How modern spend management with fleet cards can keep your team moving By Sarah Murphy As a finance or operations manager, you’re no stranger to the complexities of managing travel and expense (T&E) for your fleet. From global reimbursement and compliance to mileage compensation, the challenges can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, there’s a solution that can streamline your processes and alleviate these pains in the you-know-what: integrated spend management with virtual fleet cards. Here are some of the biggest challenges faced by fleet managers who are still stuck using traditional T&E solutions. Global reimbursement and compliance Navigating the intricate maze of regulatory requirements across different countries can be a daunting task. Ensuring compliance while maintaining efficiency is a constant struggle. Mileage compensation Calculating mileage reimbursement accurately and ensuring compliance with local regulation is time-consuming and error-prone. Procurement integration Coordinating payments with POs in your procurement system can be cumbersome, leading to delays and potential human error. Limited card functionality Traditional fuel cards often fall short when it comes to covering expenses beyond fuel, such as maintenance, repairs and tolls. Gas isn’t the only expense your dedicated fleet drivers encounter. Integrated fleet cards can fast-track payments and ensure compliance Centralized control and global visibility With integrated spend management, you get a comprehensive overview of your fleet’s T&E expenses from a single platform. This enables you to enforce different policies for different entities, track spending patterns, and quickly and seamlessly issue reimbursements in local currencies. Automated mileage compensation Virtual fleet cards automate tracking mileage expenses based on card transactions, simplifying the reimbursement process and ensuring compliance with state or federal requirements. By automating mileage compensation, you’ll reduce the risk of errors and the manual effort from your fleet and finance team. Seamless procurement integration Integrated spend management solutions seamlessly connect with your procurement system, ensuring that all T&E expenses are aligned with your company’s purchasing policies. This helps to improve visibility, control costs, and mitigate risks. For example, Mesh’s ProcurePay solution connects POs to cards, automatically generating pre-coded, policy-compliant virtual cards to your drivers. Versatile card functionality Basic fuel cards won’t cut it anymore. Virtual fleet cards offer a broader range of acceptance, allowing you to pay for fuel, maintenance, repairs, tolls, emergency lodging and other fleet-related expenses. This eliminates the need for multiple cards and simplifies the payment process, while still giving you visibility and control into all of your fleet’s spending. The future of T&E for fleets By adopting integrated spend management with virtual fleet cards, you can significantly reduce the administrative burden associated with T&E management. These solutions offer enhanced control, efficiency, and compliance, allowing you to focus on driving your fleet’s performance. Ready to simplify your T&E management? Contact our experts today to learn how Mesh’s integrated spend management with virtual fleet cards can transform your team’s operations. Get the latest blogs from Mesh by subscribing to our newsletter Manage Your Payments With Full Control & Visibility Get Started Sarah Murphy Sarah is a Content Manager for Mesh Payments. Before working in marketing, she completed her Master of Journalism degree at Toronto Metropolitan University (f.k.a. Ryerson University) and worked as an arts journalist in Toronto. She was a content writer for tech companies in the retail and workforce management sectors before joining Mesh in 2022.
