Given the limited number of employees juggling so many responsibilities, it is essential for businesses to take advantage of all time-managing tools that they can find. Fuel cards for small business are an ideal solution, as they help minimize the workload for accounting and management personnel, simplify any turnover for your employees, and provide an additional line of credit to help your business grow. Learn how to find the best fuel card for your company.
Fuel cards for small business help control and monitor fleet spend.
Along with ensuring that drivers can only spend money on fuel or fuel and maintenance, these programs also provide exceptional controls that other credit cards can’t offer. You can adjust these controls depending on how your company operates. You have the option to limit spending to work hours or specific days, or simply set daily, weekly, or monthly limits, allowing your drivers to stick to a budget and alert management of any unexpected increase in spending. You also have the option to authorize cards for maintenance and can apply this to all of your cards or only those belonging to managers. This allows you to complete repairs quickly without waiting for an alternate form of payment.
Even if you only have a few drivers, it can be difficult to monitor their spending and ensure that they are only making legitimate purchases. Fuel cards for small business provide a comprehensive view of your fuel and maintenance spend via customized email alerts and reports. For smaller business fleets, it may be best to receive email notifications for all purchases to keep track of spending. For mid-size or large fleets, it may be a better use of time to create customized reports that show how much each driver or vehicle is fueling. Either option makes it easy to catch unusual spending early and address it with your drivers.
By monitoring your MPG and cost per mile, fuel cards make it easy to spot misuse or even maintenance issues with your vehicles. You can easily generate reports that compare the MPG efficiency of your vehicles and flag when there is a dramatic increase in your fuel usage, making it easy to spot these issues early on.
Fuel cards for small business provide an additional line of credit.
One of the biggest challenges for businesses is financing their operations, especially if they are just starting out. Many business credit cards provide restrictive limits for new companies, as they want to minimize their risk and ensure they are paid in a timely manner. As a result, it can be easier to obtain multiple lines of credit and spread your expenses between them. A small business fuel card is an excellent option for this, as it also allows you to keep your fuel spending separate from other expenses.
Easily manage turnover.
One of the most stressful events in a small business is hiring new drivers or letting them go. Having a card program simplifies this process, as you can easily cancel and add cards using your online account. Canceled cards are immediately locked out, preventing former employees from purchasing fuel, and new cards ship out next business day so you can quickly get new drivers on the road. You can also create temporary email alerts for new cardholders so you can monitor the spending of your new drivers until they have been fully trained.
Easily account for fuel spend.
Knowing where every dollar goes is essential to your small business’ financial reporting, and these card products make it easy to track your spending and calculate the cost of operating your vehicles. When using traditional business credit cards, you must separate and summarize all the different purchases to properly account for expenses. In addition, the IRS requires that you save all receipts to show the details of each transaction which is a hassle with drivers on the road all day. A fuel card for small business automatically captures the date, time, location, transaction total, price per gallon, and number of gallons, ensuring that you receive all this information so you do not have to save receipts. Other businesses may give their drivers cash for fuel which also requires saving fuel receipts and a host of other issues.
Conclusion
As you work to expand your company, a fuel card for small business is the ideal tool to manage time and assist your employees. If you have any questions or need additional support organizing your business, reach out to P-Fleet.
Learn how to apply for our fuel card →
