Many MSPs still log into their clients’ CDW, Dell, or Amazon accounts to place hardware orders “on their behalf.”
It feels harmless — but it creates operational, financial, and liability risks that are entirely avoidable.
Here are the clear, concrete reasons you should never purchase equipment this way:
1. You lose control over orders and tracking.
You don’t manage shipping, notifications, tracking, returns, or delivery accuracy.
If something arrives late, incorrect, or damaged, you’re responsible—but you don’t have the authority to fix it efficiently.
2. You lose documentation and lifecycle visibility.
Serials, warranties, invoices, and receipts live in the client’s system, not yours.
This breaks your asset-tracking process and makes long-term lifecycle management nearly impossible.
3. You lose pricing consistency — and revenue.
Client accounts rarely include your negotiated vendor rates or partner incentives.
When you order through their accounts, you lose:
- hardware margin
- vendor rebates
- back-end credits
- deal registration benefits
- standardized cost models
This is direct lost revenue and prevents you from building a predictable procurement profit center.
4. You create accountability gaps.
From the client’s perspective, you placed the order.
But if CDW or Dell requires approvals, changes, or issue resolution, they only talk to the account owner.
You own the responsibility without owning the authority.
5. You create avoidable liability.
Using a client’s credentials means:
- no internal audit trail
- no documentation inside your systems
- no formal authorization
- no internal protection in a dispute
If something goes sideways, you have no legal or operational footing.
This is why a dedicated procurement function matters.
A real procurement operation gives you:
- consistent standards
- predictable pricing and margin
- ownership of documentation
- full lifecycle visibility
- Control over delivery and logistics
- a protected audit trail
All within your own systems — where you can manage it properly and profitably.
If you want to scale efficiently and operate like a mature MSP, owning procurement isn’t optional.
It’s a fundamental operational and revenue requirement.
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