Your Company Business Credit Card: Use It Wisely

For businesses in which employees are required to travel or make purchases for their company, it can be difficult to manage all expenses properly. In this case the employer can order additional plastics for the personnel. If you happen to be a company owner or an employee entrusted with a business credit card, be careful: the abuses in this sphere have become legendary. We will tell you about the main rules regarding business credit card use for personnel and what an employee can do to avoid fraudulent charges on his/her company credit card.

If you are an employer:

• Hire the right personnel. To determine if potential employees are responsible and trustworthy, always checks their credit report, references and previous work experience. If you hire temps, check their background and closely manage their credit activities.
• Establish legitimate purposes for which a company credit card may be used: the purchase of urgent supplies, business travel expenses or business entertainment. Include the detailed rules in the employee handbook. For example, you can specify that they can buy any beverages except alcohol.

• Set single-purchase limits for the business credit cards. Your employees will be able to make purchases within the relevant approved budget. For example, they may spend online no more than $500.
• Ask for filters - merchant codes that prevent charges at certain retail establishments such as clothing stores, salons or drugstores. When an employee tries to buy a brand new hand bag with a company plastic, the transaction will be automatically declined.

• Balance all incoming funds and outgoing expenses to track employee spending. Most credit card issuers let create monthly and annual reports to simplify this task.
• The company credit card rules should reflect what happens to abusers. Establish responsibilities for the fraudulent credit card use depending on the seriousness of the slip-up. It can be anything from a disciplinary action to criminal prosecution.

If you are an employee:

• Be ready to show your credit report. If your company decides to issue credit cards for the employees, each person given access will be subject to a credit check. If you've had financial problems in the past, the boss will find it out. Make sure to rebuild your score if you don't want your employer to raise his/her eyebrows.
• Keep all receipts on your spending. If you get a generic receipt from a street vendor, write on the back of it what exactly you bought. Keep your work-related expenses in a separate envelope.

• Many company credit cards come with points or cash back rewards. Consult your boss to see whether you are allowed to redeem them for your own gain. If not, and you are a responsible person who always makes payments on time, consider making work purchases with your own credit card to earn rewards.
• Unintentional abuses of a company credit card can happen. After all, it is just another piece of plastic in your wallet. If you keep it with other personal credit cards, you can use it by mistake at a grocery store or any other location. So be careful what credit card you are using for your personal needs.
• Employees who made unauthorized transactions on the company card may face termination or even criminal prosecution. If you used a company credit card to buy items for your own financial gain, it's better to pay off these expenses as soon as possible.

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