Travel and Expense
Corporate cards were supposed to make life easier. So why do finance teams still struggle with managing card expenses?
For years, corporate cards have been positioned as a simple solution: give employees the ability for faster spend. No reimbursements. Less friction for employees. And deal with the paperwork and expense reporting later.
But for many finance teams, both the set up of the cards and the “later” have become the problem.
A different reality has been unfolding—one defined by manual paper-based processes, delayed visibility, and a growing administrative burden that hasn’t kept pace with how agile businesses operate.
In many organisations, the internal questions being asked about corporate cards are common ones:
- Who’s spending what on their card and why?
- Is it within policy?
- Where are the receipts?
- Where is the synch between our card program and our expense process?
- And why does month-end still feel like it’s dominated by reconciliation and rework?
For some businesses, the problem starts well before corporate cards enter the picture.
At Higgins Coatings, the expense process itself was the bottleneck.
“Our need for an expense management system was driven by the fact that we had a paper-based system at that point in time. Employees were filling out Excel spreadsheets, printing them off and stapling a whole bunch of receipts to the back, which would then be manually signed off and then forwarded to the finance team to check and process. It was a manual process that required a lot of double checking” said CFO James Iliomanis.
Moving to Concur Expense was the first step toward fixing that.
“We could see the improved efficiencies Concur Expense would bring were going to override any additional costs” James said.
From Fragmented to Connected
For Higgins – the next shift came when Higgins were introduced to Archa, an Australian-based corporate card provider who were able to issue instant virtual cards and premium cards with inbuilt spend controls, full synched intregration into the Concur expense system and the ability to audit 100% of transactions.
The difference wasn’t just incremental—it changed how both employees and finance interacted with spend.
“With Archa, we can see it all and we can also change card limits” said James.
“The guys have a lot more visibility on their spending and on a real-time basis too. It makes life easier for everybody.”
That idea— data synch and visibility without admin burden—comes up repeatedly across businesses.
A pattern emerging across finance teams
A similar story played out at another Australian business, CDK Stone.
After selecting Concur Expense, they were forced to revisit their card program when a provider exited the market.
It created an unexpected opportunity to rethink how everything worked together.
“We heard that Concur had recently entered into a partnership with Archa and we knew we should look into it,” said Sean Stroud, Finance Manager at CDK Stone.
What stood out wasn’t just functionality—but integration.
“We really liked the synergy between Concur Expense and Archa, and we knew they would work well together” added Naomi Parker. Chief Financial Officer at CDK Stone.
“some of the banks don’t have the integration with Concur Expense that Archa does. That is really valuable to us. Going with Archa makes Concur even more efficient.”
Lifting the Admin load
At CDK Stone, even basic processes like issuing cards became significantly easier.
“The online administration was easy and lightweight, compared to the process with the banks,” said Naomi.
Cards could be issued quickly. Limits adjusted instantly. No paperwork. No delays.
Higgins saw a similar effect.
“Setting up Archa was a lot easier than what I thought it would be,” said James.
“Internally, it was just a case of getting our staff to activate their cards and linking into existing profiles and that was a very quick process.”
For finance teams used to navigating bank processes and approvals, that shift can make a significant difference.
The Real Shift: From Disconnected to Integrated
What both organisations highlight is a broader transition in finance
Corporate card management is no longer about:
- Filling out paperwork and then waiting a month to give employees a card
- Hoping your employees understand your policies
- Capturing receipts
- Reconciling at month-end
Instead, the focus is moving toward:
- The quick issue of virtual and physical cards
- Real-time visibility into spend
- Built-in card controls that prevent issues before they happen
- Systems that work together, not separately
- Automation that removes manual effort and lifts the admin load on finance teams
The Takeaway
- Corporate cards haven’t failed—but the way they’ve traditionally been managed hasn’t necessarily grown to reflect the way businesses have evolved.
- What finance teams are now gravitating toward is something that is quicker to implement, more connected, more automated, and far less reliant on manual intervention.
- Because when corporate card spend, policy, and reporting all operate in sync, something important happens:
- Finance teams stop spending hours on their corporate card spend—and start being able to focus on insight, control, and driving decisions for the business.
See more from Higgins and CDK stone:
Higgins Coatings case study >>
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