Rogue spend: How to identify and prevent unapproved purchases

Procurement and finance leaders often see rogue spend increase as purchasing demands rise. While most buyers are simply trying to move quickly, even small off-policy purchases can make budgets harder to manage and weaken purchasing compliance. Over time, these behaviors create avoidable financial and operational risk.

Many mid-market teams assume rogue spend is an inevitable part of growth. In reality, these challenges usually stem from unclear policies, limited visibility, and processes that don't support the way people actually buy. As these behaviors ripple across departments, costs rise, data fragments, and compliance becomes harder to enforce. 

Stronger visibility, clearer policies, and a more intuitive buying experience can restore order to purchasing. Scaling teams gain the structure they need to stay aligned, budgets become more predictable, and compliance improves—without slowing down everyday buying. Understanding how rogue spend forms, where it hides, and how to address it systematically is the first step toward regaining control.

What is rogue spend?

Rogue spend—often called maverick spend or unmanaged spend—occurs when employees purchase goods or services outside approved suppliers, processes, or policies. It can include everything from buying office supplies from a non-approved vendor to submitting a reimbursement for equipment that never moved through procurement. Many teams underestimate its scale, which creates blind spots that make budgeting and forecasting more difficult. 

In mid-market organizations, rogue spend can quickly become a significant portion of indirect spend. One benchmark found that maverick buying reached 1.8% of annual purchase value in 2021 and 2022. For a $1 billion purchase base, that translates to roughly $18 million. These figures often surprise leaders, who may not realize the total impact of small off-contract or ad hoc purchases accumulating across departments and cost centers.

Understanding rogue spend is easier when contrasted with managed spend. Managed spend moves through defined workflows, preferred suppliers, approval routing, and negotiated pricing; rogue spend bypasses this structure. Managed spend supports forecasting and compliance; rogue spend works against both. Procurement teams build purchasing processes to create alignment, and rogue spend introduces friction that weakens the system. Recognizing this contrast can help you see how clear processes and better tools support enhanced control.

Common causes of rogue spend

Rogue spend usually grows when procurement processes fail to support how people buy. Common drivers include:

• Confusing or outdated procurement policies

• Long or inconsistent approval workflows

• Limited access to preferred suppliers

• Manual purchasing processes that slow down simple requests

• Lack of visibility into budgets or spending limits

• Department-level autonomy without shared compliance oversight

• Lack of procurement onboarding for new employees

• Cost centers that rely heavily on reimbursements

• Systems that don't integrate or sync transaction data

Every cause tells a larger story about unmet needs, unclear expectations, or insufficient tools. When leaders understand these root drivers, they can address rogue spend proactively instead of reacting after costs escalate.

Financial and compliance risks

Rogue spend may seem harmless when individual purchases stay small, but each off-policy transaction makes it harder to maintain procurement compliance and protect negotiated savings. When purchases fall outside approved suppliers, organizations lose access to contracted pricing, increase the risk of duplicate orders, and take on avoidable costs.

These risks intensify during audits or reviews. Off-policy activity raises exposure to non-compliance with internal purchasing requirements, tax rules, and category-specific oversight. Finance teams then spend more time untangling receipts, reconciling expense reports, and correcting coding errors. The result is slower reporting cycles and reduced confidence in the accuracy of spend data. 

When leaders see how these issues compound, the urgency becomes clear. Rogue spend affects more than budgets—it erodes the operational stability companies rely on.

How to identify rogue spend

Rogue spend often shows up through budget overruns or supplier sprawl long before you can pinpoint the cause. According to Deloitte, more than 60% of procurement leaders say enabling greater supply chain visibility remains a top priority. Stronger insight into purchasing patterns helps you spot off-policy activity faster to reduce unmanaged spend.

To get started, consider tracking several essential KPIs, including:

• Percentage of off-contract purchases

• Spend from non-approved suppliers

• Ratio of purchase orders to total spend

• Frequency of one-time or one-off suppliers

• Volume of purchases that fall outside policies or catalogs

Monitoring these indicators can help you draw a clearer picture of buying behavior and uncover gaps that require attention.

Identify common indicators of rogue spend

Certain patterns can reveal rogue spend early, particularly when you review transaction data alongside vendor spend analysis. Common signals include:

• Purchases made without purchase orders

• Duplicate vendor creation in financial systems

• Employee reimbursements for business goods

• Use of personal payment cards

• Purchases from suppliers outside approved lists

• Orders that bypass category controls or spend limits

• Subscriptions or recurring purchases created without review

Vendor spend analysis adds valuable context to these signals by highlighting unusual supplier activity, fragmented spending, or sudden spikes in off-contract orders. Spotting these behaviors sooner can show you where you need to clarify expectations or adjust systems so purchasing feels consistent and intuitive.

Use procurement data to flag off-policy purchases

Most organizations generate enough transaction data to reveal rogue spend clearly—the real challenge lies in connecting data points across systems. Reviewing purchase orders, invoice reports, expense submissions, and supplier lists helps uncover the places unmanaged spend hides. 

For example, one cost center might submit dozens of reimbursements for items already available through preferred suppliers. Another team may create new vendors without realizing a negotiated contract already exists. By comparing these data sources, your procurement department can gain a better understanding of how employees navigate the purchasingenvironment and where friction drives them away from established processes.

Categorize and quantify your rogue spend

Once you identify rogue spend, categorizing it can help you address the problem using targeted interventions. The following three categories usually capture the full picture:

• Tail spend: Small, low-value purchases that escape planning

• Spot buys: Urgent purchases made outside normal processes

• Off-contract spend: Purchases made from non-preferred suppliers

Organizing rogue spend by type allows you to triage issues effectively. Quantifying each category as a percentage of total spend or as a share of indirect spend can provide a structured view of the problem and a clear path for prioritizing corrective actions.

Map purchasing behavior to policy goals

Connecting rogue spend to broader procurement goals can help you move beyond basic detection. Comparing actual purchasing patterns to policy goals—such as supplier diversity, sustainability, cost savings, or responsible purchasing—reveals where behaviors align with your organizational values and where they drift off course.

This is where your procurement maturity grows. You're no longer just enforcing purchasing compliance—you're using rogue spend analysis to strengthen broader initiatives. Mapping behavior to goals turns spend management into a lever for reinforcing your organization’s values and long-term strategy.

Audit your process, not just your spend

Rogue spend also highlights opportunities to improve underlying processes. As policies evolve, approval chains shift, and catalog structures expand, taking time to audit process design alongside spend data can reveal gaps that influence buyer behavior.

Review workflows, user permissions, catalog usability, and the clarity of policy documentation. Also consider how employees experience the purchasing journey from start to finish. Pairing analysis with process audits helps you increase transparency and reduce the friction that often fuels rogue spend.

5 strategies to prevent rogue spend

The most effective way to prevent rogue spend is to design processes that give your teams clarity, confidence, and speed. Controls matter, but they work best when buyers understand expectations and can follow them without friction. Many organizations strengthen purchasing compliance by blending smarter policies, clearer communication, and procurement automation that supports how people buy.

The strategies below are practical and actionable. Where relevant, they also highlight how Amazon Business tools help bring these approaches to life by embedding controls, increasing visibility, and guiding everyday purchasing. Together, these elements can help you reduce rogue spend while supporting stronger operational performance.

1. Design procurement policies that work in practice

Policies only work when your employees understand and follow them. Overly complex requirements can frustrate buyers and encourage them to bypass systems. You can reduce rogue spend by simplifying approval flows, shortening manual steps, and aligning thresholds with actual purchase behavior.

When policies feel intuitive, compliance happens naturally. Once you streamline expectations, technology can help reinforce them. Amazon Business supports policy clarity through a suite of smart business buying tools purpose-built for compliance management. Solutions like Guided Buying, Team Management, Compliance Management, and Spend Anomaly Monitoring help embed rules into everyday purchasing. These tools help guide employees at every step, making it easier for them to understand the right choices and follow policies.

2. Strengthen approval workflows with automation

Approval processes keep purchasing structured, but manual workflows often create delays that push buyers outside them. Approval automation helps you route requests based on spend thresholds, categories, or departments, reducing bottlenecks and increasing compliance. Dynamic approval chains ensure buyers receive timely guidance without unnecessary waiting.

Centralizing approval workflows also helps reduce off-policy spend and tighten oversight. That’s why Amazon Business offers purposeful integrations with more than 300 e-procurement, expense management, IdP, and e-sourcing systems. For example, Punchout brings Amazon Business directly into your e-procurement environment, giving employees access to approved suppliers and consistent workflows. When approval routing stays consistent across systems, you maintain control—and employees move faster.

3. Communicate procurement policies early and often

Policy adoption depends on clear communication. Even the best-designed policy fails if people don't understand it. Reinforcing expectations through onboarding, quarterly reminders, and centralized policy dashboards can help employees recognize their role in compliant purchasing.

Embedding reminders directly into your purchasing systems turns policy knowledge into action. Amazon Business supports this through Guided Buying, which steers employees toward preferred suppliers, compliant categories, and approved items. By turning policies into in-tool guidance, you help buyers stay aligned with procurement expectations without relying solely on training sessions or email reminders.

4. Embed visibility into every purchasing decision

Visibility transforms procurement from a reactive function into a predictive one. Your organization benefits from continuous insight into spending patterns, cost center activity, exception trends, and category-level performance. Automating reporting and monitoring exceptions in real time helps eliminate blind spots, making rogue spend easier to prevent. 

Amazon Business strengthens visibility through Amazon Business Analytics. These tools provide instant access to transaction-level data, trend dashboards, and custom reports. Business Prime members can get access to even more insights through tools like Spend Visibility and Spend Anomaly Monitoring, which offers real-time alerts around unusual purchases. This allows you to spot irregularities faster, guide purchasing behavior more effectively, and track compliance across departments. 

5. Align procurement controls with broader organizational goals

Procurement goals often support larger organizational priorities, including sustainability, supplier diversity, and responsible purchasing. Rogue spend undermines these objectives because buyers bypass the suppliers and practices that help organizations advance their values.

When you connect policy adherence to these broader initiatives, employees have a clearer reason to follow the process. This approach reinforces your organization’s commitment to responsible purchasing and shows how individual buying decisions support companywide goals. Amazon Business helps by providing access to business sellers, including certified local and certified sustainable suppliers. When your procurement controls align with your values, you create a purchasing environment that supports mission-driven goals while reducing rogue spend.

Turn spend control into an advantage

When you reduce rogue spend, you gain more than purchasing compliance—you gain the clarity, predictability, and confidence needed to support growth. Strong purchasing control protects budgets, strengthens supplier relationships, reduces operational risk, and creates a healthier financial foundation. It also supports greater agility by showing you where your money goes, how your departments operate, and where you should focus future spending.

As procurement leaders modernize their processes, many look for ways to centralize visibility, compliance, and convenience. Amazon Business supports this effort by helping you turn compliance into confidence through a smart buying solution that guides purchasing, increases control, and delivers real-time visibility across your organization.

To discover how our tools can help you advance your spend management goals, contact our team today.