As a high-growth tech startup, Jump Software needed a way to simplify expense management, and empower employee spending. Now, with BILL Spend & Expense, they can do both.

The challenge

One corporate credit card for 30 people. That’s how COO Amber Johnson says Jump managed spending during their “scrappy” days.

“When we were passing around the company card, it was daunting thinking about security,” Amber said. “And it was a roadblock.” The alternative—reimbursing employees for using personal credit cards—wasn’t a better option.

According to Amber, “Asking employees to pay for company purchases on their own cards creates an emotional battle that stifles innovation.” She said seemingly simple decisions like whether to take a great potential job candidate out to lunch are made difficult when an employee has to worry about getting reimbursed.

Another challenge: The manual reimbursement process at Jump was time intensive. Every two weeks, their bookkeeper spent up to five hours—that’s 10 hours a month—tracking down receipts, asking why purchases were made, and categorizing expenses.

And, if employees unknowingly spent outside of company policies on personal cards, they risked having their reimbursement requests denied.

“Asking employees to pay for company purchases on their own cards creates an emotional battle that stifles innovation.”

The solution

When Jump CFO Hal Halladay heard about the BILL Spend & Expense, he saw potential for giving employees more flexibility to spend, while making the process simpler and more secure for everyone.

The Jump Finance team rolled out BILL Divvy card powered by Visa* to every spender just before they hired a new controller in 2018.

Amber reports that Jump employees love using Spend & Expense because it’s intuitive, seamless, and “makes it easy to switch budgets or see who the budget owner is.” She said the controller and bookkeeper love it for their own reasons—namely because it eliminates manual processes and the need for reimbursement forms.

For her part, Amber’s favorite thing about Spend & Expense is that it automatically notifies spenders to add receipts and take notes in the mobile app seconds after every transaction. She said these reminders are especially important because Jump requires receipts for auditing purposes. “In the past,” she said, “someone had to ask what every purchase was for and how it should be categorized. Now, Spend & Expense does that job for us.”

Budget owners in all five Jump departments have started using virtual cards—each generated with different account numbers—to pay for ongoing subscriptions. That means more control of departmental expenses and less anxiety about keeping card information secure.

“In the past, someone had to ask what every purchase was for and how it should be categorized. Now, Spend & Expense does that job for us.”

The results

Asked if she’s seen a cultural shift at Jump since they started using Spend & Expense, Amber said it boils down to two words: “trust and accountability.” She said employees who never had the power to swipe a company card now feel a sense of accomplishment and ownership. “The difference since we started using Spend & Expense is that people feel empowered because they’re trusted to be accountable.”

For Amber and the Jump leadership team, it’s all about creating an owner/entrepreneur mindset. Giving employees their own cards and a clear view of budgets and spending power also gives them ownership of purchasing decisions. In other words, when employees are empowered to spend and know the limits, they spend smarter.

For the Jump Finance team, Spend & Expense eliminated the busywork of tracking down receipts and explanations for every expense. Plus, because all card spend is visible and authorized as it happens, they never have to worry about going over budget.

“Spend & Expense teaches someone how to run a business,” Amber said, “and provides an opportunity for employees to understand why finance is important.”

“The difference since we started using Spend & Expense is that people feel empowered because they’re trusted to be accountable.”

*The BILL Divvy Card is issued by Cross River Bank, member FDIC, and is not a deposit product.