Category: Float News

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! 🚀

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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.

Float allows you to set boundaries for corporate spending directly on Float Cards themselves, with automated rules for transactions that reflect your company’s expense guidelines.

Our new Submission Policies feature lets you create custom policies by expense type and select which transaction information employees are required to submit after a purchase is made, like receipts and accounting codes.

Paired with Float’s multi-level Approval Policies, that allow you to automatically route spend requests to dynamic manager roles and individuals, this unstoppable duo automates and digitizes your company’s expense policies.

Available to Professional users, Admins can create unlimited Submission and Approval Policies that reflect internal company guidelines around corporate spending – such as travel, work from home benefits and entertainment policies. Or, keep things simple with a single Default policy to apply company-wide.

How It Works

Employees request to make a purchase directly in Float, either as a Temporary limit increase for a purchase on an existing card or a new virtual card for a vendor or one-time purchase. Managers are then alerted via email or Slack to approve, edit, or deny the request. If approved, the Spender is notified immediately of their new card details.

When a cardholder makes a purchase on their Float Card, they will be instantly reminded via text, Slack, or email, to upload their receipt along with the information your company requires, like vendors, GL codes, or purchase descriptions. Event better? You can limit the information each cardholder sees when submitting their expense so it’s easy for them to code it themselves.

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

💳 Empowering 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. 

🙌🏻 Making 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.

If you’re interested in learning more about Float’s complete business spend management solution, check out our Guide to Spend Management.

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!

Float launched an integration feature that enables users to connect their financial workflows right within Slack. Companies can easily manage their spend and approval processes directly in their internal chats, making it convenient for all departments within the organization. From approving a corporate card to requesting spend, all of it can be done in a matter of minutes. 🤩 We’ve also moved all our notifications into Slack so that you can ditch those lengthy email threads and have interactive engagements using our Slackbot.

Removing any friction from your financial workflows

We always knew that to create the ultimate spend management product of the future, we needed to build an integrated experience that removed as much friction from your financial workflows as possible. ✅ To be successful, we needed to meet our users where they were already spending a lot of their time – on Slack.

Our Slack integration feature allows us to better serve companies with distributed teams by giving them the power to embed their financial workflows within their existing communication channels. So, if you’re operating in a hybrid workplace where some employees are working from home, you can easily approve spend requests and ensure seamless financial communication across all departments. 💸

Users will also get reminders and notifications through Slack when they’re missing receipts and other important information.

Creating a simple onboarding process 👩🏽‍💻

We recognize that onboarding your employees and getting them acquainted with your financial tools and processes isn’t always a smooth transition. The main purpose of Float’s Slack integration feature is to make it easy for spenders in your company to understand, adopt and comply with your financial processes and tools. Given that most people know how to use Slack, getting started with Float is nothing less than seamless.

Spenders can easily submit their spend requests by typing ‘/spend’ directly in Slack. Managers then have the ability to approve or decline requests directly from the Float App within Slack. Managers can also create a shared channel for upcoming top ups and notify the team when they arrive.

Promoting a healthy spending culture 💸

Our Slack integration feature allows companies to manage corporate spending in a more efficient, transparent and quicker way. Since everything is done in one single tool, managers have greater visibility and control over spending, while employees are empowered to make business purchases easily and responsibly. With the ability to view spending frequency data and communicate directly through Slack, this integration enables employees and departments to improve the way they share financial information.

Our team at Float is always looking to make the way you and your teams spend as effortless as possible. The more we can integrate Float into your day-to-day workflows, the more we can make spending for businesses easier across North America.

Book a demo with us today and experience all of the features Float has to offer.