Expenditure management in fashion wholesaling

What is the payment solution for employees in the fashion industry?

The well-attended fashion trade event Modefabriek in the Amsterdam RAI shows yet again that wholesale & retail is alive and well. SimpledCard understands that every industry has its own challenges in expense management and employee claims. Read here how to properly set up expense management in fashion.

High season for declarations in fashion industry

The finance department of a fashion wholesaler has specific challenges in terms of expense management and spending by employees. Throughout the year, expenses are incurred by numerous employees at home and abroad.
In the high season, it is all hands on deck to prevent this from turning into administrative chaos.

Expenditure at departmental level

To cover expenses of employees in fashion, a combination of corporate credit cards, debit cards and cash is used at the departmental level in this industry.
Cash is used when small expenses need to be made on location. Or when there are places where credit cards or anonymous business debit cards are not always accepted. Think of the (international) fairs, shoots and other fashion productions on location that the marketing department organises.

Buyers and sales on the road

Buyers, designers and stylists take corporate credit cards and cash and travel the world, partly for inspiration and to buy fabrics & samples, but also to visit production countries.
Then there are the (international) sales staff who visit customers, prospects and agents or offices abroad. All book airline tickets, rental cars and hotels. Finally, there are always debit cards, credit cards and cash in the office for such things as office supplies and social media advertising.

If the cash proves insufficient, the employee advances it. After completing a whole administrative package, the money is returned to his or her account.

Expenditure management in vogue: fraud lurking

At the end of the month, it is quite a puzzle for the finance department to understand credit card transactions, sort out receipts and enter them manually. It also takes a lot of time for employees to collect receipts and fill in forms.
Credit cards are allocated to a handful of people because of the hassle involved in purchasing them. However, the reality is that PIN-enabled credit cards are lent among themselves and the petty cash does not always add up at the end of the month.
There is a lack of grip and overview and fraud is lurking. Expenditure management thus becomes a challenge every month.

Advance payment is no longer necessary

With SimpledCard, a company issues its own bank-independent debit and credit cards and assigns them to employees or teams. The prepaid cards have global coverage and are accepted internationally. Advance payments are no longer necessary.
The finance department then determines the spending limit per employee, team, department or branch. For this purpose, SimpledCard's Card Management System is used. Balances on the cards can be replenished manually or periodically. Should an employee run out of money while abroad because certain expenses exceed the card balance, the finance manager can increase the card balance in real time at the touch of a button.

Clear cost centres and project numbers

After a transaction, the cardholder gets a notification to link the receipt to the transaction using the photo function in the app and enter a cost centre or project number.
All transactions and receipts are automatically linked and can be viewed online by both the cardholder and the administrator. The finance department can check transactions and reject or approve them if required. This solves the administrative hassle and allows all departments to focus again on what they do best.
The finance manager is ultimately left with more time to deal with complex developments within the company.
Curious about what SimpledCard can do for your business?
Contact one of our experts and they will help you implement the right way of managing expenses for fashion.