You know the scenario: after lengthy negotiations, you finally secure a competitive contract with a preferred supplier—for office supplies, laptops, or packaging materials. Pricing is locked in, rebates are agreed. Yet when you review the annual numbers, the expected savings simply aren’t there. What went wrong?
A quick scan across departments usually reveals the answer. Marketing orders pens via Amazon for convenience. IT sources laptops elsewhere because of a “better deal.” Facilities continue buying from a familiar local wholesaler.
This is Maverick Buying—purchases made outside agreed contracts and processes. It may seem harmless, but it quietly erodes your margins. Here’s what it’s really costing you—and how data analytics, combined with Power BI, helps you regain control.
Eliminating Maverick Buying with Data Analytics
The Problem: Well-Intentioned, Financially Damaging
Maverick Buying refers to off-contract purchasing that bypasses established procurement procedures. In many SMEs, 30% to 40% of indirect spend (NPR) falls into this category.
Why does it matter?
- Lost volume leverage: Instead of consolidating spend with one supplier, purchases are scattered. As a result, negotiated discounts don’t materialize, and you pay higher unit prices.
- Invoice fragmentation: Every ad-hoc purchase generates a separate invoice. Processing a single invoice can cost €25–€50 in administrative effort—often exceeding the value of the purchase itself.
- Lack of visibility: Without a clear overview of spend, effective cost control becomes impossible.
There’s also a measurable financial impact. Industry benchmarks suggest Maverick Buying leads to ~20% higher costscompared to contracted pricing. On an annual spend of €500,000, that equates to €100,000 in avoidable leakage.
The Solution: From Assumptions to Data-Driven Control
Maverick Buying is rarely caused by bad intent. More often, it’s driven by lack of awareness or overly complex purchasing processes. Employees take the path of least resistance.
To address it, you first need transparency. Static Excel reports are typically too slow, error-prone, and outdated for this purpose.
By contrast, Microsoft Power BI enables real-time spend visibility by integrating directly with financial systems such as Exact Online, AFAS, or Twinfield. Instead of retrospective analysis, you gain continuous insight into where your money is going.
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What an Effective Spend Analysis Dashboard Looks Like
A well-designed dashboard focuses on three core questions:
1. Who are the “Outliers”? (Supplier Analysis)
A Pareto analysis reveals how spend is distributed across suppliers. In a healthy model, 80% of spend is concentrated among 20% of suppliers. The remaining long tail consists of low-volume, ad-hoc vendors.
Insight:
You may discover, for example, that multiple departments are sourcing similar products from different suppliers. This signals an opportunity to consolidate and renegotiate.
2. Are Contracts Being Followed? (Compliance Monitoring)
Power BI can automatically compare invoiced prices against agreed contract rates stored in your ERP or contract database.
Insight:
Discrepancies become immediately visible—e.g., a supplier invoicing €800 for laptops when the contract specifies €750. Without this visibility, such deviations often go unnoticed.
3. How Controlled Is the Process? (PO Coverage Ratio)
This metric tracks how many invoices are linked to a pre-approved Purchase Order (PO).
Insight:
Invoices without a PO are a strong indicator of off-process purchasing. Increasing PO coverage enforces discipline and prevents “after-the-fact” approvals.
The Business Impact
Addressing Maverick Buying is not theoretical—it delivers immediate, measurable results:
- Margin improvement: Procurement is one of the fastest levers for profitability. Enforcing contracts and consolidating spend typically reduces purchasing costs by 10% to 20%.
- Administrative efficiency: Fewer suppliers and invoices significantly reduce manual processing, saving finance teams hours each week.
- Stronger supplier negotiations: Instead of relying on assumptions, you negotiate with hard data—actual volumes, pricing deviations, and buying patterns.
- Predictability and control: Real-time visibility eliminates surprises. Budget overruns are flagged before they occur, not after.
In essence, Maverick Buying isn’t just a procurement issue—it’s a data visibility problem. Once you make spending behavior transparent, control follows naturally.