As companies adopt and retain flexible workplace models, employees who once obtained desks, computers and all the supplies needed to do their jobs at the office are now furnishing and supplying their own workspaces at home.
In fact, 31% of finance professionals say employees are submitting more expenses now than before the pandemic, and 90% say their companies have allowed employees to expense new items, as reported in the Corporate Spend Playbook, a PYMNTS and Airbase collaboration.
Get the report: Corporate Spend Playbook
In this new environment, finance professionals also say they are finding more errors in their expense reports, that many employees are not cognizant of company spend policy, that even senior executives willfully ignore it and that their companies are footing the bill for out-of-policy spend. These professionals are experiencing more complicated expense verification as they reimburse expenses charged to employees’ personal credit cards.
Seeking Ways to Control Corporate Spend
Those are just some examples of the ways accounts payable (AP) processes have become more complicated since companies began changing how they deploy capital.
Read more: Automating Workflows Takes the ‘Crazy’ Out of Accounts-Payable Processes
As companies seek ways to control corporate spend while giving corporate leadership and shareholders more visibility into where wasteful expenditures can eat into company profits, one solution that is gaining popularity is the use of virtual cards.
Virtual cards offer employees a convenient and frictionless payment tool for work-related expenses while empowering managers to monitor and ensure compliance with company policy.
They offer many advantages over traditional credit and debit cards for corporate spending.
First, virtual cards are touchless, a commonly preferred feature as much of the world continues to do business with minimal contact. Teams can submit requests and approvals either online or via a smartphone app to accommodate remote workers.
Second, they are more secure than their plastic predecessors. A virtual card allows the user to generate a one-time card number that links to a corporate account. It eliminates the need for an employee to carry a physical card that can be lost, and it is essentially impossible for bad actors to steal a virtual card number that changes with each use.
Responding to the Changing Business Climate
Third, virtual cards can help organizations closely monitor and maintain clear records on employee expenses to control overspending. Companies can set spending limits, select which merchants to pay and set expiration dates automatically.
Fourth, they can also help companies give their employees the flexibility to buy what they need without dealing with expense reports and receipts.
Finally, these solutions can also make the monthly closeout and general cash flow accounting much simpler and more efficient for financial teams.
Virtual cards can equip companies with the maneuverability they need to respond to a business climate that is rapidly changing. They have the power to generate substantial cost savings, placing managers back in charge of their expenses even as the work environment evolves.
