"Smarter Spending is a game-changer for understanding how organizations can make better spending decisions"
Joana Silva, Deputy Chief Economist, World Bank
A clear operating philosophy. How everyday spending decisions shape performance, culture and long-term value.
Does your organisation make Smarter Spending decisions?
Most organisations focus relentlessly on growth – yet overlook how everyday spending decisions quietly shape performance, culture and long-term value. Smarter Spending reframes cost optimisation as a strategic discipline.
Rather than treating spending as a back-office function, Pedro Amendoeira and Neil Apter reveal how every pound spent signals priorities, influences behaviour and determines organisational resilience.
Drawing on extensive real-world experience, they introduce the Ten Principles of Smarter Spending – a practical management framework that helps leadership teams to align resources with purpose, build a transparent, cost-conscious culture, and strengthen performance without compromising quality or values.
Packed with accessible stories from history and culture, this book goes beyond cost-management to offer a clear operating philosophy. If you’re responsible for a budget, a team, or long-term results, this is your blueprint for building smarter, more profitable, better organisations.
The 10 Principles
of Smarter Spending
Spend with Purpose
1
Spending should never be incidental. Every pound committed by an organisation should reinforce its strategic direction, not distract from it. When spend is aligned with purpose, it becomes a lever for progress. When it is not, it quietly erodes focus, performance and outcomes over time.
See the Whole System
2
Cost decisions rarely exist in isolation. A saving in one area can easily create inefficiencies, risks or additional costs elsewhere. The most effective organisations understand how decisions connect across the system, avoiding false economies and ensuring that improvements in one area do not come at the expense of another.
Challenge Assumptions
3
Many costs persist not because they are necessary, but because they are familiar. Long-standing suppliers, legacy processes and inherited budgets often go unchallenged. True optimisation requires questioning these assumptions and being willing to re-evaluate decisions that have simply been accepted over time.
Value Before Cost
4
Focusing only on price is one of the most common mistakes in organisational spending. The cheapest option is rarely the most effective. By understanding value — outcomes, quality, reliability and impact — organisations can make decisions that deliver stronger performance, rather than short-term savings that undermine long-term success.
Profit Fuels Progress
5
Profit is the objective of any business and should be maximised. However, how that profit is achieved matters. Stripping cost without regard for capability, quality or resilience weakens the organisation over time. The most effective businesses maximise profit by spending intelligently, not simply by spending less.
Sustainability is Survival
6
Sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern. It is central to long-term organisational viability. Decisions made today around resources, suppliers and operations will determine whether organisations remain competitive, compliant and relevant in the future.
Control the Cost of Change
7
Change initiatives frequently fail not because the idea is flawed, but because the cost of implementing that change is underestimated. Training, communication and adoption all require investment. Recognising and planning for these costs ensures that change delivers real, lasting outcomes rather than superficial improvements.
Spend to Strengthen
8
Not all spending should be reduced. Some investments build capability, resilience and competitive advantage. The goal is not simply to spend less, but to spend better — directing resources towards areas that strengthen the organisation over time.
Build for Visibility
9
Visibility is the foundation of effective decision-making. If organisations cannot clearly see where money is being spent, they cannot manage it properly. Building transparency into systems and processes enables accountability, improves control and creates better-informed decisions.
Enough is a Strategy
10
Growth and accumulation are often treated as default objectives. However, more is not always better. Knowing when something is sufficient creates clarity and discipline. Organisations that understand the concept of “enough” are better able to focus resources and avoid unnecessary complexity.
Book Reviews
Early endorsements from reviewers
“An engaging and insightful read, full of real-world stories that make procurement come alive. Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned sourcing professional, this book offers both inspiration and a powerful reminder of the core principles that drive success.”
David Rickard, Former Senior Global Procurement Director, Microsoft
“Creating strong links in the supply chain is one of the hidden keys of any successful and resilient business. Procurement is not just about saving costs. In Smarter Spending, Neil Apter and Pedro Amendoeira, lead you to a wider view of how firms build their competitive advantage. “
Manuel Caldeira Cabral Former Portuguese Economic Minister, PhD University of Nottingham, Professor of Economics, University of Minho
“What struck me about Smarter Spending is how deeply human and practical it is. Neil and Pedro take a subject many leaders shy away from and turn it into clear, common-sense mindsets that apply as much to running a household or a small business as they do to large organisations. The book treats spending as a human challenge, not a numeric one - a matter of behaviour, clarity, and making smarter choices. And on that level, every leader and decision-maker will recognise themselves in these pages.”
Pellegrino Riccardi, Award-winning Tedx & Global Keynote Speaker
“Smarter Spending is a timely and highly practical guide for leaders who want to improve profitability without undermining long-term value. Drawing on deep, real-world experience, Neil Apter and Pedro Amendoeira move the conversation beyond blunt cost cutting and into thoughtful, principles led decision-making that strengthens organisations rather than hollowing them out. The book combines strategic clarity with actionable insight, challenging assumptions while remaining firmly grounded in commercial reality. For executives serious about resilience, sustainability, and smarter use of capital, this is an essential read.”
Carla Rebelo, SVP, Global Head of Adecco Permanent Recruitment
"I love it. This book is chock-full of excellent advice, illustrated with wonderful examples that bring the authors’ points to life. At its core are ten principles. And these are principles for the ages. Who could doubt that adhering to them will not just save your organisation money but build a more resilient business."
Mike Clayton, Author and Founder, Online PM Courses
“Smarter Spending is a game-changer for understanding how organizations can make better spending decisions and transform their approach to procurement to build stronger, more value-driven companies — brought to life through real-world stories.”
Joana Silva, Deputy Chief Economist at the World Bank, Associate Professor at Catolica Lisbon School of Economics and Management
“Smarter Spending challenges leaders to see costs and overheads not as limitations, but as signals of strategy and purpose. Its Ten Principles offer a clear, practical way to align every pound with intent. As a purposeful B Corp, this mindset is essential: how we spend must reflect what we stand for. This book provides a great framework for turning operational spend into genuine strategic advantage.”
James Sandford, Chief Operating Officer, Propellernet, a B Corp
“Congratulations to the authors Pedro and Neil for this comprehensive and didactic book. In my view, there is a systemic perspective in which everything is interconnected. We are able to gain a broader understanding and increase our ability to see that businesses, teams, and clients form an indivisible whole. It is truly a book that leads us to notice extremely important details that we are not aware of in our daily lives.”
Antonio Raab, Entrepreneur and Senior Advisor, former Board Member of the Hilti Foundation, Hilti’s General Manager in Portugal and Brasil.
“Smarter Spending is a refreshingly practical book for business leaders. It gives CEOs, boards, and procurement teams tools they can use immediately to make better decisions – while quietly reminding us that how organisations spend reveals what they truly value, and who they really are.”
Stuart Marginson, Founder, Managing Director, Highgate
Meet the Authors
The experience and thinking behind Smarter Spending
Pedro Amendoeira
Before joining the ERA Group team in early 2009, Pedro Amendoeira accumulated more than 12 years of experience in management positions at various companies, including AMC Entertainment and Parfois, as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Sales Officer. He has a degree in Management from the Faculty of Economics of Porto and a Master of Finance from the Complutense University of Madrid.
Over the past fifteen years, he has successfully implemented hundreds of cost optimization projects in small, medium and large companies.
He has run over 30 marathons and ultra-marathons. He has also completed an Ironman. He lives in Oporto, Portugal, with his wife and his teenage daughter.
Neil Apter
Before joining ERA Group in 2013, Neil Apter was already an advisor to the business. As the former Head of Performance Development at ERA, he had EMEA wide responsibility for Marketing, Operations and Business Development as well as worldwide responsibility as Head of Global Training.
Neil continues to work in the spend arena, where he uses his accumulated knowledge in an advisory capacity, helping clients to build better systems.
Away from his work, Neil has a degree in Greek Civilization and History from Leeds University and enjoys spending time with his family, reading extensively, and writing. In contrast with Pedro, Neil can barely run a bath and prefers to watch his sport on TV.
Smarter Speaking
We speak about how organisations can make better spending decisions
and what cost, value and behaviour reveal about long-term performance
The Smarter Spending Mindset:
How better decisions about cost and value drive performance
How we Spend Is Who we Are:
Why spending behaviour shapes organisations and outcomes
"Neil and Pedro take a subject many leaders shy away from and turn it into clear, common-sense mindsets...
a matter of behaviour, clarity, and making smarter choices"
Pellegrino Riccardi, Award-winning Keynote Speaker
Smarter Insights
We publish regular thinking on smarter spending, procurement and leadership
Register for regular content
Newsletter sign up
Get in touch
If you are interested in optimizing your spending, reviewing your tail, speaking or training enquiries, or otherwise working together, please complete the form below.