{"id":5069,"date":"2021-06-09T16:27:45","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T10:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/open.money\/blog\/?p=5069"},"modified":"2023-07-05T13:09:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T07:39:39","slug":"manage-offline-expenses-with-prepaid-expense-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/open.money\/blog\/manage-offline-expenses-with-prepaid-expense-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Prepaid expense cards – A guide on managing your offline business expenses"},"content":{"rendered":"Prepaid expense cards are still predominantly used by most businesses despite online payments and transactions like UPI<\/a> soaring in this era of digitization.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWhy, you ask? While online payments have their place, <\/span>offline expenses and transactions are still prevalent and widely used by businesses simply because they cannot be done away with as of now.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIndustries with the majority of their workforce offline, like hyperlocal delivery, logistics, transportation, travel, food and beverage, retail sales, e-commerce businesses, and small businesses are still relying on prepaid expense cards for managing their offline expenses on a daily basis.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWith the onset of the global pandemic<\/a>, the offline industry is in need of constant revamps, adjustments and innovations, now more than ever.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nBut, before we dive deeper into what these innovations can be and how prepaid expense cards can be the frontrunner for these changes, let\u2019s understand the basics first.<\/span>\r\n

What are offline expenses?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\r\nOffline expenses<\/a> are transactions that you make offline like cash or physical cards like Debit or Credit cards.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThese offline expenses would vary right from procurement of raw materials, supplies, produce, vendor expenses, transportation expenses, travel expenses to miscellaneous expenses.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

What are the current challenges for offline expenses?<\/b><\/h2>\r\nManaging these ever-increasing and varied expenses can get difficult and challenging. Manually executing every single expense\u00a0 & reconciling them is a daunting task, to say the least. Not to mention, it can take up a lot of time as well.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSo, what can be the solution?\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAnswer: Prepaid expense cards.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPrepaid expense cards, or commonly known as corporate expense cards, help in simplifying expenses. <\/span>Yet, a majority of businesses do not know what they are and how they can be leveraged.<\/span>\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s paint a picture for you to understand better how and why expense cards are essential in managing finances better for your business.<\/span>\r\n\r\nImagine this-<\/span>\r\n\r\nYou\u2019re a manager whose team is on the go and you are also responsible for deciding the budget for your team.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nNow, you have an additional list of tasks that you have to manually do to keep these expenses in check like –\u00a0<\/span>\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Approve expenses when requests come<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Approve reimbursements claims<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Help accountant\/ finance teams by matching up receipts with expenses made<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nOr let\u2019s say –<\/span>\r\n\r\nYou\u2019re an employee who needs to claim official expenses. You\u2019re on the go, traveling or on the field, getting stuff done, and when you get back instead of celebrating your closed deals,<\/span>\r\n\r\nyou sit and worry about the thousand receipts you have to stock and also about not losing these receipts for your claims and reimbursements.<\/span>\r\n\r\nYou pay from your pocket, keep track of where you\u2019re spending it and along with that, you need to have the receipts to claim for your reimbursements.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nTo top it all, imagine having to repeat this process every thirty days. The process is a nightmare, to say the least for every manager who wants to stay on top of his team\u2019s expenses and every employee who wants to not stuff his receipts while on the go.<\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n\r\nThis is where prepaid expense cards or corporate expense cards come in. They simplify the whole process and reduce manual dependency and labour.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBut first, let\u2019s answer the most obvious question.<\/span>\r\n

    What is a prepaid expense card?<\/b><\/h2>\r\n\"Prepaid\r\n\r\nA prepaid expense card<\/a> or a corporate expense card is a <\/span>card for offline expenses<\/span> which is preloaded with a fixed amount and can be swiped at multiple places, countless times until the limit gets exhausted.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIt looks the same way as a physical debit or a credit card but eliminates and reduces the workload that comes with it. <\/span>These cards help in keeping a tab on cash payments<\/a> and all offline transactions.<\/span>\r\n

    Why should a business have an expense card?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\r\nIf you\u2019re still wondering why your business should have an expense card, here\u2019s why –\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nEvery growing business, big or small, has multiple expenses to deal with.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor every growing business, while the focus is on expanding and getting work done, it usually gets derailed to the nitty-gritty of how one can manage expenses and business better.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nPrepaid expense cards not only save you from all the hassle of managing business expenses but also help you in saving cost and time.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

    Prepaid expense cards- the smartest way to manage your offline business expenses<\/b><\/h2>\r\nLet me take you through what could have been different in the above scenario by using an expense card.<\/span>\r\n\r\nYou, the manager, preload an allocated amount in the card and distribute it within the team. Depending on the overall budget, and the team you set spending limits and authorize and approve access for your team.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe team is on the go and can now swipe the card as and when required.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBy having these prepaid expense cards your team doesn’t have to pay a single penny out of their pocket nor stock up receipts and stuff it in their wallets or purses.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nOnce your team swipes the card, they are notified of it on WhatsApp with <\/span>a message which now pops up asking for the receipt.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThey take a screenshot of the receipt and upload it, for proof of the expense.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n