tune rule precision and reduce false positives.
Realization rate
Realized savings ÷ accepted opportunities. The ratio that proves real recovery.
SpendGuard scope and savings disclaimer
F2 SpendGuard surfaces invoice exceptions, contract compliance signals, and savings opportunities with source-cited evidence. It does not approve invoices, post payments, send vendor disputes, or replace AP / accounting systems — every financial action requires authorized human review. SpendGuard does not promise a fixed savings percentage; savings are tracked across five distinct states (potential, accepted, validated, realized, sustained) and reported separately.
Ready to see savings with audit trail?
Walk through the lifecycle on a real opportunity — from rule-detected leakage to credit received.