Having a business credit card can be a good thing for you and your employees.
With a business credit card you’ll be able to cover expenses without having to carry large amounts of cash or a business checkbook – and you’ll have easy online access to your spending history and other reports offered by your card issuer.
Another advantage cards can offer is the ability to add employees as authorized users. As an authorized user, they’ll get their own card and be able to pay expenses or bills relating to your business and their job duties - and you’ll be able to manage and monitor those cards online.
When looking for a business credit card, be sure to compare card features to find one that best suits your needs.
Look for cards with rewards, such as discounts or bonuses. Consider choosing a card with benefits based on your business needs, such as airline miles if you and your staff do a lot of traveling.
You might even want to consider more than one type of card in order to maximize the benefits of each – such as one that offers points for travel and another that provides rebates on fuel purchases.
If you elect to set up authorized users on your account, look for offers that allow selected employees to have a card issued under their names. But before doing this, be sure you have a written policy about what the cards can and can’t be used for and be sure you’re comfortable with employees using the cards, since you’ll be the one responsible for paying the card bill each month for all users.
Also be sure to set custom spending limits for each employee who gets a card, and take advantage of available text and email alerts to help you monitor spending. You should also utilize any reporting features so you can use that information for business budgeting purposes, since you’ll be seeing what is being spent and when.
Talk with your financial institution about card offers or do your research online in order to find the card or cards that will best meet your needs. Also, make sure to find out what you’ll need when adding an employee as an authorized user, such as their name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and any other required information.
Having cards for you and your employees could be just the tracking tool you’re looking for.
EXPLORE: Credit Cards at BAC Community Bank