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THE PIVOTMINUTE

Sharing thoughts, ideas, perspectives, and the occasional opinion for those tracking enterprise-level financial solutions.

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Virtual Credit Cards – When you know, you know!

Not Everyone Knows About Virtual Cards

A virtual card functions like a traditional credit card but without a physical form.  It includes a card number, expiration date, and security code, enabling users to make online purchases or in-store purchases with merchants that accept tap-to-pay.

The key distinction is the absence of physical production and distribution costs, allowing issuers to generate unlimited card numbers. For example, with a 16-digit, Mastercard or Visa account number there can be over a quadrillion unique account numbers.

Intended Use is the Game Changer

Intended use is the ability to issue unlimited card numbers enables virtual cards to be tailored for specific purposes. Each card can be created for an intended use. Here are some examples:

  • A business traveler uses a virtual card for expenses on an upcoming trip.
  • A construction manager uses a virtual card for materials or permits for a project.
  • A designer uses a virtual card to pay for a monthly subscription to a design prototyping tool.

This intended use capability is what makes virtual cards a game-changer for operational purchasing.

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VIRTUAL CC SUPER Power ?
iNTENDED USE!

 

How Intended Use Transforms Operational Purchases

Virtual cards are transforming operational purchasing by combining control, security, and trust.
In this message, I’ll explain how their intended use capability drives this revolution.

Tailoring Virtual Cards for Specific Purposes
Intended use gives virtual cards the unique ability to be tailored for specific purposes, creating valuable opportunities for businesses.

Purchase Controls per Virtual Card
One key benefit is the ability to apply purchase controls to each virtual card. By defining a card’s intended use, businesses can make it comply with specific controls.

Powerful Purchase Controls
Here are the key controls virtual cards offer:

  • Spending limits: Set maximum amounts for purchases.
  • Effective date ranges: Specify when purchases can be made.
  • Merchant restrictions: Limit purchases to specific merchants or categories.
  • Single-use or multi-use: Choose whether the card can be used once or multiple times.

Why This Matters
These controls offer critical benefits for businesses:

  • Stronger budget control: Spending limits and date ranges help ensure purchases stay within budget.
  • Reduced fraud risk: Merchant controls prevent unauthorized purchases, and restricting cards to one-time use eliminates fraud for single-purchase purposes.

Trust Expands the Number and Scope of Purposes
The combination of stronger budget control and reduced fraud risk enables businesses to confidently trust individuals to make operational purchases. This trust forms the foundation of the revolutionary impact virtual cards have on operational purchasing. By expanding the number and scope of purchases that can be delegated, virtual cards help organizations operate more efficiently, securely, and effectively.

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Disrupt operational purchasing with virtual credit cards

Virtual Cards: The Future of Operational Purchasing

Virtual cards—digital versions of physical credit cards—are transforming operational purchasing by combining efficiency with enhanced security.  This innovative approach is poised to revolutionize how organizations handle purchasing.

As a recognized thought leader in virtual cards, I am reaching out to share insights on how virtual cards work and their potential benefits. Through a series of messages, I will introduce the concept of virtual cards and provide real-world examples of their use in operational purchasing, demonstrating their transformative impact.

What is Operational Purchasing?

Operational purchasing refers to the processes where individuals, both within and outside your organization, purchase goods or services essential to completing their work.  Examples include covering the expenses involved in an upcoming business trip, purchasing construction materials for a job or covering necessary permits or fees for cell tower repairs.

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CREDIT CARD RECONCILATION PROCESS = YIKES!

SAP Concur Edition – Got Concur Solutions On Deck or Thinking About It? Read On!

Say Hello to Carolyn Conroy at Vantage Partners

Carolyn, the Finance Manager at Vantage Partners, used to spend 40+ hours each month drowning in a sea of credit card statements, expense reports, and endless follow-ups with cardholders who were… a little too “creative” with their expense categorization.

The Easy Part.

Most employees had company-paid cards and added transactions to their Concur expense reports … eventually.

The Hard Part?

Reconciling those statements—think “finance version of a treasure hunt,” but with less gold and more receipts.

Fast Forward to Today: The New Easy Part?

Credit card reconciliation is fully automated! Now Carolyn’s got a whole week back in her month. So, she’s not just balancing the books—she’s got time to balance her sanity too!

Hear Carolyn’s Story  Firsthand — You don’t want to miss this >>>

 

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OLD CONTENT

Target Process 1st; People 2nd.

Why?

Because process is the foundation; the toolset that employees use to accomplish their tasks. If the tools don’t change then there’s not much that can be improved beyond doing the same thing faster – including the mistakes. Trust us. Here’s why >>>

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Rock. Paper. Scissors.
Billing Expenses Back is No Game.

If you bill back project-related expenses to your clients then you know a thing or two about profitability. Profitability starts after you bill back the costs of doing business. Travel, meals, materials. Every cent.

Wait. That’s not true.

Profitability starts after you receive payment for the costs of doing business. And a lot can happen along the way to impact profitability. See the secret to win at Roshambo here >>>  

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Make Automation
Your Competitive Advantage.

Don’t add automation for the sake of it. Use it first where it best serves your company strategy then expand from there. More on the subject here >>>

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Need More Science and Less Art
for Project Expense Billing?

You’re Not Alone.

Especially in the services industries.

Professional services of all types count this as one of their most critical business processes.
billing back most – if not all – project expenses to clients.

It’s a matter of profitability. The money is spent, billing for expenses is part of the contract,
and the client expects to see the expenses as part of their invoice. Getting that backup documentation, aka the billing statement, out to the client quickly with the complete details required is all too often a manual process – for everyone. Scientists please read on! >>> 

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Are Your Clients Paying 100%
of Project Expenses?
Are You Sure?

Professional services organizations of all kinds bill back most – if not all – project-related expense to their clients. The project ends and the client receives an invoice with services hours and fees plus the billable expenses with the required backup documentation.

The goal is that project-related expenses are a wash. The money gets spent in advance and during the project then everything settles-up at the end. Right?

Surprise. Surprise.  Clients often owe 35 percent or even more!  Here’s why >>> 

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3 Signs You’re Ready
to Upgrade
Project Expense Management.

1       Hindsight for Project Spend Visibility isn’t Cutting It.

2       Processing Expenses within Policy Takes Just as Long as Exceptions.

3       And click to see number three! >>> 

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Re-engineering a Process?
Put Your Customers First.

Whether looking to improve discrete processes or optimize entire workflows, it’s natural to focus internally. Of course, that’s a critical part of the analysis but consider switching up your starting point and look first at improving your customers’ experience. How can you make their lives better? Ultimately this leads you back into business applications that support accounting, communications, data management, and others.

Don’t do their thinking for them. >>> 

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Build vs Buy.
Core Competency vs Not.

Most organizations have dedicated IT groups these days and it’s tempting to want to leverage their skills to develop applications that the organization needs for standard business processes. Think expense and project management, marketing automation, and customer relationship management (CRM) to name a few.

It’s all just data connected to business rules and presented over the web – right?

Right.

It’s not if your team is qualified to do the work. They are. Here are the questions you should be asking >>> 

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Forgiveness.
Permission.
Collaboration.

The Evolution of Project Expense Cost Control and True Profitability

Managing spend related to client projects and travel expenses has many moving parts
and controlling costs is key to profitability.

The first line of defense is an expense policy but how and when it’s enforced has a big impact.

Ideally the path to cost management is checks and balances throughout the process at points
where they have the best chance of improving the bottom line. However, many organizations administer policies at a single point in the workflow. This can result in administrative costs and time which negatively affects profitability.

The Forgiveness and Permission approaches to spend control are examples of the
single point enforcement model. >>>

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Mobile Apps Increase Productivity. Really.

It’s no surprise that we prefer using our smart devices whenever possible. The apps designed for shopping, banking, and social media are easy-to-learn, intuitive, and update while we’re sleeping.

But you may be surprised that mobile apps are fast becoming the most productive method to manage business processes as well. They are – and for all the same reasons that our ‘go to’ for just about everything is the smart phone.

Happy shopping! >>> 

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Expense Reporting vs
Expense Management

The improvements of automation over manual paper-based methods can be significant but to get the most benefit, you must look for the fine print. Where is that?  Follow your expense report data to find out >>>

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Automation Should Not Eliminate
Manual Steps. Yes, You Heard Right.

 

Good automation does not eliminate 100 percent of the manual processes, but it does identify 100 percent of the problems, revealing when manual steps are required. Seriously! >>>

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Don’t Stop at Fair.
Shoot for Generous.

Ever find yourself thinking what you’ve done is “enough”? 

Don’t miss opportunities to distinguish yourself! >>>

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CFO? 5 Trends to Watch!

How analytics, robotics, next-gen cloud computing, cybersecurity, and evolving budget tools will shape tomorrow’s organizations.

CFOs are tasked with ensuring that the accounting basics, such as processing payments and reconciling accounts, are handled without a hitch. But simply having the bare minimum in terms of financial infrastructure won’t get an organization, or a career, very far. Here’s how the job of CFO is changing >>>

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Trend 1 of 5

Predictive analytics and data will continue to drive business decisions with more precision and insight than ever before.

Less Than Perfect Cash Flow?
One Adjustment. Big Results.

Here is one change that could improve cash flow by weeks if not months.

Organizations that bill back expenses to clients can have large amounts of out-of-pocket cash sitting in limbo waiting for reimbursement. The reason why? >>> 

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Upside Down on Legacy Systems?
Think Overall ROI.

Many companies have some type of older application that performs a mission-critical function.

You know the one.

  • Customized over time to serve particular needs
  • Nightmare when it’s time to connect to other systems
  • And, an expensive bottleneck as new systems and processes are brought online

On the fence about replacing an older application, consider the incremental benefits of the update combined with your other modern systems? This might be the justification you need >>> 

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Don’t Be Afraid to Fix It.

Companies that bill-back expenses to their customers often have processes in place that have adapted over time. The longer the processes have been around, the more difficult it is to implement a change – both culturally and technically.

Is it worth it?  Here are some considerations to help you decide >>> 

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DEO. It’s a Thing.
Bill Back for Project Expenses.

When it comes to cash flow, tracking Days Sales Outstanding and Days Payables Outstanding are well known calculations.  The shorter the better.

Companies that bill back expenses to their clients have another important measurement.

Days Expenses Outstanding. The clock starts ticking here >>>

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Did I say …

“Clock”?

I meant …

“Calendar”.

SaaS Expands CRM Value …
here’s how

CRM plays an important role in a company’s overall financial ecosystem. Activities tracked here are critical to measure the overall spend picture. SaaS for Expense Reporting and Invoice Management are just a couple of areas to consider during your analysis when choosing a new CRM system. SaaS applications (working together) can provide great visibility into the company by sharing and leveraging the data and information captured during these activities. Some checks and balances as you research >>> 

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The  Tail  Wagging  the  Dog

Billing back project expenses to clients often feels a bit like this. 

Missed expenses are a direct hit to profitability so companies go to great lengths to track every dollar spent, often retrofitting processes that take place earlier in the workflow to serve the master. Sorry.
Dog humor.  You could be upside down if it costs more to track the expense than its’ amount >>>

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Meet Travis

Official Mascot for Pivot Payables