Many businesses trust in their fleet of vehicles to make sure their operations run smoothly. This makes keeping on top of fuel expenses vital. A business fuel card can turn that challenge into a breeze. Whether it’s saving a company money or providing data for future planning, this simple solution can stabilise a business from the ground up.
Business fuel cards work in a similar way to credit cards, but they’re also different in many ways. Providers can tailor them to a specific company – and even to individuals within that company if their job roles differ. Overall, they can help a business streamline their expenses, which has a positive knock-on effect across the whole of their operations.
Here are just some of the benefits
Doing something good for the environment might not be top of every businesses to-do list, but it’s becoming more important as each year passes. In fact, many potential employees look at a companies’ eco credentials before decided where they would choose to work. A lot of providers of business fuel cards partner with stations that promote greener fuels. It’s one way to show your company is pulling in the right direction when it comes to your carbon footprint.
There are other rewards too. Some providers of business fuel cards work closely with their retailer partners to bring you discounts and loyalty rewards, giving you and your employees added perks. As well as providing a morale boost, these added bonuses can save your company money too.
The old-school method of paying for fuel involves employees paying out of their own pocket, collecting receipts and then expensing everything – sometimes weeks or even months after the initial payments were made. This makes it near-impossible to analyse data, react and plan for future expenses. And if a company is on the back foot for something this fundamental, the knock-on effect on the company’s budget can be huge. Whereas, companies who use business fuel cards can track their fuel expenses in real-time, making it possible to anticipate how much budget they’ll need to put aside in the coming months – and therefore what they can afford in other parts of the business.
Another benefit of business fuel cards is how secure they are compared to paying by cash. The cards come with security features like PIN protection, driver ID and live transaction alerts. All this helps make sure only the cardholders are using them – and makes sure you know when they’ve fallen into the wrong hands. If a card is stolen, you can put a stop on it immediately and discount any data from your budget planning. Whereas, if cash is stolen there’s a chance you may never get it back.
Most business fuel cards can be personalised to set certain spending limits. This level of personalisation can go all the way down to individual employees, some of whom need higher limits than others depending on the nature of how much they travel. A good example would be a sales rep whose job requires them to travel to different suppliers and clients. Whereas an employee who is predominately based at the office headquarters may only need a small fuel allowance for ad hoc circumstances. Whatever limit each employee is working to, having a business fuel card will help them stay on budget – and therefore helps you keep the overall company budget in check.
A final major benefit of business fuel cards is how much time they save a company. As mentioned previously, the traditional method of collecting receipts is not only time-consuming for drivers, but organising them and uploading them is time-consuming for the admin and analyst teams too. This is especially the case for companies with a large fleet of drivers and vehicles. Business fuel cards come with reporting tools that bring together all the transactions onto one system with in-depth statements, making it simpler to keep tabs on spending and analyse patterns. This helps with planning and budgeting. As an added benefit many of the business fuel card programmes can integrate with your existing systems, so you add another string to your bow instead of a whole new bit of software for your employees to learn.
Finally, a simple tech solution
If you don’t already use business fuel cards, it might be worth considering. They’re a simple way to streamline your fuel expenses and make your company more sustainable across the board.
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