Who really owns spend in your company?

Most spending starts outside finance

Ask a marketing team how they bought their latest software. Or operations how they booked logistics. In most companies, spend happens everywhere, across regions, roles, and departments.

In fact, according to internal data from Alaan customers:

• Up to 85% of monthly transactions come from non-finance employees
  
• These are often low-ticket but high-volume: subscriptions, client meals, office supplies
  
• Many aren’t flagged until manual reconciliation, which happens weeks later.
  
  

That means most of your spend is happening outside the visibility window of finance.

So why does finance still get the blame?

It’s simple. Finance teams are accountable for what they can’t always control.

• If spend exceeds budget, they’re asked why it wasn’t flagged sooner
  
• If a report is delayed, they’re told to “chase the receipts faster”
  
• If policies are breached, they’re the ones rewriting them
  
  

But when ownership is unclear, responsibility defaults back to finance.

A new model of spend ownership

Modern finance teams are moving from gatekeepers to enablers. They’re building guardrails, not just rules.

What does this look like?

• Department-level control: Marketing owns its spend, but within defined limits
• Real-time visibility: Finance sees transactions as they happen, not 30 days later
• Built-in compliance: Spend policies enforced before the swipe, not after

At Alaan, this shift is happening every day. Finance sets the framework, but ownership lives closer to the point of spend.

Practical tips to share the load

Here’s how finance teams are making this shift stick:

1. Define accountability at the team level
   Not just who pays, but who approves, tracks, and reports spend
   
2. Use tools that decentralize, not just digitize
   A modern card + software setup gives teams flexibility and control
   
3. Make policies visible and contextual
   No one will follow a 12-page policy PDF. Show the rules when and where spend happens
   
4. Educate, don’t just enforce
   Help teams understand the why behind every rule. Context creates compliance.

So… who really owns it?

The answer is: everyone.
But finance leads the way.

They create the culture, the systems, and the safeguards. Not to control, but to enable better decisions across the board.

Because when every team owns their spend, finance can finally focus on what they do best: guiding the business forward.

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