Category: Float News

Two years ago, Float officially launched with a big, bold mission to simplify spend for Canadian companies and teams. 

Since then we’ve helped thousands of finance teams take control over their spending while saving millions of hours in receipt collection and reconciliations. 

As a result of providing this value, we grew revenue 4x over the past year, and over 100x since our very first month in business. We went from serving startups to a cross section of the Canadian economy, with customers now processing over 140,000 monthly transactions through Float.

Here are a few Float milestones from the last year:

New payment solutions with the launch of Float USD and Charge Card products

Since Float’s inception, USD cards have been the number one product requested by our customers. Many were frustrated by the offerings (or lack thereof) from Canada’s big banks, as most require a US legal entity, and none offer the advanced spend management tools that Float has become known for.

The response to our USD Cards has been phenomenal, resulting in a 5x increase in customers and 8x increase in transaction volume since launch. USD has become a core part of Float’s business, accounting for close to 20% of total spend.

Float’s Charge Card launched in summer 2022, offering extremely high limits compared to alternatives, with no interest or fees. Similar to our USD Cards, our Charge Card product has experienced exceptional takeup with 7x customer growth and 10x payment volume growth since its introduction.

Spend controls that lower risk while increasing productivity

The economic climate of the last year has underlined how critical it is for companies to have tight control over all spending. We help finance leaders by giving them real time visibility into spending across their business, and advanced controls that lower the risk of issuing cards to employees. 

Merchant Controls give finance teams the ability to restrict card spending by merchant category.

Float’s Expense Policy gives teams the ability to implement company expense policies directly in Float, from defining the transaction information that employees are required to submit, to assigning multiple approval layers for employee spend requests within an organization. 

Audit Logs that enable admins to easily view and export a history of cardcreation, changes, pauses, expiration, and deletion for all their Float cards to date. 

Powerful accounting automations that save thousands of hours

Every other functional team has benefited from digital transformation and modernization. Float’s spend management solution does this for the finance function. 

We shipped new automations and enhancements that save thousands of hours in manual accounting tasks, including:

• Automated receipt matching
• Personalized receipt forwarding
• Suggested GL codes

Customers have shared that with Float, month-end is much faster, they can now do continuous closes, and they can scale the finance function without having to add additional overhead.

Real-time reporting that helps teams find savings

We heard from customers that traditional providers made it difficult to have real-time visibility over spend, and no reporting capabilities to easily spot concerning trends.

With that in mind, Float launched our new Reporting functionality in close collaboration with our largest customers, a feature that is being used weekly by the majority of our customers.

Float customers can see a snapshot of company spending and be able to analyze trends over time. With financial data visualizations of both CAD and USD spending, they can view month-to-date spending and quickly identify increases or decreases in spending patterns. 

Admins can also run custom spend reports by merchant, vendor, GL code, category, cardholder, team, or tag to get a more detailed understanding of where company money is going. This level of insight can help finance teams identify areas of overspending or opportunities for cost savings.

Serving the needs of larger, more complex organizations

As Float’s customers grow, so do the needs of their finance team. Over the last 12 months, we introduced new functionality to better serve these larger midmarket customers. 

SSO + SAML enables Single Sign-On (SSO) and provides increased security and convenience for companies by allowing for just one set of secure login credentials across platforms, including Float. SAML works by passing information about users, logins, and attributes between the service providers and identity providers (iDp) including Azure, Okta, Auth0, and OneLogin.

MFA works to improve account security and prevent unauthorized login attempts by requiring an additional “factor” to verify that the person logging in is really who they say they are. This can include a text message with a unique code or a one-time-password (OTP) issued by a third party authenticator app such as Google Authenticator. 

Float’s NetSuite integration gives admins the ability to set rules to automatically code transactions with GL Codes, Vendors, Departments, Classes, Tax Codes & Locations, as well as export them to NetSuite with embedded receipts.

The modern day finance tech stack

It’s never been a more exciting time to build a company and products that serve Canadian finance teams. People across every level of finance are eager to bring modernization, automation and new solutions to the way they work. 

We are grateful to serve the most innovative and respected teams in Canada and we are excited to continue on this journey.

At Float, 2022 was a whirlwind year with lots of exciting product launches built to simplify our customers’ business spending. Going into 2023, we’re more determined than ever to make financial management even easier for companies and teams across Canada. 

Without further ado, check out how we simplified financial management for our customers in 2022 below (and read on for a sneak peek of what lies ahead). 

Giving you easy access to USD Cards

Since Float’s inception, USD cards have been the number 1 product requested by our customers. Many were frustrated by the offerings (or lack thereof) from Canada’s Big Banks, as most require a US legal entity, and none offer the advanced spend management tools that Float has become known for.

We are just at the beginning of what’s to come with Float’s USD Cards, and in 2023 we’re going to continue to build out this product (with some exciting announcements coming in Q1).

Helping you ensure company spending is within your guidelines

Having oversight and control over company spending is essential, especially as rumblings of a recession grow louder. That’s why we released Expense Policies in Float, so you can ensure purchases made on Float Cards meet your guidelines.

We also made it even easier for company Spenders to submit their expense information as soon as a purchase is made with custom expense URLs to upload receipts, tag GL codes, and enter descriptions. This year we’re focused on continuing to give finance teams greater control over company spending with Merchant Controls (and more).

Offering payment terms for your stage of growth

Big banks don’t make it easy for businesses to access corporate cards – oftentimes they’ll ask for personal guarantees or collateral, in addition to charging high annual card fees. Float’s pre-funded cards give Canadian companies easy access to corporate cards plus advanced spend management software. 

But as our customers grow, their need for extending their cash runway increases. So in 2022 we introduced Float’s new Charge Card product, offering qualifying customers 30-day unsecured credit terms with high limits and easy early repayment methods. (Interested? If you’re already a Float customer, you can apply in-app. New customers can apply online here.)

Growing with your finance team’s tech stack

Float’s direct accounting integrations with QBO and Xero allow customers to map their Chart of Accounts to Float so that transactions are easily coded (and embedded with receipts) for export at month-end. 

With many of our customers outgrowing these accounting platforms and moving to an ERP, Float launched its Netsuite integration to ensure your spend management processes grow with you.

And so much more

Sometimes it’s hard to quantify just how much work has been done in such a short amount of time. Luckily, we keep track of all our app updates, and in 2022 alone there were a whopping 5,982 of them! Here are some highlights:

• Easier on-the-go spending with new physical cards with tap functionality
• Increased account security with MFA and SAML SSO
• Decreased administrative headaches with automated receipt matching
• Easy access to audit trails for card creation and spend requests with Audit Logs

What’s ahead for 2023?

Businesses across Canada are facing a challenging environment in the months ahead. We’re all looking for ways to do more with less and find ways to save – whether that’s through cost savings or efficiencies in our administrative processes. 

That’s why in 2023 we’re focused on:

• Helping you find savings in your company spending
• Automating month-end as much as humanly possible 
• Simplifying the payment process for your company expenses

Above all, we’re dedicated to supporting our customers over the next 12 months as we navigate uncertain economic headwinds.

We’re excited to announce that Float’s new USD smart corporate cards are here to help you simplify your U.S.-dollar business spending. 

You and your team can spend, track, approve and reconcile all your business expenses no matter which currency you’re spending in. Our USD smart corporate cards can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted – which is basically everywhere. Whether you’re purchasing new software, going on a business trip or need to stock up on product inventory, we’ve got you covered. 🙌🏻

It’s easy as 1, 2, 3! ⬇️

Step 1:

Connect your USD bank account to Float

Step 2:

Issue an unlimited* number of physical or virtual USD cards to employees or vendors

Step 3:

Export transactions to your accounting software at month-end and enjoy having all your receipts automatically matched, embedded, and categorized for you 

With our new USD smart corporate cards, you can: 

Manage your USD and CAD spending all in one place 💸

You can spend, track, approve and reconcile all of your CAD and USD expenses within Float. Regardless of which currency your team is spending in, you can track purchases and export them into your accounting software without any guesswork or confusion. 

Leave foreign transaction fees at the door 🌎

With Float cards, you can avoid foreign transaction fees on USD spend by using a Float USD card. You can also link Float to your USD bank account so you can avoid your bank’s currency conversion fees. 

Easily manage and pay for subscriptions and advertising ​​💵

Many popular subscription software plans charge in USD, like Zoom, Slack, or Deel. Advertising platforms can also charge in USD, including TikTok and LinkedIn. Float offers unlimited virtual cards, so you can instantly create a card for each vendor. With virtual cards, you can set up card controls and spend limits to limit fraud, overcharges, or cards pausing in the middle of a campaign due to low card limits. 

Quickly pay and reconcile U.S. travel expenses ✈️

Hooray! You can now issue physical USD corporate cards to your travelling employees. All cards are linked to your Float software and set up with individual card controls and automated receipt compliance, giving you full visibility over team spending regardless of the time zone they’re in. Your team can now travel stress-free and easily make business purchases without having to wait for any management approvals. Even better, you’ll never have to hound them for receipts ever again – Float will notify them to upload a snapshot any time they make a transaction. 🧾

Get access to USD corporate cards with high limits with no personal guarantees 💳

Big banks make it difficult to access corporate cards in general, let alone those in USD currency. Many banks will require you to have a legal US entity before issuing you a US-based bank account or corporate card. Float offers easy access to USD corporate cards with high limits and no personal guarantee – so you can spend with ease and accelerate your company’s growth worldwide! 🚀

—

Float’s USD card is ideal for Canadian businesses that earn and spend USD. Does your team need access to USD smart corporate cards? Float provides fast approvals with no personal guarantees or credit checks needed. Book a demo with us today or sign up for free! 

*Unlimited physical and virtual cards for Professional Plan members. Essential members get unlimited virtual cards and 5 physical cards.

The corporate finance department is changing, and so are the roles and responsibilities of its leaders. Data and technology are being used in new and strategic ways, leading to fundamental shifts in the way finance professionals work.

Automation, communications, people management and training are just some of the areas that are evolving.

When you’re looking for advice that could benefit your company in these areas, there isn’t always someone in your professional network that can help. And if you’re trying to become a better finance leader, you probably want to learn from the best.

What if you could hear from other seasoned finance professionals about how they overcame some of these challenges in their own unique way? Whether you’re implementing a zero based budgeting model for the first time or raising a Series B, there’s a good chance someone has been in your shoes before.

Listening to their stories just might help you turn these milestones into career defining opportunities.

We’re excited to launch Retained Learnings, a new podcast for Canadian finance leaders. Hosted by Float CEO Rob Khazzam, Retained Learnings will feature Canada’s most respected and accomplished finance and business names to bring you some of the lessons they’ve collected during their careers.

In each episode of Retained Learnings, we’ll share strategic advice and potential solutions to answer some of the finance departments most important questions. We’ll touch on topics like preparing to go public, hiring in a tight talent market, or even moving to an ERP solution like NetSuite.

If you’re a Canadian finance professional, curious about how the best finance leaders in the country do their jobs, be sure to listen to Retained Learnings. Now available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.

Did you know? Float has Canada’s most powerful accounting integrations! Along with Xero and QBO, our platform is now compatible with NetSuite and allows growing companies to close their books even faster with their accounting software of choice. 

Float users can create cards for all of their company spending and automatically code transactions with GL codes and vendors, as well as export them to NetSuite with embedded receipts. 

How it works 

✅ Import accounts, vendors and tax rates, classifications, departments, and locations into Float from NetSuite

✅ Code transactions with GL codes, vendors, classifications, departments, locations and tax rates 

✅ Export coded transactions into NetSuite as journal entries with the relevant accounting data

Our features 

Float allows you to close your books in NetSuite faster and automate tedious manual accounting tasks. We do this by enabling you to: 

👩🏽‍💻 Create Merchant Rules that automatically applies GL codes to certain vendor transactions 

💳 Use Submission Policies to assign GL codes to cards they are created 

💰Bulk update hundreds of transactions for purchases that have similar accounting settings 

🧾 Automatically remind employees to submit receipts and assign their own GL codes to transactions 

Watch our team export a transaction from Float to Netsuite in the video below to see our new integration in action.

Using the above features makes for easy month end reconciliations because you can simply have every transaction made on a Float card be automatically coded and matched with receipts for easy export to your NetSuite.

If you are not yet a Float customer, learn more by booking a demo with our friendly sales team.

Fact: Expense policies aren’t always the easiest for employees to understand or follow. From chasing people down for receipts to reconciling transactions for days on end, it’s no wonder the finance team limits corporate spending to a select few. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Plot twist. Float’s about to change the game. 🎲

Our new Expense Policy feature allows you to implement company expense policies directly in Float using our Submission and Approval Policies. Our new Submission Policy feature lets you define the transaction information that employees are required to submit, like receipts and accounting codes, and allows you to assign specific GL codes by expense type. With Float’s automated Approval Policies you can assign multiple approval layers for employee spend requests within your organization. Combined, this unstoppable duo automates and digitizes your company’s expense policies. ⚡️

Available to Professional users, Admins can create unlimited Submission Policies that reflect internal company guidelines around corporate spending – such as travel, work from home benefits and entertainment policies. 

It’s The Feature Your Whole Team Has Been Waiting For 🎉

💳 Empower employees to comply with spending policies

Float allows you to set boundaries for corporate spending with automated rules for transactions that reflect your company’s expense guidelines. You can also define what information is required under specific policies, including receipts and accounting codes. 

🙌🏻 Make month-end a breeze for your finance team 

Float lets you apply specific GL codes to transactions, while encouraging spenders to categorize their transactions so your finance team doesn’t have to. Finance teams no longer have to chase employees down or search for missing information for hundreds of expenses.

How It Works ⬇️

1. Go to your company settings page to find “Submission Policies”
2. Click on “Create a Policy”
3. Enter your policy name and a brief description so your team knows which expenses are covered
4. Select the policy type and the teams it applies to
5. Create spending boundaries for single-use cards and recurring cards including:

• Setting specific GL codes by card
• Selecting whether or not receipts or GL codes are required to be submitted based on transaction amounts
• Turning on card compliance to auto-pause cards that violate expense policies

6. When creating a new card, select the expense policy that spend should be tied to. For each transaction, the spender will be prompted to follow your GL code and receipt requirements.

Note: Every Float account will apply a Default expense policy that includes GL codes and receipt requirement capabilities. 

The Perfect Pair: Submission Policies + Approval Policies 🤝

Float’s new Submission Policies paired with our Approval Policies’ multi-level approval flows make managing team spending a breeze. 

Excited to see how this new feature works? Login to create your Submission Policies or  book a demo with us today! 

With many teams back on the road and in action, our new smart physical corporate cards couldn’t have come at a better time. With enhanced tap functionality paired with speedy spend approvals — Float cards are making real-world business spending easy and better than ever before. 

These new cards empower on-the-go business spending for expenses like:

✈️  Travel (hotels, meals, car rentals and fuel)

💆🏼‍♀️  Monthly employee benefits

🍩  Snacks for the office 

☕️  Monday morning coffee runs 

🤩  And so much more!

Float also allows you to spend in style! 😎 Our new physical cards are made from premium materials in a matte and gloss black finish – a professional and sleek addition to your wallet that you’ll always want to use. 😉

Corporate credit cards on another level ⚡️

Corporate cards have played a crucial role in daily business spending for decades – and so we sought to give them an upgrade! We’re all familiar with traditional corporate cards such as your standard physical Visa or AMEX — the ones that get shared around the office, or even worse, over Slack or email. 🙄 These traditional cards typically come with high monthly fees and very rarely give finance teams any insight or control of company spending. 

At Float, we do things a lot differently. We give companies access to high-limit, hassle-free physical (and virtual) corporate cards integrated with smart spend management software — ultimately giving finance teams greater spend control. Float not only boosts your spend visibility, but it completely eliminates the need for card sharing across your organization. That’s right! You can issue an unlimited amount of cards to employees as needed! 🎉

Physical vs. virtual smart corporate cards 💳

Float’s physical and virtual cards are essentially the same but serve two different purposes:

• Physical cards are great for real world, on-the-go expenses. You can issue these to anyone within your company with smart functionality like spend limits and automated approval flows.
• Virtual cards are perfect for online purchases, whether they’re one-time or recurring transactions. Float even allows you to categorize your virtual cards by vendor — like your monthly software subscriptions! 💰 

Smart corporate cards are for everyone 🤝

Traditionally, corporate cards were limited to C-suite team members, executives and founders –  often leaving other employees to use their personal credit cards to make business purchases and be reimbursed at a later date. Red flag 🚩 This “traditional” way of doing things can be a major roadblock when you’re trying to grow and scale.

At Float, we don’t discriminate against corporate spenders. If you’re using Float’s professional plan, you’ll have access to free unlimited physical and virtual cards that can be distributed across your entire company – with no monthly fee. Our automated spend management software also gives managers and finance teams the ability to set spend limits, enforce greater receipt compliance and have full visibility and control over daily spending in real time.

Use your Float card anytime, anywhere 🌍 

Float’s smart corporate cards can be used anywhere that accepts a traditional credit card. We run on the VISA network which means merchants can treat your Float card just like any other card they’re used to. They’re easily accessible, offer high-limits and come with a hassle-free experience from start to finish. No credit checks or personal guarantees needed!

If you’re an existing Float customer, just log into your account and order your new Float cards today. If you’re not a Float customer, become one today 👊🏻 Book a demo or sign up for free!