How Leadership Public Schools Transformed Purchasing

Amazon Business helped this school system eliminate manual processes, boost efficiency, and focus on student success

08 January 2026

When Chanthip Phongkhamsavath joined Leadership Public Schools (LPS) in 2020, the Bay Area charter high school system was mired in outdated workflows that essentially operated under “catch-up” accounting. Purchase orders were created after purchases had already been made, offering little in the way of transparency or system-wide accountability around money spent.

As LPS’s new chief business officer, Phongkhamsavath joined a system that soon found itself awash in COVID-era funding but overwhelmed by separate, manual, and paper- based processes for purchasing across its three campuses. Payments to vendors and reimbursements to teachers for out-of-pocket expenses were typically late, and reactive.

As in-person education restrictions were lifted, allowing students and staff to return to classrooms, massive amounts of PPE equipment needed to be ordered, among other essential supplies, bringing still more logistical and operational challenges to light, Phongkhamsavath recalled.

A surge in federal and state pandemic relief funds, combined with shifts in California law that mandated greater oversight and visibility around charter school finances, laid bare the need for improved transparency, compliance, and more efficient systems, Phongkhamsavath said. LPS turned to Amazon Business for help.

The Challenge - Disconnected systems, manual processes

Like its public school counterparts, LPS experienced challenges from staffing shortages and difficulty filling open roles, with fewer teachers and back-office administrative teams available to manage day-to-day functions.

Efforts to modernize LPS purchasing and procurement systems were driven in large part due to compliance pressures, as well as the need to improve service and support delivery despite personnel gaps. Each high school within the LPS system operated as its own decentralized, local educational agency (LEA), with independent budgets and vendors, “buying independently with credit cards,” Phongkhamsavath said. “We
were always two to three months behind on financial reporting because invoices and reconciliations came in so late.”

Her lean team sought to curb purchasers’ reliance on credit cards, paper invoices, and after-the-fact approvals. Rethinking a system-wide approach offered opportunities to introduce efficiencies, and more strategic, proactive budgetary planning, in addition to improved economies of scale

The Solution - Centralized, all-digital, and improved operations

Integrating Amazon Business with LPS’s new digital purchase order platform, Procurify, allowed Phongkhamsavath’s team to centralize procurement functions while preserving flexibility and control at each individual school. Guided by new, centralized buying policies, automated approval workflows, and real-time data, LPS has moved beyond siloed spreadsheets and manual reconciliation, to real-time visibility and more accurate budget maintenance — all but removing surprise expenditures or shortfalls.

“We’ve moved from manual Google forms and credit card purchases to a system that tracks every order from request to delivery, accurately and in real time,” Phongkhamsavath said. “The biggest efficiency gain isn’t just in dollars, it’s in time. Our school teams can focus on instruction instead of purchasing logistics.”

Vendor payments are now on time and fully trackable, with detailed coding tied to restricted funds, and the need to reimburse teachers for out-of-pocket expenses has largely fallen away. Amazon Business also enabled LPS to consolidate all independent vendor accounts. Support office teams have largely eliminated manual workflows, moving to automated approvals and reconciliation processes that have saved time and removed financial reporting delays.

Amazon Business’s Guided Buying and approval threshold features have proven most valuable, Phongkhamsavath said. “Approvals happen in real time, and we know exactly which purchases tie to which restricted resource,” she explained. “We’re no longer doing last-minute journal entries at year-end. ”Auditors have also noted LPS’s compliance improvements and stronger internal controls, Phongkhamsavath said.

Looking Ahead - Expanding integration and access

LPS will soon expand Amazon Business access totechnology, custodial, and facilities teams, and is exploring opening up direct access to teachers for classroom supply purchases.

“We’re continuing to bring more departments into Amazon Business,” Phongkhamsavath said. “Our goal is to make every purchase more transparent, faster, and easier for staff.”

LPS has transformed its once fragmented purchasing processes into a model of transparency and efficiency with Amazon Business and integrated digital workflows. Clearer oversight, faster turnaround from request to delivery, as well as stronger financial control all enable each of the LPS high schools to focus on what matters most: student success.