If you have ever seen a budget get torched by "just one urgent purchase," you already know the pattern: someone needs something fast, the approved path feels slow, and procurement only hears about it when the invoice shows up.
That is maverick spend in a nutshell - and guided buying is one of the most practical ways to stop it without becoming the procurement police.
What is maverick spend?
Maverick spend (or maverick spending) is purchasing that happens outside your approved process, preferred suppliers, or negotiated terms. It shows up as off-contract buying, non-PO invoices, one-off suppliers, and "we already bought it" surprises. (CIPS)
What is guided buying?
Guided buying is a purchasing experience that steers employees to the right channel, right supplier, and right terms at the moment they buy - with policy, approvals, and budget checks embedded into the workflow.
Most maverick spend is not rebellion. It is friction.
Common causes across manufacturing, food and beverage, energy, utilities, law firms, and insurance:
The compliant path is harder than the non-compliant path (email approvals, unclear steps, slow turnaround).
People cannot find what they are supposed to buy (no simple portal, too many systems, outdated supplier lists).
Budgets are enforced late (after the PO, or worse, after the invoice).
Supplier and contract data is scattered (nobody trusts the "latest" info).
Exceptions become the norm ("we had to move fast" becomes a habit).
Research consistently points to this theme: when buying is hard, users route around procurement. Studies on maverick buying and non-compliant purchasing behavior highlight process design and user context as major drivers. (Dr Katri Karjalainen)
Guided buying does not win by adding more rules.
It wins by making compliant buying feel like the default:
fewer decisions for the requester
fewer places to shop
fewer steps to get approved
fewer ways to "accidentally" buy off-contract
That is why guided buying is repeatedly linked with higher adoption and better compliance. In one benchmark report, 75% of end users said self-service and guided buying tools would help reduce maverick spending, but fewer than 40% of companies had those tools in place at the time. (Supply & Demand Chain Executive)
Users search what they need, and the system prioritizes:
contracted items
approved suppliers
negotiated pricing
pre-approved service options
Less hunting = fewer off-contract purchases.
Catalog item? Great - order it.
New service? Use an intake form.
High-risk supplier? Trigger checks before purchase.
This is where guided buying quietly kills "random vendor" spend.
Instead of never-ending threads, approvals are:
rules-based (by category, spend threshold, risk)
traceable (who approved what, when)
faster (approvers get the right context, not a 12-paragraph justification)
This is the difference between controlling spend and explaining it later.
Guided buying can validate budget rules early, such as:
cost center budget availability
project budget limits
thresholds that require additional approval
blocked categories for certain teams
Some exceptions are valid. The problem is invisible exceptions.
Guided buying forces exceptions into a trackable flow:
why it is off-catalog/off-contract
who approved it
whether it should be added as a preferred option next time
Hackett benchmarking highlights the outcome procurement leaders care about: when organizations improve processes and stakeholder adoption, they reduce maverick buying and contract noncompliance - resulting in 60% less savings lost. (Hackett Group)
Here is a playbook that works whether you are battling MRO sprawl in manufacturing, services spend in energy/utilities, or uncontrolled professional services in legal and insurance.
You do not need perfect data to find the biggest leaks. Start with:
invoices with no PO
suppliers created in the last 90 days
spend in categories with no preferred vendors
repeat buys from "one-time" suppliers
purchases over threshold without documented approval
Academic research on mitigating maverick spend repeatedly points to visibility and structured e-procurement as key levers for improving compliance. (IJOQM)
A simple policy that works:
Preferred supplier first
Approved exception flow second
Everything else blocked or escalated
Most organizations have a few repeat offenders:
MRO and tools (manufacturing, utilities)
temporary labor and contractors (energy, manufacturing)
marketing and print (F&B, insurance)
IT and SaaS (everyone)
outside counsel and expert services (law firms, insurance)
Build guided paths for these categories first.
Budget enforcement that actually sticks usually includes:
"request-to-buy" approval before money moves
threshold-based approvals tied to delegation of authority
budget owners as approvers for specific categories
real-time blocks for restricted categories or out-of-policy suppliers
If 30 people requested the same off-catalog service last quarter, that is not "maverick behavior." That is a missing guided option.
Guided buying needs clean inputs:
who is approved
which suppliers are preferred for each category
which contracts apply
which suppliers are compliant and up to date
which suppliers are high-risk and need extra checks
That is SRM territory.
An SRM platform helps by keeping supplier onboarding, supplier qualification, supplier documents, risk signals, and supplier master context structured and current - so guided buying can confidently recommend the right suppliers (and block the wrong ones).
This is where Kodiak Hub typically fits best: as the supplier system of record that keeps your supplier base clean, qualified, and mapped to the right categories before employees start buying.
Track these monthly:
% spend on contract (contract compliance rate)
of one-time suppliers created
% invoices without PO
average approval cycle time
budget variance by cost center/category
exception rate (and top reasons)
Is guided buying only for indirect spend?
No. It is often easiest to start with indirect, but guided intake workflows can support direct categories too, especially services, contractors, and spot buys.
What is the fastest win?
Turn your top 5-10 chaotic categories into guided paths with clear preferred options and budget-aware approvals.
What role does SRM play if we already have P2P?
P2P guides the transaction. SRM governs supplier readiness: qualification, compliance, contracts, performance, and risk. That is what keeps the guided choices accurate over time.
The goal is not to "stop people buying." The goal is to make the right buy the easy buy - and enforce budgets before spend escapes.