Bill-and-hold vs consignment stock: what actually helps you

If you run rollouts, you have hit the supply problem: you need kit ready when the project is ready, but you do not want it all landing at once. Holding stock solves that. How it is billed, though, is where the detail matters.

Bill-and-hold

You buy the batch up front; your partner holds it and ships it as you call it off. The goods are yours from day one. It is simple and it guarantees supply — the trade-off is that the spend happens at purchase, not as you draw down.

Consignment

Your partner holds the stock but you only pay as you use it. Better for cash flow, but it depends on your partner being willing to carry the inventory — and on clear terms about what happens to what is left.

There is no universally "right" model — only the one that fits your cash flow and your rollout.

The point

Whichever model you use, the thing that actually helps is visibility: knowing exactly how much is held, how much you have drawn, and how much is left — on demand, not via an email thread. That is how held stock works in KRB One, and it is worth asking any partner how they would show you the same.