Scaling, saving, and taking control of spend at VICIO

Life before Payhawk

Life before Payhawk involved a lot of time-consuming manual reimbursements. The finance team had to manage weekly employee expense reimbursements. And this approach involved gathering and handing a stack of receipts over to the treasury department — and a lot of tedious finance admin, including manual transfers.

"One of my main responsibilities is to ensure the maximum reliability of the numbers before moving on to reporting," explained Finance Director, Adrià Vázquez. "One of my other major responsibilities is to support the operations team. We have to support their work so that everything goes well and as quickly as possible. But without risking at any time the quality of our product and our experience."

As a fast-growing scaleup, VICIO believes in the digitisation, automation, and good technology. And the team knew that their previous expense management software just didn't cut it.

"With the tool we used before, we felt blind about certain information. I didn't know where to make adjustments and couldn't find things out fast enough," continued Adrià.

Saving and simplifying finance operations

Life after Payhawk looks much simpler. The process now involves paying with a physical or virtual Payhawk card, capturing a photo of the receipt, and uploading it through the app without manually inputting data, carrying around receipts, or issuing reimbursements.

"The process with Payhawk is much more cost-effective for the company (in both time and money). It practically eliminates the possibility of expense report errors and, most importantly, allows my team to focus on strategic tasks. It speeds up our work and day-to-day life a lot," Adrià told us.

According to Adrià Vazquez, this new process is a game changer. It reduces costs for the company in terms of both time and money. Furthermore, it eliminates errors in expense reports and speeds up reconciliation and month-end. Most importantly, it allows Adrià's team to redirect their focus toward strategic and revenue-impacting tasks.

Take savings, for example. "If I look at the expense reports and see that we're investing a considerable amount in hotels, for example, then I understand the need to sit down and negotiate a set price with a hotel chain," Adrià said. "The reports help me set priorities and optimise spending to meet our goals."

Scaling made easy with smart tech and real-time reports

Getting visibility into real-time spend has helped VICIO make smarter decisions and move faster, with no more nasty surprises at the end of the month.

"Automating data entry has liberated us from so many of the manual and repetitive tasks we had to do before. Instead, we use our newfound time to analyse reports and make strategic business decisions that benefit our company," Adrià said.

"When you aim to scale rapidly, all your processes must be really scalable. With Payhawk, we can maintain visibility and control over spend, even as the number of receipts and invoices multiplies," Adrià continued. "Now, I can't imagine the finance team working in any other way; we can avoid repetitive tasks thanks to technology and accomplish things faster and with zero errors. My team and I are here to oversee and make informed decisions, not to input data into programmes."

"Payhawk's traceability empowers us to invest our cash where it will generate the greatest profitability."

It's not about working harder; it's about working smarter, explained Adrià. "VICIO has ambitious growth plans. We're building something monumental, but our capital is limited. As a scaleup, we have certain financial constraints and must precisely calculate our moves. We always try to 'place our bets' on initiatives that promise the highest returns. Payhawk's traceability empowers us to invest our cash where it will generate the greatest profitability."

Controlling card spend

Payhawk lets scaleups like VICIO fully control spending with smart corporate cards. From creating individual or team budgets and determining the maximum spend amount per day to setting limits for each transaction and implementing multi-level custom approval flows, Payhawk ensures that businesses can tailor their spend policies perfectly.

For VICIO's CFO and the entire finance team, control is paramount.

"Once money is spent, it cannot be retrieved.”

"I am confident that we have control of our expenses thanks to Payhawk's spend controls and real-time view over spend," said Adrià. "Anything that slips out of policy could pose a risk to the company. By maintaining a strong sense of control, we can evaluate the profitability of our actions and continually improve. It's not about controlling our team, as we have a highly capable group of professionals; it's about controlling the numbers to anticipate, prioritise, and focus on what truly matters."

Flexibility is critical to VICIO, too, especially as they scale. Need additional funds? No problem. Want to freeze a card temporarily? It's just a click away. Payhawk's in-built card controls mean that the finance team can update spend management as they go, continually optimising how the company spends.

"Once money is spent, it cannot be retrieved," continued Adrià.

It's not just the powerful features that make Payhawk stand out for Vicio.; it's also a sleek and intuitive user experience. With Payhawk streamlining its workflow, the finance team can easily focus on its core responsibilities, navigate its tasks smoothly and efficiently, and suggest areas for improvement.

Payhawk corporate cards offer comprehensive features, customisable controls, and a seamless user experience. From time-saving customisation options to unparalleled traceability, businesses can harness the power of Payhawk to maintain control, anticipate risks, and optimise their finance operations.

Putting Payhawk on the menu

Looking to streamline your company's spend management and save valuable time? Interested in the flexibility of credit cards for your business? Book a demo today and unlock the potential of smarter spend management with Payhawk.