Procurement fraud continues to drain enterprise value at scale. According to ACFE’s Occupational Fraud 2024—Report to the Nations, organisations lose nearly 5% of annual revenue to fraud, with average losses reaching USD 1.7 million per case. One often-overlooked contributor is maverick spend, which quietly erodes control, compliance, and savings. Addressing maverick spending creates a direct path to stronger governance, measurable procurement value, and savings.
what is maverick spending?
Maverick spending refers to employee purchases made outside approved procurement policies, contracts, or suppliers. These actions bypass controls and fragment spend visibility.
Maverick spending typically shows up in three forms:
- Tail spend: Low-value, infrequent, or non-strategic purchases that fall outside negotiated contracts and escape procurement oversight.
- Spot buying: One-off, ad-hoc purchases employees make to meet immediate needs without supplier comparison or approvals.
- Non-PO spend: Purchases completed without a formal purchase order, often through expense claims or cards.
Maverick behaviour rarely happens by accident. It usually emerges from a mix of operational pressure, unclear processes, and limited system support across the purchasing journey. Key factors that enable maverick spend include:
- Limited awareness of procurement policies and tools.
- Pressure to meet urgent deadlines.
- Complex or slow approval processes.
- Decentralised purchasing authority.
- Preference for familiar but non-approved suppliers.
- Lack of real-time spend visibility.
While root causes explain behaviour, early detection depends on knowing where to look. Certain transactional patterns consistently signal off-policy purchasing activity. Common red flags to watch for include:
- Repeated purchases just below approval thresholds.
- New or one-time vendors appearing frequently.
- Recurring charges to non-preferred suppliers.
Unchecked maverick spend weakens procurement’s impact. It drives lost savings, contract leakage, compliance breaches, ESG exposure, reputational risk, and higher fraud probability. It also hides data, wastes time, and erodes supplier relationships built through strategic sourcing.
seven strategies to reduce maverick spending
Reducing maverick spend requires more than enforcement. Sustainable control comes from aligning people, processes, and technology around how the business actually buys. Key strategies that can help businesses reduce maverick spending include:
clarify ownership and decision rights
Clear accountability prevents ambiguity that leads to workarounds. Defined purchasing roles help employees understand who can buy, approve, and negotiate. When responsibilities align across finance, procurement, and business teams, policy compliance becomes predictable rather than reactive.
simplify policies and remove friction
Overly complex rules encourage circumvention. Concise procurement policies, along with clear guidance on preferred suppliers and contract terms, reduce confusion. When compliant purchasing feels easier than bypassing the system, adoption improves naturally.
accelerate approvals for business-critical needs
Slow approvals push teams toward spot buying. Tiered approval hierarchies and pre-approved thresholds allow low-risk purchases to move faster. Dedicated paths for urgent or one-off requirements prevent unnecessary policy breaches.
educate teams with business context
Training works when it explains impact, not just rules. Employees respond better when they understand how maverick spend affects budgets, supplier leverage, and risk exposure. Short, recurring refreshers keep expectations clear without creating fatigue.
strengthen collaboration with business units
Procurement succeeds when it operates as a partner. Regular engagement with business teams helps uncover why employees bypass controls. Listening to frequent maverick buyers often reveals gaps in supplier coverage or process design.
monitor spend patterns continuously
Visibility turns detection into prevention. Continuous tracking highlights behaviours such as threshold splitting or repeated non-compliant vendors. Early insight allows procurement to intervene before maverick spending becomes systemic.
embed automated and predictive controls
Manual policing does not scale. Automated routing to preferred suppliers, real-time price validation, and predictive alerts prevent unauthorised purchases before they occur. Unified data creates baselines and benchmarks that support proactive control and help reduce maverick spending without slowing operations.
Infosys BPM enables organisations to control maverick spending and tackle procurement fraud through AI-first, end-to-end sourcing and procurement outsourcing solutions. These capabilities support predictive spend analysis, automated risk management, and real-time visibility. They also enable smarter supplier negotiations, helping enterprises unlock sustainable procurement savings at scale.
It is important to understand that not all maverick behaviour signals failure. In some cases, it highlights unmet needs or suppliers that better fit evolving requirements. When businesses focus on transparency and communication, maverick spending can inform sourcing strategies and strengthen supplier ecosystems rather than undermine them.
conclusion
Maverick spending remains one of the most persistent sources of hidden procurement leakage. Clear ownership, faster processes, informed employees, and intelligent controls can help organisations regain control without disrupting the business. More importantly, efforts to reduce maverick spending can help strengthen governance, protect compliance, and improve supplier relationships. When businesses manage maverick behaviour strategically, procurement moves beyond cost control and becomes a resilient, value-creating function that supports long-term enterprise growth.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What are the primary causes of maverick spending in procurement?
Maverick spending often stems from unclear procurement policies, pressure to meet deadlines, decentralized purchasing authority, and lack of spend visibility. These factors enable employees to bypass official procurement channels, leading to inefficiencies and unapproved purchases.
How can maverick spending impact procurement savings and governance?
Maverick spending erodes procurement savings by bypassing negotiated contracts, leading to higher costs, lost savings, and compliance breaches. It also introduces fraud risks, hides critical data, and strains supplier relationships, ultimately reducing procurement's overall impact and effectiveness.
How can organizations reduce maverick spending without disrupting business operations?
To control maverick spending, organizations must align policies, simplify approval processes, educate employees, and leverage automated tools. These measures improve compliance, reduce friction, and enable proactive detection of off-policy purchasing activities, ensuring business operations remain efficient and unaffected.
What role does automation play in controlling maverick spend?
Automation reduces manual intervention and enhances procurement efficiency by routing purchases to preferred suppliers, validating prices in real-time, and triggering alerts for non-compliant spend. These systems provide continuous visibility and prevent unauthorized purchases, helping companies regain control without slowing operations.
