On the Ask Us Anything podcast, editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen taps former Trade Tales guests to answer real, confidential designer questions, offering a safe space to discuss business frustrations, conundrums and fears. (Have a question of your own to ask? Send an email to start the conversation.)

Keeping track of procurement on a project is a challenge that’s demanding but doable—requiring designers to carefully pace orders, calculate storage costs, and recruit a reliable receiving team to handle everything from inspection to installation. Multiply those processes by several projects, and a firm’s logistics operation suddenly feels tough to keep straight without all the right tools and systems in place.

This week, Meagan Camp joins the show to answer a question from a fellow designer who finds herself in exactly that situation. She’s already tapped into the services of a storage facility and receivers for her current project, but as she prepares to take on several new jobs, her primary concerns involve organization and compounding costs.

Camp, whose namesake interior design firm is based in Brooklyn, shares advice on building storage costs into client budgets from the beginning, her vetting process for new receivers, and the organizational system that ensures every item gets to the right place.

Crucial insight: A couple years ago, Camp ran into the unfortunate situation of having a client call up her receiver to ask for sensitive billing information, which was promptly handed over—leading to thorny discussions over costs and markups. Now she is proactive and clear in communications before beginning a new receiver relationship. “One of the questions I ask when interviewing a receiver is, ‘If someone outside of my business requests information, how do you go about handling that?’” she says. “This receiver that I am working with now has it in their system and our contract that three people are allowed the information: my two employees and myself.”

Key quote: “Every client is different, every project is different, every timeline is different. It’s important to have an open dialogue with your receiving company, with your team and with your client.”

This episode was sponsored by Four Hands and Crypton. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.