Who has buying authority: how to find the person who can say yes, and confirm it

This guide is for SDRs, account executives and founders who keep reaching people who like the idea but can't approve it. It explains the kinds of authority inside a company, which platforms and public records show any of it, the questions that reveal it without asking "are you the decision maker?", and a test of how often your data picks the right person. For mapping everyone involved in a deal, see how to find decision makers; for the definition and history of the term, see economic buyer.

Authority is a limit, not a title

Most companies past a few dozen people write down who may approve spending of what size, often called a delegation of authority or an approval matrix. Three kinds of authority are worth separating:

The person you want is the one whose approval limit covers your deal and whose budget pays for it, the economic buyer in MEDDIC terms. Bigger deals move that person up the organization.

Illustrative approval matrix. Real limits vary widely; ask for the company's own.

Category rules cut across amounts. Software usually needs an IT security review whatever it costs, and new suppliers often need procurement setup even for small purchases.

Which platforms show who has buying authority?

None show it directly. Sales data platforms show who holds which title, and some let you draw who matters; public records show formal legal authority at the top. We checked each source's own pages on 30 October 2026.

So when a tool labels someone a "decision maker", it is usually inferring from title and seniority. Treat that as a starting hypothesis, then confirm it with the questions below.

Formal authority in public records

• US public companies. The 10-K or proxy lists executive officers and how long they've held each role. An 8-K under Item 5.02 reports when a chief executive, chief financial officer, chief operating officer or similar officer leaves or is appointed, which often resets who approves what. Finding officers is the easy part; the enterprise account research guide shows how to find the business unit below them that owns your problem.
• UK companies. Companies House lists directors. At a small company, a director is often the buyer; at a large one, directors rarely sign supplier contracts themselves.
• German companies. The register shows managing directors (Geschäftsführer) and Prokuristen. Under the Commercial Code, Prokura authorizes every kind of transaction that running the business involves, except selling or mortgaging land without a specific grant, and joint Prokura must be registered as such. A Prokurist in finance or purchasing can often sign your contract; see finding decision makers in Europe.

Buying authority in the public sector

Government buyers publish their rules. In US federal buying, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (effective 13 March 2026) says contracts "may be entered into and signed on behalf of the Government only by contracting officers." It sets the micro-purchase threshold at $15,000 and the simplified acquisition threshold at $350,000, with exceptions. For micro-purchases, agency heads are encouraged to delegate authority to trained purchasers, and the government purchase card is the preferred method. In practice, a program manager can champion a purchase, but below $15,000 a card holder may be able to buy, and above it a contracting officer signs. State and local governments publish their own thresholds; find them in the purchasing or procurement section of the agency's website.

Signs someone holds authority, and signs they don't

Questions that reveal authority without asking "are you the decision maker?"

That question invites a yes from almost everyone. These get you the path instead:

• "How does a purchase like this usually get approved here?"
• "Above what amount does this need someone else's sign-off?"
• "Whose budget would this come from?"
• "The last time you bought something in this category, who signed, and who else reviewed it?"
• "Who could stop this, even if you and your team wanted it?"
• "What does procurement need from a new supplier?"
• "If we agree this is worth doing, what happens between now and a signature?"

Record the answers in your CRM's buying-role field against each contact, with the date and who told you. The BANT questions page has more authority and budget questions in the order to ask them.

A test: how often does your data pick the right person?

Run this on your own closed deals to see how far to trust a platform's "decision maker".

1. Pull your last 20 closed-won deals. From the contract and the CRM, record who signed, who owned the budget and who could have blocked it.
2. Look up each account in your data platform and note the people it ranks highest or tags as decision makers for your product's function.
3. Score each deal: did the platform's top suggestion match the signer, the budget owner, either, or neither? Was the signer in the platform at all?
4. Repeat for 10 lost deals where you know, from the debrief, who decided.
5. Read the result. If the top suggestion matches the budget owner in fewer than half of deals, use the platform to find names and your questions to find authority.

Deal: [account]   Size: $[ ]   Closed: [date]   Won / Lost

FROM THE CONTRACT AND CRM
Signer: [role]   Budget owner: [role]   Blockers: [roles]

FROM THE DATA PLATFORM
Top suggested contact for our function: [role]
Tagged "decision maker": [roles]
Signer listed in the platform at all?  Y / N

MATCH
Top suggestion = signer?  Y / N
Top suggestion = budget owner?  Y / N
Notes: [e.g. platform suggested the CFO; a VP signed within her limit]

Worked example: a $60,000 deal at a manufacturer

Illustrative example. The companies, people and limits are invented to show the method.

The seller: a maintenance software company. The account: Fernvale Components (fernvale.example), a 900-person manufacturer. The deal: $60,000 a year.

What the data platform suggested: the CEO and the CFO, the two most senior people, both tagged as decision makers.

What three conversations revealed:

What changed: the seller dropped the CEO and CFO from the sequence, asked the champion to introduce the VP Operations with a one-page summary of downtime costs, and sent the security documentation to IT before the VP meeting. The deal needed four people's support, and none of them was the person the platform ranked first.

At volume, finding the right roles at each account is the slow part; Bebop finds companies and contacts that match your description and writes a playbook for each account, including who to talk to. Confirm authority the same way, with the questions above.

Common mistakes

• Equating seniority with authority. The CEO of a 900-person company rarely approves a $60,000 tool.
• Taking "I'm the decision maker" at face value. Ask about the approval path instead.
• Ignoring vetoes. IT security, legal and procurement can't buy, but they can stop.
• Forgetting that authority moves. A new CFO or a reorganization resets limits; watch 8-Ks and announcements.
• Not writing it down. Authority you learned on a call and didn't record is lost when the deal changes hands.

Next step: qualify authority alongside need, timing and budget with the BANT questions.