{"id":88086,"date":"2022-12-07T17:21:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T15:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factorialhr.com\/blog\/?p=88086"},"modified":"2025-06-26T17:22:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T15:22:05","slug":"business-expense-cards-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits of Business Expense Cards [+ Free Expense Form Template]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to a recent study, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hrnews.co.uk\/the-great-british-business-iou-out-of-pocket-uk-employees-wait-on-51billion-in-expenses-every-year\/#:~:text=Almost%206.9%20million%20of%20Britain's,pocket%20work%20expenses%20per%20employee.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UK workers are out-of-pocket by \u00a351.2 billion in expenses every year<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. A whopping 43% claim they\u2019ve been unable to pay personal bills due to late expense reimbursement from their employers. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aside from the financial <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/work-related-stress\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stress that this puts on employees<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, managing an expense log and expense reimbursement process also creates a lot of extra work for your managers. One solution to this is using<\/span><b> business credit cards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. However, this doesn\u2019t reduce the time your managers need to spend on expense management. <\/span><b>A far more efficient way of managing allowable expenses for employees is offering a company expense card<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to certain members of your staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, <\/span><b>what are business expense cards and how do they differ from traditional business credit cards?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> And how can <\/span><b>expense management software<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and products like the <\/span><b>Factorial Card<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> help you streamline and improve your expense management processes?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s find out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/templates\/expense-log\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-88088 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165709\/Expense-Form-Free.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165709\/Expense-Form-Free.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165709\/Expense-Form-Free-300x103.jpg 300w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165709\/Expense-Form-Free-768x263.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b><div class=\"js-toc toc\">\n<p class=\"js-toc-title toc__title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<nav id=\"fac_toc_nav\" class=\"js-toc-nav toc__nav\" aria-label=\"Table of Contents\"><ol class=\"toc__list toc__list--level-1\"><li class=\"toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"toc__link toc-link-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/#what-are-business-expense-cards\" title=\"What Are Business Expense Cards?\u00a0\" data-target-id=\"what-are-business-expense-cards\">What Are Business Expense Cards?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class=\"toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"toc__link toc-link-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/#business-credit-cards-vs-business-expense-cards\" title=\"Business Credit Cards vs. Business Expense Cards\u00a0\" data-target-id=\"business-credit-cards-vs-business-expense-cards\">Business Credit Cards vs. Business Expense Cards\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class=\"toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"toc__link toc-link-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/#how-do-business-expense-cards-work\" title=\"How Do Business Expense Cards Work?\u00a0\" data-target-id=\"how-do-business-expense-cards-work\">How Do Business Expense Cards Work?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class=\"toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"toc__link toc-link-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/#benefits-of-using-business-expense-cards\" title=\"Benefits of Using Business Expense Cards\u00a0\" data-target-id=\"benefits-of-using-business-expense-cards\">Benefits of Using Business Expense Cards\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class=\"toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"toc__link toc-link-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/#using-factorial-cards-for-your-business\" title=\"Using Factorial Cards for Your Business\u00a0\" data-target-id=\"using-factorial-cards-for-your-business\">Using Factorial Cards for Your Business\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class=\"toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"toc__link toc-link-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/#automate-expense-management-with-factorial\" title=\"Automate Expense Management with Factorial\u00a0\" data-target-id=\"automate-expense-management-with-factorial\">Automate Expense Management with Factorial\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/nav><\/div><\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>What Are Business Expense Cards?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business expense cards are <\/span><b>the most effective expense management tool on the market<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Essentially, they are prepaid debit cards that employees can use to cover any <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/limited-company-expenses\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">allowable business expenses<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that they incur. These might include <\/span><b>travel expenses, expenses related to the purchase of tools and supplies, general business expenses, and employee stipends<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to name a few. Instead of paying upfront and then applying for expense reimbursement, employees can use an expense card to pay for goods and services in line with a company\u2019s defined expense policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With business expense cards, employers get <\/span><b>a lot more control over employee spending<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. For one thing, each card is linked to a specific employee, and each payment is assigned against a specific budget. <\/span><b>Spending limits<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can be set, and all expenses are processed and approved (or rejected) through in-house <\/span><b>expense management software<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This offers companies <\/span><b>the right balance between access to funds and financial control<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Business Credit Cards vs. Business Expense Cards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might be thinking that all this sounds very similar to what you get from company credit cards for employees. However, an expense card actually works in a very different way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some of the<\/span><b> key differences between business credit cards vs. business expense cards.<\/b><\/p>\n<h3><b>Issuing Entity<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business credit cards are issued by banks in your company\u2019s name. You can then offer them to certain employees to spend on allowable business expenses. Business expense cards, in turn, are issued by you directly to individual employees, and the cards are in their names. This makes <\/span><b>expense management much easier<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as each employee has their own expense card (instead of multiple employees sharing a departmental credit card, for example). So no need for a clunky expense form or for paying expenses through payroll!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Debt vs. Credit<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With a business credit card, employees build up a debt which you, as the employer, then need to repay to the bank. With an expense card, you <\/span><b>pre-load money onto a central platform<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that employees can then use to cover their allowable business expenses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Data Access<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With an external business credit card, the only way to monitor employee expenses is through digital or paper bank statements. With an internal expense card, data is linked to a central platform where you can <\/span><b>view expenses online in real-time<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> using a computer or smartphone application.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Expense Receipts<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When an employee uses a business credit card to pay for an expense, you then need to wait for them to provide you with the corresponding expense receipt or invoice before you can approve and allocate the expense. With an expense card, <\/span><b>receipts are scanned into an expenses app and automatically assigned against each individual expense<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Expense Limits<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of using a shared company credit card with an overall expense limit, you can <\/span><b>assign individual limits to employees based on their anticipated level of spending<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This makes it much easier to control individual expenses and ensure your expense policy is being adhered to.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-88089 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165913\/expense-receipts.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"903\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165913\/expense-receipts.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165913\/expense-receipts-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165913\/expense-receipts-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165913\/expense-receipts-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165913\/expense-receipts-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 903px) 100vw, 903px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><b>How Do Business Expense Cards Work?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve looked at some of the features involved in an expense card. Now let\u2019s take a look at how they work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the employer, you first need to <\/span><b>apply for an expense card account through an issuing entity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This might be the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/corporate-cards\"><b>Factorial Card<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for example. You then assign individual expense cards to each employee who needs one. Cards are in each employee\u2019s name and linked to individual profiles on a centralised platform.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve done that, you need to <\/span><b>distribute the business expense cards to all relevant employees and make sure they understand how they work<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s best to detail all this information in your expense policy so that everyone understands the process, in addition to guidelines on allowable expenses for employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step is to <\/span><b>top up each card with funds<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You can do this on an individual basis. That way, everyone has access to the funds they need for their anticipated expenses.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve done that, your employees can use their business expense cards when needed. To process a payment, they simply need to <\/span><b>register the expense on the expenses app alongside a photograph of the corresponding expense receipt<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Each expense is allocated to an individual employee and a specific team budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After an employee submits a payment request, you or their manager will be notified so that you can <\/span><b>approve or reject the expense<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If you approve the expense, then the payment will be processed immediately.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To help you control these expenses, you can <\/span><b>set limits for each expense card and activate and deactivate cards instantly<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You can also consult all information in real time through the dashboard and generate an <\/span><b>expense report<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Benefits of Using Business Expense Cards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some of the specific benefits of using business expense cards in your company.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Easy Access to Company Funds<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business expense cards <\/span><b>streamline the process of requesting approval to spend company money<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Instead of submitting a manual request and waiting for approval, employees can <\/span><b>submit expenses directly from their smartphones<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The corresponding manager can then access expense requests immediately to <\/span><b>approve or deny them<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is especially beneficial if you currently rely on departmental credit cards. For one thing, employees may have to wait for the person holding the credit card to return to the office before they can use it. Instead, <\/span><b>everyone has their own expense card with an allocated budget<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>More Control Over Expenses<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You and your finance managers get <\/span><b>more control over allowable business expenses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, especially compared to traditional company credit cards. And because every employee has their own card, it\u2019s much <\/span><b>easier to track individual expenses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Plus, you can establish<\/span><b> clear limits for each card<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> so that employees stick to your expense policy and don\u2019t go over budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Streamlined Reporting<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of reconciling each expense report with company credit card statements, you can <\/span><b>generate an expense report directly from an expenses app linked to the expense card<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. And because <\/span><b>expense<\/b> <b>receipts are automatically allocated against expenses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you also don\u2019t need to trawl through mountains of paper receipts when you create an expense report.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Access to Real-Time Data<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You get much <\/span><b>more transparency<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when you use business expense cards compared to credit cards and reimbursement claims. This is because you can <\/span><b>access all expense data at the click of a button<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through the expense card software. Your finance manager can also <\/span><b>monitor company spending in real-time and reconcile payments against expense categories and departmental budgets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> using clean and transparent data. This saves everyone involved valuable time and money. It also provides those who need it with useful insights into company spending.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-88090 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165954\/expense-report.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"843\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165954\/expense-report.jpg 1896w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165954\/expense-report-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165954\/expense-report-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165954\/expense-report-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07165954\/expense-report-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2><b>Using Factorial Cards for Your Business<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Factorial, we have launched <\/span><b>Factorial Cards <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as part of our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/expense-management-software\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">expense management software<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These are business expense cards that your workforce can use to <\/span><b>manage their own employee expenses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Whenever they encounter an expense, they can pay for it using their Factorial card and <\/span><b>the expense is automatically recorded in the expense app<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. A message is then sent to the administrator who can <\/span><b>approve or reject it at a glance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This makes the entire expense management process much simpler for everyone involved.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our <\/span><b>all-in-one expense card<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> offers you everything you need to <\/span><b>manage your company expenses in a much smarter and more time-efficient way<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You get the right balance of <\/span><b>security, flexibility and control<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> so that everyone in your company is happy. Plus, you can easily <\/span><b>adapt the cards to your specific business needs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> so that you can monitor your employee expenses in real-time and keep a firm grip on your budgets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also use the Factorial Card to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Automate your expense management processes and procedures<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Set limits for each individual card<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Activate and deactivate cards<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Temporarily freeze employee cards when someone is on leave<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make secure payments<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get instant notifications when an employee processes a payment.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plus, you can easily <\/span><b>integrate the Factorial card with your expense management software <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">solution to streamline your expense reporting processes (more on this later in the post).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s take a look at some of the specific features of the Factorial Card.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Virtual and Physical Business Expense Cards\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the Factorial card, you can <\/span><b>choose between physical or virtual business expense cards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, depending on the personal preferences of your employees. Some employees might prefer a traditional physical card. However, many others are likely to prefer a virtual expense card (especially employees from younger generations).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having the option to use a virtual expense card offers you and your employees a number of benefits. For one thing, <\/span><b>you can allocate funds directly to an employee\u2019s digital wallet<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That way they can <\/span><b>process expense payments directly from their smartphones<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> instead of using a traditional plastic card.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A virtual expense card also makes it <\/span><b>much easier to process online payments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> instead of manually entering card details each time an employee processes a payment. Plus, once you issue a virtual card to an employee, they can <\/span><b>see it instantly on their Factorial mobile app <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(instead of waiting until they are able to meet with you to collect a physical card).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you opt for physical or virtual cards, the process for activating them is simple:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Fund your account<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Create your funding account and receive an IBAN to perform top-ups.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Create your cards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Start creating cards for different purposes and set limits.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Automate expenses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Track all purchases and integrate them with Factorial Expenses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Save time! <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relax while we do the hard work for you with our optimised workflow.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And that\u2019s it!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Real-Time Expense Tracking<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another great feature of the Factorial Card is that you get access to real-time expense tracking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, <\/span><b>each time an employee processes an expense, you receive an instant notification<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This helps you monitor how much your employees and departments are spending. You can then <\/span><b>approve or deny payments in seconds<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, helping you maintain control over your allowable business expenses. You can also achieve more control by <\/span><b>setting budgets and modifying spending limits<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> so that there is no risk of anyone accidentally or intentionally overspending.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Employees get a number of benefits too<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Using their own version of the expense app, they can <\/span><b>keep track of their own expenses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and see <\/span><b>if and why an expense has been approved or rejected<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Plus, because all payments come from an allocated fund, employees don\u2019t incur any <\/span><b>out-of-pocket expenses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or have to <\/span><b>file manual expense claims<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the end of each month. That means no need to keep a fiddly and time-consuming expense log or to manually keep track of expense reimbursements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, although <\/span><b>Factorial\u2019s expense management software<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> already provides you with a wealth of valuable expense reports, with Factorial Cards, you get an <\/span><b>extra level of business insights<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. For example, you can <\/span><b>assign expenses to specific projects <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>analyse which projects are creating the most value for your business<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Customisable Payment Methods for Business Expense Cards<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Factorial Cards, you can <\/span><b>customise payment methods in line with your preferences and requirements<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. After all, it\u2019s your card, so why shouldn\u2019t you decide?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees can also <\/span><b>select any currency<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when they submit an expense, which is <\/span><b>highly valuable for employees who need to travel abroad on business trips<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The currency they select will then be visible on all <\/span><b>expense tables, dashboards, and expense reports<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for your convenience. This is much easier than juggling fluctuating exchange rates for travel expense reimbursement claims.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/get-started\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-88948 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/21135936\/start-free-trial.jpg\" alt=\"start-free-trial\" width=\"845\" height=\"289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/21135936\/start-free-trial.jpg 900w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/21135936\/start-free-trial-300x103.jpg 300w, https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/21135936\/start-free-trial-768x263.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 845px) 100vw, 845px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>Automate Expense Management with Factorial<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s finish by taking a look at how you can integrate Factorial Cards with our <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">expense management software tool<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expense management software is used by <\/span><b>employees to manage and report their expenses, as well as file expense reports and reimbursement requests<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Managers can review requests in one place and accept or deny them as necessary. The right solution <\/span><b>streamlines the process<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as employees upload receipts directly and managers can easily review them in their own time. This helps businesses <\/span><b>keep on top of their expenses whilst reducing the time spent processing paperwork<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It also helps to ensure <\/span><b>compliance with HMRC rules.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With <\/span><b>Factorial Expenses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you get the benefit of efficient expense management with all the added features of Factorial. Literally, all in one. This is because <\/span><b>our expense management software is included in our general HR software<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. With our<\/span> <b>time and expense tracking<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> solution, employees can automatically upload their expenses and receipts and classify expenses according to categories. Managers can then review expense reports in their own time and accept or deny expense reimbursement requests. Plus, you can generate detailed expense reports to gain valuable insight into where your company&#8217;s money is being spent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the best part is, you can <\/span><b>easily integrate our Factorial Cards with our expense management software<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This helps you gain added visibility over your employee expenses and reduces the time you spend compiling expense reports and processing expense reimbursements manually through payroll. This saves you resources, helps you cut costs, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">boosts your overall productivity<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That way, you can <\/span><b>refocus your efforts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on more strategic tasks that help you <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/integrated-software\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">take your business to the next level<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can find out more about Factorial\u2019s business expense cards and our expense management software here:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Expense Management to Help you Save \ud83d\udcb0 Factorial Expenses \ud83d\udcb3\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/saaw6WfI8w0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to a recent study, UK workers are out-of-pocket by \u00a351.2 billion in expenses every year. A whopping 43% claim they\u2019ve been unable to pay personal bills due to late expense reimbursement from their employers. Aside from the financial stress that this puts on employees, managing an expense log and expense reimbursement process also creates<a href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/\" class=\"read-more\"> [&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":88092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-finance"],"acf":{"topics":"finance-expenses"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.5 (Yoast SEO v21.9.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Benefits of Business Expense Cards [+ Free Template]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how business expense cards and expense management software could streamline your processes. Download a free expense form template.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Benefits of Business Expense Cards [+ Free Expense Form Template]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover how business expense cards and expense management software could streamline your processes. Download a free expense form template.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Factorial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Factorial\/100064908455810\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-07T15:21:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-26T15:22:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/07170748\/business-expense-cards.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emma Baigey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@factorialapp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@factorialapp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emma Baigey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emma Baigey\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/60f87cc8ee5125540515f3d7936d39b4\"},\"headline\":\"The Benefits of Business Expense Cards [+ Free Expense Form Template]\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-07T15:21:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-26T15:22:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/\"},\"wordCount\":2374,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Legal &amp; Finance\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/business-expense-cards-benefits\/\",\"name\":\"The Benefits of Business Expense Cards [+ Free Template]\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/factorialhr.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-07T15:21:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-26T15:22:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"Discover how business expense cards and expense management software could streamline your processes. 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