# How can you reduce maverick spending in procurement?

> Maverick spend is buying outside approved processes and contracts. Six practical ways to reduce it, from guided buying to contract compliance tracking.

Source: https://www.procol.ai/answer/how-can-you-reduce-maverick-spending-in-procurement/
Author: Shivangi Singh, Senior Content Writer (Procol)
Published: 2026-10-17

Maverick spend is any purchase made outside the approved procurement process or outside negotiated contracts. It leaks savings, adds risk and makes spend data unreliable. In poorly controlled organisations it can reach a large share of total spend. It is rarely malicious; people bypass the process because the process is slow or unclear.

## How to reduce it

1. **Make the right way the easy way.** Guided buying with catalogues, preferred suppliers and simple request forms. If raising a purchase order takes longer than buying on a card, people will use the card.
2. **Measure it.** Compare invoices and card spend against purchase orders and contracts to find off-contract buying by category, department and supplier. You cannot fix what you cannot see.
3. **Close the catalogue gaps.** Most maverick spend sits in categories with no contract or no easy channel. Add them.
4. **Set clear policy and limits.** Who can buy what, up to which value, through which channel, with consequences that are actually applied.
5. **Enforce no PO, no pay** for categories where a purchase order is required, with a fast exception route for genuine emergencies.
6. **Bring tail spend under management.** The long tail of small purchases from many suppliers is where maverick spend hides. Consolidate suppliers and route it through the same system.

## Track the result

Monitor spend under management, PO coverage and contract compliance monthly. Falling maverick spend shows up as rising contract compliance and better pricing on the categories you consolidated.

An e-procurement platform with guided buying and automatic PO matching is the most reliable way to make compliant purchasing the path of least resistance.

## Go deeper

- [Take Control of Your Maverick Spend With Smart Procurement Solution](https://www.procol.ai/blog/take-control-of-your-maverick-spend-with-smart-procurement-solution/)
- [What is Tail Spend Management? A Complete Guide for 2026](https://www.procol.ai/blog/tail-spend-management/)
- [What is Addressable Spend in Procurement? A Complete Guide for 2026](https://www.procol.ai/blog/addressable-spend/)