(BPT) - By Amber Tialino, senior vice president and general manager of Spend & Expense at BILL
Today's business landscape is more competitive than ever. Businesses are fighting every day to win — and keep — their customers while laying the foundation to drive long-term growth and continued success.
From maximizing cash flow and profitability to controlling expenses and tracking expenditures, effective financial management often determines the survival of small and midsize businesses (SMBs). That's why businesses seeking to improve their financial health and better serve their customers should seek solutions that allow them to effortlessly control and manage spend, freeing up time and resources for more strategic activities that drive growth.
A comprehensive solution SMBs should consider is a corporate card program. In the past, businesses have often used personal cards or have had to endure time-consuming data entry and paper trails when managing expenses. However, the right card solution with integrated expense management software can facilitate better oversight of capital and controls while streamlining financial operations across the organization and eliminating tedious expense reports.
When implementing a corporate card program, SMBs should carefully evaluate their options. Selecting the card solution that best aligns with their business objectives and unique needs is critical. This process should consider several key factors that can significantly impact their business's financial health and operational efficiency.
Credit versus charge cards: What's right for you?
First and foremost, businesses must decide between a credit card and a charge card. Both credit cards and charge cards can offer convenient payment processing and integrate seamlessly with software. However, they operate on fundamentally different principles.
Credit cards provide flexibility to pay overtime but come with a significant drawback: high interest charges that can eat into an SMB's profits. On the other hand, charge cards require full payment each month, eliminating interest charges while providing the benefits of real-time expense tracking, spend controls and automated expense management capabilities. For SMBs focused on maximizing cash flow while minimizing unnecessary expenses, charge cards are often the more appealing option.
Tailor rewards to fit your business needs
Different cards offer different benefits, from cash back to travel rewards to rebates to vendor-specific discounts. SMBs should evaluate these programs based on their unique spending patterns and choose the card that will serve them the best.
The ideal card program should offer customizable rewards that align with the business' primary spending targets and expense categories and provide meaningful value to both the company and its users. Some cards even allow businesses to choose their reward categories, ensuring maximum benefit from their regular spending patterns.
Elevate the employee experience
During the decision-making process, SMBs should prioritize the employee experience, as staff members will be the primary card users. The best card solution should offer a seamless, user-friendly experience for making payments and managing expenses.
Essential features businesses should look for include simple receipt capture and submission processes, intuitive mobile apps that complement online platforms and easy expense tracking capabilities. Employees should also be able to monitor their spending against budget guidelines and expense protocols easily while management maintains comprehensive oversight across the organization.
For an organization like with 170 children's hospitals across North America, every dollar spent and saved is so meaningful. The business searched for a new spend and expense management solution, and switched to BILL Spend & Expense, which saved them money, provided 1% cash back on purchases and ultimately made the experience for their team much easier.
"A huge, awesome thing about moving over to BILL was the ability to instantly connect receipts to transactions," said Burke Bess, Vice President of Finance, Accounting and Data Analytics at Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. "And BILL was just a very user-friendly system compared to what we had before."
Optimize cash flow with integrated systems
Another vital consideration SMBs should evaluate is how well potential card solutions connect with their existing business tools and platforms like travel booking systems, accounting software and other operational tools. The card system should also offer built-in controls for expense-type restrictions, such as merchant controls to limit the amount spent on a single transaction — automatically enforcing company spending policies.
Perhaps most importantly, SMBs should prioritize cards that integrate seamlessly with their automated financial platforms to help optimize cash flow. Ideally, the card solution would synchronize card payments with all other financial operations, including accounts receivable, billing and payroll systems. This integration provides business owners and managers with a comprehensive view of their financial metrics and cash flow, facilitating more informed decision-making and strategic planning for the future.
SMBs that are in the middle of rapid growth can especially benefit from system integration features. , a specialty coffee collective, for example, adds new brands every three months. Keeping track of spend and expenses for all of these brands was time-consuming and took valuable time away from day-to-day operations.
After implementing BILL Spend & Expense, the company saved over 144 hours per year in their monthly close alone.
"Think about the sheer number of receipts. It takes so many hours to chase those down and figure things out when you have to do it by email," said Derek Braun, FP&A Manager at FairWave. "Today, 98% of our credit cards are managed through BILL Spend & Expense, so everything's in one place. Every card user across all our brands. Every receipt. They can just take a photo and add the receipt to the app. BILL has reduced our close cycle by at least 12 hours."
Choose a solution that supports every step of your business journey
Implementing the right card system offers more than just convenience. It's a strategic investment in business success. By carefully evaluating card type, rewards structure, user experience, system integration and financial platform compatibility, SMBs can select a card solution that not only meets their current needs but also supports their long-term growth objectives.
Businesses looking for a more controlled way to spend and create a strong financial management foundation should consider the *, available as part of . Unlike other corporate credit cards, the BILL Divvy card is the only solution that provides SMBs with corporate cards, spend controls, flexible rewards and expense management software (at no extra cost) all rolled into one.
By streamlining efficiency, this corporate card program allows SMBs to focus on what matters most: growing their business and serving their customers. To learn more, visit .
*The BILL Divvy Card is issued by Cross River Bank, Member FDIC and is not a deposit product.
