If your employees regularly cover business expenses, you need a safe and stress-free way to reimburse them. While they could file receipts with the accounting department, that creates extra paperwork and could hurt workplace morale. After all, employees shouldn't have to dip into their personal savings to cover your costs.
Your American Express® Business Card, which allows you to apply for cards for employees under your own account, could be a much better alternative. Not only is this approach more convenient for covering costs, it also comes with protection and benefits for both your business and your employees.
Here's how you can use your American Express® Business Card to help relieve the stress of giving employees company cards.
1. Set limits on employee spending.
Giving an employee a company card takes trust, especially if your business has a five- or sixfigure credit limit. The good news is when you utilize employee cards, you can adjust the spending limit for each one through Employee Controls. These controls prevent overspending and provide flexibility for each employee.
For example, you can give your office administrator a max limit of $300 to cover incidentals, while giving a salesperson who travels and takes clients out to dinner much more.
2. Receive a clear view of company expenses.
As your business expands, you need an organized system to track your expenses. Not only does this help you set your budget and plan spending, you'll also need this information for your tax return so you don't overlook any possible deductions.
Your American Express® Business Card gives you the option to download an app called American Express® Business App, which gives you an overview of all spending on your account. With this feature, you can see exactly what employees are buying with their individual Cards, and if anything looks off, you can immediately flag the transaction.
Through the mobile app, you and your employees can also take photos of the actual receipts so you can match them to the different Card purchases. Additionally, Amex Business App lets you categorize the different expenses so they're ready for your tax preparer. This simple tool takes the stress out of organizing business finances.
3. Avoid surprises with purchase alerts.
It's not always obvious what counts as an approved business expense. An employee may go on a spending spree and it's only when they show up with a pile of receipts that you realize there's a problem.
With your Business Card, you can set up purchase alerts so you receive instant notifications any time someone spends over a certain amount (which you set). T hat way you'll know immediately whether an employee is going over budget so you can contact them and get things back on track.
4. Get peace of mind with fraud protection.
Thieves are out to steal credit card information and this is a growing problem. Fortunately, your American Express® Business Card is there to help keep you safe.
American Express proactively tracks your account for signs of unusual activity, both from employee spending and from thieves. If something looks outside the norm, American Express will send out an alert and may ask you to approve the transaction before it goes through. You can do so easily by phone and through digital tools like the mobile app, text and email. Also, if a Card is ever stolen and used to make fraudulent purchases, your business has zero liability and will not need to pay anything.
Additionally, your employees can rest easy because they don’t have to worry about fraudulent charges on their personal credit card or bank account.
5. Hand off work to your account manager.
Considering your full schedule, you may not have time to keep an eye on all these employee company cards, especially as you expand and add more staff. With your American Express® Business Card, eligible Card Members can designate one employee as the account manager to supervise everything—like someone from HR or the accounting department who currently oversees receipts.
Giving an employee a company card takes trust, especially if your business has a five- or six-figure credit limit.
They'll have the same ability to track employee spending, open new accounts and set the spending limits—so you can focus on more pressing matters.
6. Earn rewards for your business.
An additional advantage from providing employee company cards is that their business spending can earn the rewards of your Card, depending on the Card. Not all Cards are eligible to get rewards. Terms and limitations vary by Card type. When you have a team of employees spending throughout the month, these can really add up. On the other hand, if employees are spending using their personal cards or cash, you won't get the rewards for reimbursing expenses. That's leaving money on the table.
Instead, take advantage of these rewards so you can use toward future business expenses, give them to the employees as extra compensation or use them to sponsor a workplace event, like an offsite retreat for the whole company. Whichever way you go, you're getting an extra perk just by running your usual employee expenses through the company cards.
When you consider the safety, convenience and rewards from your American Express® Business Card, you can see why many users find them to be a stress-free way to manage employee spending. These benefits will help make life easier for yourself, your staff and your accounting department.
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