Don’t Hand Out Business Credit Cards Like Candy!

It should go without saying that if your company or organization issues business credit/charge cards to employees, cards should be limited to those responsible individuals with an essential business need.

The company or organization should provide clear direction and guidance on proper use of company-issued business credit/charge cards which may include: types of acceptable charges/expenditures (this may vary by department/business function), pre-approval requirements, spending or per transaction limits (with or without prior approval), spend justifications and required backup (ex: receipts), monthly reconciliation process/procedure, chargebacks (if charges are billable back to clients), monthly billing and reimbursement process (if business does not receive consolidated statements), and so forth. The guidance may vary from business to business.

It's important for monthly statements and charges to not only be thoroughly reconciled by the cardholder but carefully reviewed by finance and management/leadership to ensure charges are properly coded/classified, consistent with business requirements, questionable charges and potential issues are proactively flagged/addressed, and recurring charges (ex: subscriptions) are periodically evaluated to determine if they are still necessary and aligned with current business needs.

It’s good practice to remind employee cardholders that business credit/charge cards are intended for legitimate business purposes only and should not be co-mingled or improperly used for personal expenses.