Expense management under control: the role of corporate credit cards

Many large and medium-sized companies struggle to manage staff expenses, such as travel costs. They do not have a good way to control these costs and lack insight into business expenses. And this is despite grip on expense management being a key task of CFOs and financial controllers.

But how do you get a grip on expense management if actual costs are almost never clear in time and in full?

Getting a grip on expense management with corporate credit cards

Research by ICS (2024) shows that employees often advance expenses and submit paper receipts manually. These expense claims often arrive late and are not fully completed. Using business credit cards in combination with an expense management solution can give you a grip on your expense management. This article will tell you how.

Time for modern expense management for businesses

Many organisations still manage expenses manually. And this causes problems. Receipts get lost, claims are incompletely completed or completely forgotten. ICS surveyed the expenses process among 449 financial executives in the Netherlands. These individuals work at companies where employees incur expenses reimbursed by the employer.

This research shows the following:

• Organisations spend an average of 41 hours per month on manual expense claims
• 62% of individuals regularly encounter submitted claims without receipts
• 17% say lack of insight regularly causes budgets to be exceeded
• 57% think a modern system would help with cost and time savings and improved accuracy

These figures show that it is high time for many Dutch organisations to get a better grip on expense management. There is a need for a modern and digital system that allows you to always have insight into company spending, avoid overcharges or unexpected costs and comply with regulations. Business credit cards help with this.

How business credit cards give grip on expense management

To keep a good overview of expenses and costs, use business credit cards in combination with expense management software. This way, you will always have instant insight into expenses and keeping paper receipts is no longer necessary. This saves a lot of time for the finance department.

Yet the survey conducted by ICS shows that only 10% of the organisations surveyed give business credit cards to employees. This while 20% feel that the company spends too much time matching paper receipts to transactions. The latter is particularly prevalent among larger companies.

Not surprisingly, then, 19% feel that the claims process is not efficient. It can be improved. After all, using business credit cards saves a lot of time and therefore costs.

3 key benefits of using business credit cards

Using business credit cards in combination with expense management software provides insight and saves time when processing expense claims. But there are more benefits. Here are the main three:

1. Your employees no longer have to advance money

With a business credit card, employees pay business expenses directly from your organisation. This way, they no longer have to submit receipts manually or wait a long time for reimbursement. This saves a lot of time and frustration. Also convenient: with business credit cards, employees benefit from global payment convenience.

2. Business credit card payments are insured and secure

Besides payment convenience and insight into company spending, business credit cards provide extra security. For instance, most business credit cards have standard insurance and guarantees.

Look carefully at the terms and conditions, though. This varies from one credit card company to another. For example, ICS business credit cards have standard purchase insurance against damage, theft and loss, baggage and flight delay insurance and additional travel insurance. In addition, these credit cards often have security guarantees, such as 24/7 fraud prevention and internet and delivery guarantee.

3. Limits and blocking certain purchases give more control

In addition to the insurances and guarantees mentioned above, using business credit cards offers even more security. For example, you can easily set limits per card or employee. Do you increase or decrease the payment limit? This change is implemented immediately.
You can also block certain types of purchases via the business credit card. Think of cash withdrawals. This prevents complicated situations and misuse of the business card.

Use business credit cards for greater grip on expense management

To keep your business financially sound, grip on expense management is important. You want to avoid unnecessary costs and comply with relevant regulations. Insight into company spending helps with this. That way, you can intervene when necessary and avoid unexpected or excessive costs.

Business credit cards combined with expense management software provide a complete, central overview of company expenses. In addition, you save time processing expense claims and purchases are secure and insured. Setting limits per employee also provides additional control and grip on spending management.

Want to know more about the benefits of business credit cards? Then read our blog on making spending management easy with business credit cards