# What's the most money you've ever been responsible for, that wasn't yours? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850 "2011-06-25T21:32:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/1 "2011-06-25T21:32:49Z")
For those of you who have been in charge of allocating a department’s budget and the like, what’s the most money that didn’t belong to you but you were responsible for spending/managing? I thought about making this a poll but I don’t even really have a clue of what appropriate values would be for options. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/2 "2011-06-25T21:42:37Z")
I didn’t have to allocate a budget or anything, but I was responsible for receiving, keeping and re-shipping three corporate checks that added up to a million and a half. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/3 "2011-06-25T21:57:32Z")
I manage anywhere from $5-$15 MM a year depending on the projects we’re working on. But it’s not like I could write a check for a new boat, there are very secure safeties in place. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/4 "2011-06-25T21:58:09Z")
My department’s budget is about a million a year, and I have pretty much sole discretion about how it is spent. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/5 "2011-06-25T22:11:16Z")
On a few rare occasions, I’ve been asked to deliver small airplanes cross-country to their new owners. Usually this involves fetching the craft after the deal is done, and I have no involvement with the finance part of the deal. In one unusual case the owner-to-be assigned me power of attorney, with limited authority to evaluate, test-fly and negotiate (significant changes required his phone approval, tho’). I spent 2 days evaluating and testing his new machine and on the third day signed a check for a little over $250,000. I departed soon after and delivered it to its new home. This was the largest check I’ve ever written, and the largest amount of money I’ve ever been _solely_ responsible for. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/6 "2011-06-25T22:56:30Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I manage anywhere from $5-$15 MM a year depending on the projects we’re working on. > But it’s not like I could write a check for a new boat, there are very secure safeties in place. This. It’s not really as much fun as I imagined to spend other peoples money - too much paperwork. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/7 "2011-06-25T23:07:37Z")
The single most expensive piece of gear I’ve been responsible for retails for about $160 million. I needed to make darn sure I didn’t break it; reimbursing the company would have been a bitch. 😉 Considering the rest of the liability tail connected to a major screw up, there’s probably close to a half a billion dollars at risk every day I went to work. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/8 "2011-06-25T23:09:38Z")
I am currently responsible for about $750 million. I expect it will hit a billion at some point in the next year or so. I am a financial planner so I don’t spend it, but I am responsible for it’s allocation. It still kind of boggles my mind to have that kind of responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/9 "2011-06-25T23:31:48Z")
I was a buyer at a manufacturing plant and wrote a purchase order for 200K worth of steel once. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/10 "2011-06-26T01:22:28Z")
I was Treasurer of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer of America, so that was a few hundred thousand dollars. I once had to deposit a $38,000 check for them. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/11 "2011-06-26T01:26:30Z")
One time I had to fill out an expense report for, like, two weeks worth of hotel lunches. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/12 "2011-06-26T01:34:36Z")
I never sat down and added it (and my last job was really disorangized), but I was in the buying department. I would say I was personally in charge of spending about five million a year. With the whole department (based on my experience and assuming others had the same budget) being in charge of about 40 million. While I was never tempted to steal anything, it would have been too much of a hassel. We get called regularly from banks asking if I really spent a half million dollars on a certain product. Or asking we really wanted 10,000 of certain product. I guess they were covering their asses, but it was really annoying. Especially if it was with person with did business with regularly. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/13 "2011-06-26T01:44:14Z")
When I worked as a concert PA I would often be given up to a couple thousand dollars to buy whatever. It doesn’t sound like much, but mind you it was _cash_. Even after having done it a while it was still always strange to just be handed a stack of $100 bills and sent on my way. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/14 "2011-06-26T13:13:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The single most expensive piece of gear I’ve been responsible for retails for about $160 million. > > I needed to make darn sure I didn’t break it; reimbursing the company would have been a bitch. 😉 > > Considering the rest of the liability tail connected to a major screw up, there’s > probably close to a half a billion dollars at risk every day I went to work. Yes, but if you screw up very badly, you are not going to be around to care, right? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/15 "2011-06-26T14:22:47Z")
Professionally, the largest cheque I’ve had to deliver to the other side after a settlement was around $8 million. I was a bit freaked out at first, and thought about couriering it, but instead I just thought, "If this were a cheque for a thousand bucks, I’d just put i in my pocket and walk it down the street to the other lawyers. So that’s what I did. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/16 "2011-06-26T14:31:49Z")
Each year for two years I had to work out how to spend £450,000 of taxpayer’s money. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/17 "2011-06-26T14:34:21Z")
For very loose values of “be responsible for,” I’d say $5 billion–I’ve worked on several deals of that magnitude. In the sense of “having responsibility over spending it,” probably about $2,000 or so (as part of my role in a student organization in college). ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/18 "2011-06-26T14:59:54Z")
Over the course of a year I collect, balance, and distribute ~$14.3 million (property taxes). The biggest single check I wrote was for nearly $3 million last year for a week’s worth of school district taxes. I could barely fit the written-out amount on the line. It’s odd because after my first year I became sort of blase about huge amounts of money. Sometimes I’ll add up a deposit and actually think, “whaddyamean it’s only $100,000?” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/19 "2011-06-26T18:12:07Z")
I manage department budgets at my Fortune 50 company. Currently I manage ~$6MM, but I’ve managed budgets up to $25MM. FYI, I also used to manage my daughter’s pre-school budget. It was about $20,000 total. Honestly, that budget was just more work because I was a one-stop shop – I set it all up in QuickBooks, approved expenditures, wrote checks, balanced the accounts, dealt with the IRS, advised the board, and ran all the reports. Now I just run the reports, do an occasional audit of line item entries, and approve expenditures. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850/20 "2011-06-26T18:17:30Z")
I’ve worked a lot in advertising as a media buyer. I decided how millions of dollars of our clients money would be spent on local tv and radio stations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-money-youve-ever-been-responsible-for-that-wasnt-yours/586850.md?page=2)