Month: June 2022

In today’s fast-paced business world, marketing teams need to be agile and responsive. However, managing marketing expenses can often slow things down. A well-crafted marketing expense policy is crucial for balancing financial control with the flexibility marketers need. Let’s explore how Float, a leading expense management solution, can help Canadian marketing teams optimize their spending while adhering to company policies.

The Importance of a Marketing Expense Policy

A marketing expense policy is a set of guidelines that outline how marketing teams can spend company funds. It typically covers:

• Approved categories of marketing expenses
• Spending limits for different activities
• Approval processes for various expense types
• Documentation requirements for reimbursement

Having a clear marketing expense policy helps:

1. Control costs
2. Ensure compliance with company and legal standards
3. Streamline the approval process
4. Provide transparency in marketing spending

Common Challenges in Marketing Expense Management

Marketing teams often face unique expense management challenges:

• Frequent small purchases for digital ads
• Varied expenses for events and campaigns
• Need for quick approvals on time-sensitive opportunities
• Difficulty tracking ROI on marketing spend

How Float Revolutionizes Marketing Expense Policies

Float’s innovative expense management platform addresses these challenges head-on, helping marketing teams implement and adhere to their expense policies more effectively.

1. Easily request cards for marketing spend  🙌🏻

Your marketing team needs to be able to make strategic decisions fast, without any bottlenecks. Our Expense Policy features enable Finance Admins to give marketing team leaders the authority to set spending limits on cards and quickly approve spend requests from their staff.

You can log into Float at any time and easily request a single use virtual card for purchases like swag orders, props for shoots or photography equipment. For advertising and software subscriptions, you can request a recurring virtual card. Virtual cards are issued instantly and accepted everywhere VISA and Mastercard are – all you have to do is simply copy and paste the card details into the vendor’s billing details page.

2. Instantly create a virtual card by vendor 💳

Create a virtual card by vendor to easily categorize the types of recurring online spend your marketing team is making. A virtual card for every vendor gives you the option to create daily, weekly or even monthly recurring cards with assigned budgets. For example, if you know that your Facebook ad spend is $40K/month, you can create a recurring monthly card with that limit.

A virtual card by vendor allows you to:

💵 Set monthly budgets for specific marketing activities
👀 Easily track and control spending over the month
☑️ Set limits to every card to ensure spend isn’t exceeded
✋🏽 Ensure vendors don’t overcharge the card without your authorization
💳 Avoid disrupting other subscriptions or payments when you pause or cancel a card

3. Use physical cards for real world expenses 💳

The finance team can issue a physical card to each marketing team member who has on-the-go expenses for travel, conferences, or client meetings. Float offers unlimited physical cards to Professional plan members, and with the ability to set card limits and apply automated expense policies, there’s no reason to hold out.

Cardholders are automatically reminded to easily send Float receipts and assign pre-defined GL codes as soon as the purchase is made, eliminating month end expense reports and reconciliations.

4. Track spending in real time without any guesswork ✅

Managing corporate spending closely is on everyone’s minds right now. If your finance team doesn’t have a smart solution in place, it’s likely taking over their 9-5. 🤯 Using Float, marketing leaders can log into the platform at any time and monitor their team’s spending in real time. Expenses like Google ads, travel costs and even miscellaneous expenses like morning coffee and lunch are all visible and categorized by vendors too! Gone are the days of asking for budget updates over Slack and tracking spend through a spreadsheet. Float makes everything available for you right on the dashboard. No guesswork, no errors and no stress! 👍🏼

Managers can also assign auto-tags to clearly define each employee’s role and spending authority. As for the finance team, Float grants them full visibility over what every department is spending, what they’re purchasing and whether their budgets need to be increased.

5. Collect and manage receipts in a flash – literally. 📸

With so many transactions being made, marketing teams typically generate a ton of receipts. Float makes it easy to stay on top of those receipts through our SMS receipt upload and email receipt feature. Spenders can simply snap a picture of their receipt and upload it into the platform immediately after a transaction! And if they don’t, managers have the option to send out automated reminders until a receipt is submitted. No more chasing employees down! 🏃🏻‍♂️ Float also provides the option to tag expenses by vendor or category and add additional notes to every receipt submission so that managers know exactly what the purchase was for. 

In today’s competitive business landscape, finding ways to cut costs without sacrificing quality is crucial. One often overlooked tool for business savings is a corporate card solution. Let’s explore five easy ways your company can leverage this financial tool to boost your bottom line.

1. Streamline Expense Management for Significant Business Savings

Traditional expense management can be a drain on resources. A corporate card solution automates this process, leading to substantial business savings:

• Reduce time spent on manual expense reports
• Minimize errors in expense tracking
• Lower administrative costs associated with reimbursements

By streamlining expense management, businesses can save up to 55% on processing costs per expense report, according to a study by PayStream Advisors.

2. Capitalize on Cashback and Rewards Programs

Many corporate card solutions offer cashback or rewards programs, providing an easy way to generate business savings:

• Earn cashback on everyday business expenses
• Accumulate travel points for business trips
• Redeem rewards for office supplies or equipment

For example, if your business spends $10,000 monthly on a card offering 1.5% cashback, you could save $1,800 annually – a significant boost to your business savings.

3. Leverage Spending Controls for Better Budgeting

Corporate cards allow you to set spending limits and restrictions, helping to enforce your budget and increase business savings:

• Set monthly spending caps for different departments
• Restrict purchases to specific merchant categories
• Prevent unauthorized expenses

These controls can lead to a 10-15% reduction in overall company spend, according to a report by the Aberdeen Group.

4. Gain Visibility for Strategic Business Savings

Corporate card solutions provide real-time spending data, allowing for more informed financial decisions:

• Identify areas of overspending quickly
• Negotiate better rates with frequently used vendors
• Adjust budgets based on actual spending patterns

This increased visibility can help businesses save up to 23% on travel and entertainment expenses alone, as reported by American Express.

5. Eliminate Foreign Transaction Fees for International Business Savings

For companies doing business globally, a corporate card solution can offer significant savings on international transactions:

• Avoid foreign transaction fees, which can be up to 3% per transaction
• Get better exchange rates compared to local currency conversions
• Simplify reconciliation of international expenses

These savings can add up quickly for businesses with frequent international transactions, contributing to overall business savings.

Maximizing Your Business Savings with the Right Corporate Card Solution

To fully realize these business savings, consider the following when choosing a corporate card solution:

1. Look for High Rewards Rates: Choose a card that offers competitive cashback or points on your most common expenses.
2. Evaluate Fee Structures: Opt for cards with low or no annual fees to maximize your business savings.
3. Consider Integration Capabilities: Select a solution that integrates with your existing accounting software for seamless expense management.
4. Assess Spending Control Features: Ensure the card offers robust controls to help enforce your expense policies.
5. Check International Benefits: If you do business abroad, prioritize cards with favorable international transaction terms.

Here are five ways Float can help your business save money

1️⃣ No surprise fees 

When you spend with Float, you won’t have any surprises – there are no foreign transaction fees, and no hidden monthly fees. Additionally, you can issue unlimited virtual cards as needed… without additional charges. What does this mean? The only charges you’ll see each month are the expenses incurred by your business – no additional fees, and no surprises.

2️⃣ 1% Cashback & 4% Interest on Deposits

It’s true! For each purchase you make with your Float physical and virtual corporate cards, you’ll get one percent cash back. Depending on your team’s monthly spend, this adds up to significant savings. Some Float customers regularly receive tens of thousands of dollars in cash back – with no strings attached – deposited into your Float account monthly. 

3️⃣ Spend controls that are easy to implement

While Float allows you to issue unlimited physical and virtual corporate cards, you’re able to limit the spend on each individual card – providing you a level of proactive control over your organization’s spend that traditional corporate cards don’t offer.

4️⃣ Track real-time spend by vendor 

Tracking vendor spending is a tedious process of waiting for invoices, processing payments, and logging the transactions. It’s asynchronous, and doesn’t offer a real-time view into what your suppliers are spending. 

Since you control the spend limit on each card, you can set up your vendors with a virtual corporate card with a spend limit in line with their typical monthly spend. This also allows you to track their spending, and increase or decrease their spend limits in real time as needed. This not only ensures that vendor payments are happening on time and on budget – meaning you won’t be overcharged – saving you time and money.

5️⃣ Set approval structures

Still need peace of mind? Float customers are able to set up multiple expense approval processes to ensure that even if a vendor or employee needs a credit top-up, spend is still monitored, and can be approved on the fly… even via Slack.

💰 Bonus! Earn up to $150k in special offers from Float partners

Becoming a Float customer is simple. Applications take just five minutes online, and you can be approved in a few days. Compared to a traditional approval timeline of four to six weeks for traditional credit cards, it’s not just a financial savings – it’s a time savings. Plus, Float’s perks program provides some pretty sweet bonuses… adding up to $150k in additional savings for your company. 

Here are just a few:

• Intercom offers a FREE first year, a 50% discount in your second year, and an ongoing 20% discount as long – a value of $61k USD
• Amazon Web Services provides $25k USD in AWS Activate Credits along with a year of AWS Business Support – a value of $5k USD
• Hubspot is offering 30% off a subscription for the first year, and 15% each subsequent year – a savings of up to $35k USD

With this many opportunities to save, what’s stopping you from booking a demo?

Conclusion: Boost Your Business Savings with Smart Corporate Card Use

Implementing a corporate card solution can be a game-changer for your business savings strategy. By streamlining processes, capitalizing on rewards, enforcing budgets, gaining spending insights, and reducing international fees, you can significantly cut costs and improve your financial health.

Remember, the key to maximizing business savings with a corporate card is choosing the right solution for your specific needs and using it strategically. With the right approach, your corporate card can become a powerful tool in your arsenal for financial optimization and business growth.