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Six Ways to Control Spending with a Credit Card for Small Business

How do you use a credit card? Most businesses make purchases or pay operating expenses. However, a credit card for small businesses offers more than just a convenient way to pay for goods and services. When business owners use credit cards, they can also reduce time spent on paperwork.


Streamline financial processes, enhance accountability and receive valuable rewards.

Credit cards are an efficient means to consolidate expenses, track spending, and manage cash flow. They also provide tools to establish spending limits, monitor employee purchases and gain insights into expenditures. Here’s how to use credit cards to control your business spending.

  1. Track company expenses

    When consumers want to save money, financial experts recommend monitoring current spending, even small treats like cups of coffee and candy bars. The same principle holds true for tracking company expenses. Knowing exactly how much your business spends on supplies, software, building and equipment maintenance and other expenses reveals potential problems before they lead to a cash flow crunch.

    In addition to making online payments, many credit cards for small businesses enable users to conveniently review transaction details, receive email alerts and e-statements. You can also review your account terms and conditions for discounts and other ways to save money. You might discover it’s time to switch to a card issuer with lower interest rates and fees or more flexibility.

  2. Set and manage your budget

    The more details you have, the easier it is to establish a budget. Tracking expenses paid with your small business credit card provides greater transparency into spending and cash flow. You’ll be able to see which categories are consistently over budget at-a-glance. Then, you can decide whether to shift priorities and spending to other areas and be better prepared when setting your next budget.
Tracking expenses paid with your small business credit card provides greater transparency into spending and cash flow.

  1. Control employee spending

    Did you know you can provide cards to multiple employees on a single small business credit card account? Designating these employees as “authorized users” eliminates the time required to approve individual business-related expenses and reports, as well as the need to disburse petty cash and checks.

    Establish a company policy that assigns individual spending and transaction limits, as well as authorized merchants and spending categories. These features will make it easier to monitor accounts and control spending.

    Small business credit cards with authorized users are especially convenient for employees who travel often. There’s no need for them to spend money out of pocket or wait to be paid. Plus, you won’t need to manage individual expense reports.

  2. Separate business and personal expenses

    You can simplify the accounting process and ensure clear financial records when you separate personal and business expenses. This is especially important when filing small business taxes, helping to avoid audits and fines.

  3. Cover business emergencies

    Preset spending limits and authorization streamline the procurement process, which is ideal when emergencies occur. For example, an employee may be driving a company car that needs a tire replaced or a critical piece of office equipment could break down. Rather than wait for a supervisor’s approval and purchase order, staff can use the small business credit card to make an instant payment.

  4. Save money with rewards

    In addition to simplifying payments, a credit card usually features business perks, depending on the type of card you select. Most offer points to use for airline tickets, hotel rooms, restaurant dining and gasoline. You can also gift these points to high-performance employees to thank them for their hard work. No matter how you choose to use your rewards, they’ll eliminate the need to take cash from the budget.

Credit cards for small businesses help better control spending. You’ll also spend less time on paperwork when employees make purchases or travel. Some cards also come with attractive rewards that help reduce operating costs.

Synovus can help you choose the right card for your business. If you’d like more information, call 1-888-SYNOVUS (1-888-796-6887) or stop by one of our local branches.

Important Disclosure Information

This content is general in nature and does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, financial or investment advice. You are encouraged to consult with competent legal, tax, accounting, financial or investment professionals based on your specific circumstances. We do not make any warranties as to accuracy or completeness of this information, do not endorse any third-party companies, products, or services described here, and take no liability for your use of this information. Diversification does not ensure against loss.