What is Shadow Spend

Shadow spend or shadow spending is when employees bypass procurement policies and make corporate credit card purchases without receiving authorization prior to making the purchase. 

While shadow spending has become common in 2021 due to the ever-increasing use of corporate credit cards, shadow spend is only expected to increase in 2022 and the years that follow. What makes shadow spending an issue is that it puts the accounts payable (AP) department in the dark until the monthly corporate credit card statement arrives. Shadow spend is a control issue for both AP and finance teams as auto-renewals, unauthorized purchases, and double-payments via corporate credit cards all add to this chaos.

How to Prevent Shadow Spend

The best way to stop shadow spend is by connecting both invoice and corporate credit card management processes, as in the case with Stampli AP Automation and Stampli Card.

Stampli Card provides complete control over issuing corporate credit cards by means of a purchase request and approval process. With Stampli Card, you can process invoices and credit card transactions through the same AP Automation technology. As soon as the purchase is made, the details are immediately available in Stampli giving AP full visibility of all corporate credit card purchases.

Shadow Spend Resources


5 ways shadow spend
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Feeling the Pain of Corporate Card Spend Chaos?

Download 5 Proven Strategies for Controlling Shadow Spend to learn how to banish shadow spend and regain control of corporate card spend.

 

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Stampli card
Stampli Card

Stop Shadow Spending by Connecting Invoice and Credit Card Management Processes

Stampli Card, the most powerful way to issue, process, and control corporate credit card spend inside Stampli.

 

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