What if your festival supplier goes bust before opening?

You've paid the deposit, the build starts next week, and your production contact suddenly can't confirm whether the equipment will leave the warehouse. Then someone forwards a message saying the company has gone into administration, a formal process in which an appointed specialist takes control of the business. You still have a festival to deliver, and the money you've already paid might not be available to pay anybody else.

Start by confirming which business is affected and what it can still deliver. Put one person in charge of the operational response and another in charge of the contract, payments and possible recovery. Then assess a replacement against the actual work, the time left and the cash you can use. Don't wait for the deposit question to be settled before finding out whether you have a viable event.

A supplier is insolvent when it can't pay its debts. Your festival supplier insolvency plan should make these decisions possible before a delivery crisis. It needs more than a second company's phone number. You need to know who controls the equipment, which other bookings depend on it, when an alternative stops being workable and who can authorise the change.

We'll work through that preparation, the first response and a completed cost example. The festival and figures below are fictional planning examples in US dollars. UK government sources explain specific insolvency procedures; they don't establish what happens under every country's law or your particular contract. Have the legal questions checked where your event and supplier operate.

Find the supplier failure that could stop the festival

Start with the services you couldn't open without, or couldn't deliver the advertised event without. That might be your temporary structures, electrical supply, sanitation, security, production or transport. The important question is what fails when the supplier disappears, including work that other suppliers were expecting it to provide.

Take a production company supplying sound, stage lighting and technicians. Its quote may also include a vehicle, hired equipment from another business and the crew who unload it. Replacing the speakers alone could leave you without installation, operation or collection. Read the accepted scope and identify the complete job before you decide how difficult it would be to replace.

Some dependencies are less obvious. The lighting supplier may also have agreed to provide the person coordinating shared equipment deliveries. A temporary structure might carry equipment installed by somebody else. Ask your production lead to explain these connections in ordinary words, then record who would need to agree a change.

Make the assessment specific to your event. An acoustic daytime workshop has different requirements from an outdoor evening concert. A small supplier can be essential, while a large invoice may cover something you can remove without changing the ticket promise. Rank the effect of losing the work, rather than sorting your supplier list by price.

For each essential booking, record the named business, the work, the money paid and the next point when someone must confirm delivery. Add the latest time you could appoint an alternative and still complete the necessary preparation and checks. Ask the people doing that work to establish the timing. An organiser's wish to open on Friday doesn't tell a technician how long installation needs.

Consider what would happen if two bookings failed together. Different suppliers might depend on the same warehouse, equipment owner or subcontractor. You don't need confidential details about every commercial relationship, but you do need enough information to understand whether your proposed backup relies on the resource you're already worried about.

Our broader event contingency plan covers different kinds of disruption. For supplier insolvency, add the information that a vehicle breakdown wouldn't usually require: the legal entity, the person authorised to deal with its affairs, ownership questions, unpaid invoices and records supporting any claim. Those details affect what you can replace, collect or agree next.

Treat warning signs as reasons to check delivery

You can't reliably diagnose a supplier's finances from a slow email. A missed call might mean the team is on another show. A request for an advance might be normal under the agreement. Treat a change as a reason to ask a specific question, rather than announcing that a business is about to fail.

Useful questions concern promises you can verify. Has the supplier confirmed the agreed equipment and crew? Has a preparation milestone passed without the promised evidence? Has the named technical lead changed? Is someone asking for a larger payment before explaining what it secures? Record the answer and what still needs checking.

Look at the pattern against the booking. If the company always takes a reservation payment, that fact alone tells you little. If it changes an agreed delivery-stage payment to an immediate transfer and still can't confirm the goods, you have two connected issues to investigate. Ask what changed and request the information needed to assess the actual delivery risk.

Avoid turning this into a weekly interrogation of every small business you hire. Agree sensible confirmation points when you book. The supplier knows what evidence you expect, and your team knows when to follow up. Our guide to an event supplier payment schedule explains how to connect instalments to clear commitments and completed work without treating every advance as suspicious.

Your first enquiry can be direct and calm: "We need to confirm the equipment, lead technician and dispatch arrangements for Friday's build. The agreed confirmation was due yesterday. Can you send the current position and identify anything that could prevent delivery?" That asks for useful information without making an allegation.

If the answer is incomplete, set the next action according to the time left. You might request a call with the authorised manager, ask your adviser to review the contract or refresh an alternative quote. Record who owns each task. Repeating the same email while the replacement window closes doesn't improve your position.

For a UK limited company, GOV.UK explains how to check liquidation information and relevant Gazette notices. Search the exact company name or registration number. A familiar trading name can belong to a different legal entity, and a similar company name isn't enough to establish that your supplier is affected.

An official record is one part of the check. Its absence doesn't confirm that your booking will be delivered, and a notice doesn't explain the status of every order. Keep checking the operational facts with the appropriate contact. You need a delivery answer as well as a company-status answer.

Prepare the documents before the contact disappears

Keep the accepted contract, purchase order, scope, variations, invoices and payment confirmations together. Include the latest equipment schedule, site requirements, agreed programme and named contacts. Your team should be able to find its own current information without asking the supplier to resend it during a disruption.

The distinction between a brand and the contracting business matters here. Record the legal name and registration details shown on the agreement and invoice. If payment went to another entity, preserve the explanation and have the arrangement reviewed. Don't edit the documents to make them look consistent after the fact.

Write down what your deposit was supposed to secure. Was it a reservation, materials, completed preparation or something else? Keep the evidence for any claimed ownership or right to collect goods, and ask your legal adviser to assess it. A payment receipt alone shouldn't become your team's permission to enter a warehouse or remove equipment.

Save the information you are entitled to use. An old supplier's technical drawing may have conditions attached, and confidential documents may contain material unrelated to your event. Before passing a file to a replacement, establish what can be shared and whether the replacement can rely on it. A new supplier may need to produce or verify its own design.

Give your event lead and deputy access to the current folder through proper permissions. If the only copy of the signed variation is in one person's inbox, their absence becomes another problem to solve. Keep financial and sensitive business records limited to people who need them, rather than distributing the whole folder to every contractor.

Prepare a short summary alongside the evidence. It should identify the service that matters to opening, the next action, the decision deadline and the people who can approve it. The detailed contract remains available for the adviser. Your gate manager shouldn't have to read it to learn that the build schedule has changed.

Confirm what insolvency means for this booking

Once you receive credible information about formal insolvency, check who is authorised to speak for the affected company. In the UK administration process, an administrator takes control of the business. GOV.UK's explanation of company administration describes the administrator's role and the possibility of continuing or selling the business. Administration doesn't automatically tell you that every service has stopped.

Ask the authorised contact about your order in writing. Which work can proceed, through which entity, with which resources and on what terms? Who can approve access to goods or agree a revised arrangement? Ask for confirmation of any instructions concerning payment. The previous salesperson may be helpful without having authority to make a new commitment.

Keep this enquiry separate from the question of whether you should continue relying on the booking. An administrator might still be assessing the business while your load-in deadline approaches. You can investigate alternatives without pretending that you have already established a right to terminate or withhold money. Have your adviser assess those rights against the actual agreement and procedure.

Similarly, don't assume an unpaid balance disappears because the company has failed. Work already delivered, cancellation terms, claims between the parties and the applicable insolvency rules can affect the position. Ask finance to flag the payment for urgent review through the proper process. A blanket instruction to cancel every transfer could create a different dispute.

Use a concise request: "Please confirm whether order RF-12 can be delivered to the accepted scope and schedule, who is authorised to confirm this, and whether any revised terms are proposed. We also need instructions for raising our payment and property questions with the appropriate person." Attach the relevant order, rather than a long chain containing unrelated information.

Verify changes to bank details through a separate trusted channel. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center recommends independent verification of changes to account information. A genuine disruption doesn't make every urgent email genuine. Your payment approver should verify the authority, recipient and banking instructions before releasing any newly approved payment.

Keep a dated record of the confirmed position and the remaining gaps. "Supplier in administration" is background. "Authorised contact cannot confirm our crew or dispatch by the agreed decision time" gives your event lead a concrete reason to assess the replacement branch. The contractual response still needs the appropriate review.

Give the first response clear owners

Put one person in charge of coordinating the event response. Give that person a deputy and a contact route everyone can find. They collect the facts, identify decisions and keep the affected teams working to the same version of the plan. They shouldn't have to become the accountant, lawyer and technical designer at once.

The production or operations lead establishes what is missing and what can replace it. The finance owner checks cash and payment commitments. Your legal adviser addresses the contract and property questions. The communications owner maintains the buyer information. On a smaller event, one person may hold several roles, but the tasks and approvals still need to be clear.

Start a decision record with what you know, who confirmed it and when. List the unresolved questions beside the person finding the answer. Avoid recording every message as an equally important development. Someone joining the call needs to understand which facts change the opening decision and which can be followed up separately.

Set the next decision time around a real constraint. Perhaps the replacement vehicle must leave before a driver loses the available journey window. Perhaps a competent installation team needs site access earlier than your existing booking allows. Ask them to establish the constraint. Don't invent a standard response deadline and assume it works for every festival.

Tell affected suppliers what they need to know now. If the delivery schedule is under review, the site manager needs that information before assigning the same unloading area elsewhere. Other contractors shouldn't continue building around equipment that may never arrive. Where work could create immediate danger, use the agreed safety procedures without waiting for the commercial discussion.

Britain's Health and Safety Executive says event organisers must coordinate activities and maintain overall safety. Its guidance distinguishes coordination from taking over every contractor's technical work. Bring the competent people into the replacement decision, and give them the updated information and time needed to assess it.

Be explicit about who can approve spending and who can confirm technical acceptance. The person allowed to sign a replacement order isn't automatically qualified to approve its installation. Record both approvals where needed. A paid invoice doesn't prove that the equipment can be used, and a technically suitable proposal doesn't prove you can fund it.

Check whether a replacement is genuinely deliverable

Send potential replacements a current brief. Describe the required outcome, the venue, access restrictions, programme, equipment connections, installation period, operating hours and collection arrangements. Explain which parts of the original package are unavailable. Asking someone to "match the old quote" can hide assumptions neither party has checked.

Ask what they can commit to now. Is the equipment physically available for your dates? Are suitable crew and transport included? Who will operate the service during the event? Does their price cover removal? A quote that depends on a further unconfirmed hire is different from a confirmed booking, even if the final price might be attractive.

Check independence from the failed supplier. If the replacement planned to hire the same equipment from the same affected business, you may have found another route to the same unresolved problem. Ask about the relevant resources and confirm the answer. Don't assume that a different logo means a separate supply arrangement.

Give the technical team room to propose a different way to deliver the programme. Matching a particular model of equipment may be unnecessary. But a smaller system isn't acceptable simply because someone calls it equivalent. The appropriate specialists must assess suitability, including the venue conditions and agreed performance requirements, and document any changes that others must accept.

Ask the venue, artist representatives and other affected contractors about the proposal where their approval or input is required. A new delivery time may conflict with another build. Different equipment may change electrical requirements or space. Resolve those connections before confirming that the new plan works. Your existing safety paperwork needs review when the actual arrangements change.

The HSE's questions for event contractors include evidence of trained staff, technical ability and sufficient resources to work safely. Those are useful checks for the emergency appointment, within the rules that apply to your location. Urgency makes the information more valuable; it doesn't make an unfamiliar supplier competent.

Consider a reduced event only if you can define it honestly and deliver it safely. You might remove an optional production effect while retaining the performances people bought. You might discover that the only available alternative would remove an advertised stage. Those are different changes. Review the buyer promise and applicable obligations before choosing either, rather than calling both "a production adjustment".

Write the acceptance conditions into the replacement order. Identify what is included, the agreed price, payment dates, named lead, programme and evidence required before use. Record the quote's expiry and any reservation conditions. A supplier that was available at breakfast may have accepted another job by the time your team finishes discussing it.

Work out the extra cost without counting a recovery twice

For a fictional example, Riverside Makers Festival has booked a production package for $18,000. It has paid $6,000, leaving a scheduled balance of $12,000. The supplier then enters administration and the authorised contact cannot confirm delivery within the festival's required timeframe. The original balance is under legal review; it hasn't simply vanished.

The replacement proposal costs $16,500 for equipment and the agreed operating crew. Additional freight is $1,200, an extra installation technician costs $900, and the proposal includes $400 for additional coordination. The technician is outside the base package and covers a specified extra task. These are invented amounts, not typical market prices.

The proposed new cost is $19,000. Compare that with the $12,000 the original budget still expected to pay for this service, and the immediate increase is $7,000. The deposit isn't another new payment. It has already left the bank. Finance keeps the $6,000 paid and its uncertain recovery visible in the overall position.

If accepted, the replacement would bring the earlier payment and proposed production-related spending to $25,000: the earlier $6,000 plus the replacement's $19,000. That is $7,000 above the original $18,000 package. It is not a final loss calculation. The old balance, any settlement, other liabilities and any eventual recovery must still be resolved and added where applicable.

Now check when the cash is needed. Assume the replacement and the listed extra work require the full $19,000 before opening. Riverside has $30,000 of cleared, unrestricted cash now, after paying the original deposit. Other confirmed payments before opening total $17,000, leaving $13,000 available for this response. No new ticket receipts are included in the exercise.

That leaves a $6,000 shortfall before funding any further reserve. The $7,000 increase over budget and the $6,000 cash gap measure different things. The old cash plan had $1,000 left after the $12,000 balance and other payments. Using that $1,000 explains the difference; it doesn't make the replacement affordable.

The event lead also wants to keep $2,000 available for other identified requirements. That is a fictional planning choice for this exercise, not a recommended contingency level. The revised plan therefore needs another $8,000 of usable cash to pay the known bills and retain that amount. Possible deposit recovery contributes nothing to that immediate funding test.

Suppose the owner can provide $8,000 as an additional capital contribution, with no financing fee or repayment obligation in this simplified example. Once it is actually received, cash becomes $38,000. Paying the other $17,000 and the replacement's $19,000 leaves $2,000. A promise to send the contribution later wouldn't satisfy the payment deadline.

Even then, the team hasn't established a complete approval. The old $12,000 balance is unresolved. If any of it remains payable, the forecast needs that amount and its due date. The event lead requires a documented legal and financial position on the old booking, plus a funding plan for any remaining liability, before committing to the rescue.

This is why "the owner found the extra money" isn't the end of the example. The technical team must still confirm the replacement, and finance must still include taxes, buyer remedies, financing costs where relevant and other commitments omitted from this simplified calculation. Riverside cannot approve the event on the figures above alone while those material questions remain open.

Use your event contingency budget to record what is available after existing commitments. Don't subtract every replacement invoice from a nominal reserve while also assuming all the original supplier money is free. Rebuild the forecast from the amounts actually paid, still payable and newly required.

Decide what happens if the replacement can't be approved

Set out the alternative to a rescue before you reach the decision deadline. That could involve a revised programme, postponement or cancellation. Each needs its own assessment of the buyer offer, operating requirements and money. "We'll decide later" is only workable while later still leaves you time to carry out the decision.

For Riverside, imagine the production lead establishes a Thursday noon booking deadline from the replacement's actual dispatch and installation plan. This is an invented condition for the exercise, not a standard festival cutoff. The team works towards it while the communications owner prepares the messages for the possible outcomes. They don't publish an opening promise based on a quote alone.

At noon, assume the technical proposal is acceptable and the owner's contribution has arrived, but the old supplier liability still hasn't been assessed. Under Riverside's stated approval conditions, the rescue remains unapproved. The event lead cannot treat the $2,000 projected balance as spare cash while a material original obligation is unresolved. The team follows its agreed escalation and event-change decision process.

That doesn't mean cancelling must be cheaper. Cancelling can leave substantial bills and buyer obligations. Finance needs a cancellation forecast as well as a replacement forecast, using the best available advice on what remains payable. If neither can be funded, the problem needs immediate professional attention. Keeping it out of the budget won't make it go away.

Make sure the deputy knows what they can authorise at this point. They may be allowed to request a short quote extension or gather another option. They shouldn't imply acceptance, pay a reservation fee or tell the public the event is confirmed unless the relevant approvals allow it. Record any extension explicitly; silence from a supplier doesn't keep its offer open.

When an option fails, close the related work instructions. Tell the site and production teams which activities are on hold, update sales information as required and issue the appropriate buyer notice. The decision needs to reach the people who would otherwise continue spending money or preparing to attend.

Make the handover part of the replacement booking

An accepted quote doesn't move the festival into a finished replacement arrangement. Your operations lead needs to confirm who is coming, what they are bringing, how they will get onto the site and which other teams need to change their plans. Give the replacement the current information and withdraw superseded instructions.

Start with physical access. Confirm the arrival window with the site manager, unloading arrangements, the relevant restrictions and the person meeting the vehicle. If the replacement needs an earlier arrival, establish whether the venue and the other build teams can accommodate it. Don't promise a clear loading area that another contractor already needs.

Then review the installation and operating plan with the responsible specialists. The replacement may use its own equipment layout and staffing arrangements. Identify what has changed and who checks the connections with other systems. Keep any restrictions on use clear until the required work and checks are complete.

For equipment already onsite, establish ownership, authority and safe handling before anything is moved or reused. Some items could belong to another hire company. Some could form part of an incomplete installation. Your adviser resolves the rights question, and competent people resolve whether the equipment can be handled or used safely. Neither answer substitutes for the other.

Agree what happens if the original supplier's vehicle arrives after you've arranged a replacement. The gate team needs a named contact to call, not instructions to negotiate a contract dispute. The operations lead checks the agreed position before authorising any activity. Keep access safe and controlled while the authorised people establish what should happen.

People need a proper handover too. A technician who previously worked on the booking might be able to help, but don't assume you can transfer their services or ask them to bring company equipment. Check the appropriate employment, contractual and authorisation questions before making a new arrangement. Record who is now engaging and supervising them.

For Riverside, the operations lead prepares a proposed build schedule for review. The replacement's lead confirms that it is workable, the site manager checks access and the technical lead records the checks needed before use. Those discussions don't authorise an order or release work. The record still says "not approved to proceed" while the old liability and complete funding position are unresolved.

Include removal in the handover. Confirm who remains after the audience leaves, what can be disconnected when, who collects the equipment and how the site is returned. An emergency booking focused on opening can otherwise create a second failure at pack-down, when the person who arranged everything has already gone home.

Tell buyers about the consequence for their event

Your audience needs an accurate account of what they can attend. They usually don't need the commercial history behind a replacement sound system. If the confirmed change leaves the advertised experience intact, an internal supplier issue may require no separate buyer announcement. Keep the public information accurate and let the communications owner assess the actual effect.

If the programme, location, access arrangements or timings change, explain that change plainly. Don't use the supplier's financial position as a substitute for the information a ticket holder needs. Someone deciding whether to travel wants to know whether the event is happening, what has changed and what options apply to their booking.

Have the applicable consumer obligations and ticket terms reviewed against the facts. Your rights against a supplier and the buyer's rights against your event business are separate questions. Don't tell buyers that a lost deposit automatically removes their refund options, or promise a remedy and deadline that finance hasn't established how to deliver.

If a decision is still pending and buyers need to act, publish a factual holding update. For example: "We're checking a production change that could affect Friday's programme. The revised arrangements are not yet confirmed. We'll update ticket holders and this page by 2pm Thursday. Please check that update before making new travel arrangements." Replace the fictional date and time with your real commitment.

That wording is only suitable while it accurately describes the situation. If you already know the event cannot happen as sold, say what is no longer possible. Don't continue selling the original promise while waiting for a replacement to become convenient. Review the event page, scheduled advertising and partner messages as soon as their claims become inaccurate.

Once a replacement or changed programme is approved, explain the confirmed result, the action buyers should take and any applicable ticket options. Include a contact route for individual needs. A change that looks minor in a production meeting can matter to someone who planned their visit around an advertised activity or accessible arrangement.

Loopyah's event email tools support event updates to ticket holders and let you send yourself a test before the audience receives the message. Use that to check the approved instructions, dates and links. Your team still decides what is true, what buyers are entitled to and which public information must change.

Keep those same facts in the customer support reply and the briefing for onsite staff. Some people won't see the email, and a group purchaser may need to share it with others. Agree how staff will help anyone arriving with old information. Your communications task ends when the changed arrangements are understandable at the point of attendance, not when someone presses send.

Keep recovery work moving without relying on its proceeds

Assign a named person to the old supplier account. They preserve the documents, contact the authorised insolvency representative and track the required response dates. The event lead should know the status without spending every build meeting discussing whether the deposit will come back.

The UK's Insolvency Service explains how to register as a creditor and what repayment may depend on. Its guidance makes clear that recovery can depend on available assets and take a long time. Use the process relevant to the particular case, and get advice on the amount and basis of your claim.

Keep a clear account of what you ordered, what you paid, what you received and what remained undelivered. Save agreed variations, delivery evidence and relevant communications. Separate actual costs from estimates. A replacement invoice is useful evidence of expenditure, but it doesn't by itself establish that the old supplier must reimburse every item.

Ask your insurer or broker about any potentially relevant cover and notification requirements promptly. Describe the facts accurately and preserve their instructions. Supplier failure, event cancellation and extra operating expense are different issues a policy may treat differently. Don't describe insurance as guaranteed protection or spend against a claim that hasn't been confirmed and paid.

If payment-provider assistance might be relevant, ask the provider about the transaction and applicable process. Don't apply consumer credit protections automatically to every business purchase. Keep any recovery coordinated with your adviser and accountant so the same amount isn't claimed or recorded twice. Record refunds actually received separately from requests submitted.

For Riverside, the earlier $6,000 remains a payment whose recovery is uncertain. The old $12,000 remains a question for the adviser until resolved. Neither becomes income or an available saving because the organiser booked somebody else. Update the forecast when the facts change, retaining the earlier version so the decision can be understood later.

After the festival or cancellation, reconcile the extra spending to the approvals. Check for duplicate freight, overlapping labour or collection costs omitted from the emergency quote. Those checks concern the replacement's actual bill. Keep them separate from the insolvency claim so an invoice query doesn't make the whole event account impossible to follow.

Complete one supplier failure sheet before the build

Keep this sheet with the current event plan and the supporting documents. It is an operating summary for your team. Contract advice, technical plans and emergency procedures remain in their proper records, with links or locations noted so the person taking over can find them.

• Booking and business: the order reference, exact contracting entity, registration details, service, current scope and authorised contacts.

• Essential delivery: what must happen for the event to open and fulfil its advertised programme, including dependent equipment, crew, transport and removal.

• Confirmation point: the evidence expected, the date and time due, the person checking it and the condition that starts the replacement assessment.

• Decision deadline: the last useful time to confirm an alternative, who established it and the installation, access or travel requirement behind it.

• Response owner: the event lead and deputy, operations lead, financial approver, adviser and communications owner, with contact routes.

• Current status: confirmed facts, source and time, unanswered questions, the person resolving each and the next update.

• Replacement option: named business, accepted specification, resources, independent supply arrangements, price, payment terms, reservation conditions and expiry.

• Acceptance and handover: required technical and venue input, revised work sequence, checks before use, access instructions and removal arrangements.

• Money: amount already paid, reviewed original liabilities, new costs, cash available by each deadline, other obligations and any funding still unconfirmed.

• Buyer consequences: the actual change to the sold event, applicable ticket options, approved message, channels and people handling individual enquiries.

• Recovery record: documents retained, authorised case contact, advice received, notifications made, deadlines and actual receipts.

• Final decision: proceed, revise, postpone or cancel, with the conditions satisfied, unresolved matters, approver and time recorded.

Complete the sheet for a real essential supplier, rather than filling it with generic examples. If you can't identify the replacement's transport or the person approving site access, leave those fields marked unresolved and assign them. A visible gap gives the team a job to complete before it becomes an opening-day surprise.

Rehearse the decision while you still have time to change it

Put the sheet in front of the event lead's deputy and give them a specific problem. The original supplier cannot confirm delivery, the replacement quote expires this afternoon and the person who usually approves payments is travelling. Ask the deputy to explain the next action using the records they can actually access.

Listen for guesses. "I'd call the usual guy" means the authorised contact isn't clear. "We have a backup" means little until someone can find a current commitment. "The deposit should come back" tells you that the cash plan needs another review. Turn each missing answer into an assigned action and check it before the build.

Then change one fact. The replacement can deliver equipment but has no operating crew. The venue cannot accept the earlier arrival. The owner offers funding tomorrow, but payment is due today. Ask whether the team still has a deliverable plan, which approval is missing and when the decision must change. Don't reward the exercise for ending with "the show goes on".

Review the sheet again when scope, supplier arrangements or deadlines change. A replacement checked before the final programme might no longer cover it. After any real disruption, record which assumptions failed and amend the next booking accordingly. Better payment stages, clearer resource confirmations or a properly defined alternative may be more useful than adding another company to a contact list.

Start with the supplier whose absence would be hardest to recover from. Confirm what your business has bought, find out what an alternative would actually need and put the funding question in front of the person who can answer it. If the only route to opening depends on unconfirmed delivery or money you might recover later, the plan still needs work before you can approve it.