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title: The size of the invoice is the wrong measure of a decision
author: Giacomo Balli
published: 2026-09-17
url: https://BigBalli.com/blog/the-size-of-the-invoice-is-the-wrong-measure-of-a-decision
tags: Reading, Business, Product
---

# The size of the invoice is the wrong measure of a decision

*By Giacomo Balli* | *Published: September 17, 2026*

Owners tend to judge whether a decision deserves scrutiny by the size of the invoice. The invoice is the wrong instrument.

A $120,000 mistake at a company doing $6M is not a line item. It is the year. The projects you were going to fund next quarter, the hire you were going to make, the cushion you were going to keep. All of it, spent on something that did not work, while the problem you were trying to solve is still there and now has a failed attempt attached to it.

The same $120,000 at a company ten times the size is a variance someone explains in a meeting.

So the question is not whether the number is big in the abstract. It is what being wrong would do to your next twelve months. If the honest answer is that it would set the year back, the decision has earned a serious look, whatever the invoice says.

And if being wrong would barely register, stop reading proposals and go sign it.

[Discuss on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7507501339732619264)

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**Tags:** Reading, Business, Product

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