A little while back, I discovered an accounting issue that basically meant the PO intended to fund the most important vendor under my managerial purview had run out of money. Initial indications were that I had seriously miscalculated a requested increase in said PO in July of 2024. This error was to the tune of about $600K. Fast-forward a couple of weeks, I have discovered a few things that might deal with this pickle I find myself in. 1) We were over charged on three separate occasions. In total, those three overbilling incidents were good for a little over $300K. Bonus... this happened before I became manager. 2) If my eyes aren't deceiving me, it appears my requested PO increase in July 2024 was never applied to the PO. This was for about $246K. If all this pans out, this might solve my problem, albeit with some administrative headache. I have learned some valuable accounting lessons, some lessons about CYA, some lessons about not utterly relying on our IT finance people, the value of a good relationship with the procurement person, and the value of being straight with my boss. I'm still not out of the woods, but my boss has promised me he wouldn't fire me. His boss didn't immediately fire me. Her boss will still probably yell at me, but might concede that I actually saved the company money... see #1 above. All remains to be seen and I am going to try to enjoy my birthday tomorrow without worrying about this. On a serious note, I have learned that I need to make a better effort to give my attention to the things that really need it at work. Budget and finances are something that I need to pay closer attention to, without a doubt.