Run Free Audit
How it works

How a decision becomes captured.

This walks one open spend decision record end to end, from a line on an invoice through the conditions a decision must clear (evidence, owner, approval, confirmed completion) before a single dollar moves from reviewable to captured. The numbers come from the built-in Acme AI sample stack, the same example shown on the homepage. It is labeled a sample because it is one: it shows the shape of the record, not a customer.

DECISION 04
Claude Team
Consolidate
Monthly exposure
$450/mo
Captured outcome
$0/mo
Stays $0 until a person confirms the change is complete.
Evidence state
Needs confirmation
Overlaps ChatGPT Team on the same job. Replacement path not yet confirmed.
Accountable owner
Unassigned
Blocks the route step. Surfaced, not hidden.
Where it sits in the loop
IntakeAdded from the June invoice
ScoreConsolidate: overlap on the same job
EvidenceReplacement path unconfirmed
RouteWaiting on an owner
Capture$0 until confirmed complete
Two steps complete, three still open. This is the honest state of one decision. Nothing here is counted as captured yet.
1
The source charge

Claude Team · $450/mo ($5,400/yr) · AI/Data. Found on the pasted invoice and tool list. No integration, no vendor login. The list you already have is enough to start.

2
The score: Consolidate

The audit scores Claude Team Consolidate into ChatGPT Team because the tools overlap on the same reasoning and drafting job. The replacement path is still unconfirmed, so this remains a proposal, not an instruction to cancel.

3
The missing evidence

A consolidation this size needs last-60-day active-seat counts, replacement-path confirmation, and a power-user dependency check. Until that evidence is attached and the outcome is confirmed, the $450/mo stays reviewable. It is never claimed as captured.

4
The owner

The accountable owner is Unassigned. Assign an owner before routing the decision; until then the missing owner remains a visible blocker.

5
The approval

Approval is Not requested. Route approval only after the decision has an owner; when it is approved, the signed-in account that recorded the approval and the timestamp are retained, and no approval is implied before that event.

6
The outcome

The captured outcome stays $0. Only then, after the consolidation is actually complete and a human confirms the outcome, can the confirmed amount move from reviewable to captured. AlignCube never assumes the full $450 was captured.

Reviewable spend is not captured. The record is what turns a flag into a confirmed charge stop, with the evidence, owner, and approval attached to defend it at the renewal.That discipline is the product.

The memo this produces

Every decision record can be read as a one-page memo: the thing you forward to a CEO, a board, or the teammate who asks “why did we cancel that?” This is the current open-state memo for the sample above, blockers visible, nothing captured yet.

AlignCube · Spend Decision MemoSAMPLE
ToolClaude Team (AI/Data)
Monthly cost$450/mo · $5,400/yr
DecisionConsolidate, one of four calls: Keep / Cut / Review / Consolidate
RationaleOverlap with ChatGPT Team on the same reasoning and drafting job; replacement path unconfirmed.
EvidenceInvoice source charge attached. Still requested: last-60-day active seats and replacement-path / power-user dependency confirmation.
OwnerUnassigned. Assign before approval
Approved byNot requested. Blocked on owner and evidence
Outcome$0 captured. Consolidation not confirmed complete
Review byMust be set before the next renewal. The record survives, so the next review starts here.
Sample record from the Acme AI demonstration stack · aligncube.ai · No integrations required. Produced from a pasted tool list.
Can you defend this renewal today?
Before a renewal is approved, someone should be able to name the job, the accountable owner, the evidence, the alternative, and the next review date. If one is unknown, the honest call is Review, not Renew. A person can build the first record from the tool list you already have. The free audit gives you the scored cut list and the reasoning behind every call; Monitor adds the operating record shown above: attached evidence, owner routing, approvals, decision memos, and captured-outcome tracking.
Get a first decision record built by a person →