Spend Under Management (SUM)
Also known as: SUM, Managed spend
Spend under management is the proportion of an organisation's total spend that procurement actively controls through agreed processes, contracts and suppliers.
The higher the share of spend under management, the more of the organisation's buying benefits from negotiated pricing, compliance and oversight. Spend that sits outside management — maverick or unmanaged purchases — misses those benefits and represents savings left on the table.
Raising spend under management is a core procurement goal, achieved by pulling more categories into catalogues, contracts and approval workflows. It is a key metric of procurement maturity and influence.
Frequently asked questions
- What is spend under management?
- Spend under management is the share of total organisational spend that procurement actively controls through agreed processes, contracts and suppliers.
- Why increase spend under management?
- Because managed spend benefits from negotiated pricing, compliance and oversight. The more spend you bring under management, the more savings and control you capture.
Related terms
Maverick Spend
Maverick spend is purchasing made outside an organisation's agreed processes, contracts or approved suppliers.
Read definitionSpend Analysis
Spend analysis is the process of collecting, cleaning and categorising an organisation's purchasing data to understand what it buys, from whom and for how much.
Read definitionTail Spend
Tail spend is the large number of small, low-value purchases that together make up a modest share of total spend but a big share of transactions and suppliers.
Read definitionExplore related across the knowledge graph
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