Stop chasing receipts: How multi-use virtual cards simplify agency travel spending

Agencies move fast. Client meetings pop up, shoots overrun, and teams travel across cities and countries at short notice. Travel is part of the job. But travel expenses? Too often, they're a mess.

Shared corporate cards get passed around. Receipts go missing. People use personal cards and wait weeks for reimbursement. Spend lands in the wrong client code. Finance teams chase travellers for paperwork at month end. Budget owners get surprises when it's already too late.

There's a simpler way. Issue each traveller a smart multi-use virtual card that covers every trip cost – flights, hotels, meals, taxis, and trains – with budgets and policies built in. You get live visibility and tighter controls. Travellers pay easily, without out-of-pocket costs. Compliance improves by design.

This is how agencies end travel expense chaos.

Why agency travel expenses get messy

Agency travel isn't a predictable, single-vendor arrangement. It's fragmented and fast-changing:

• Multiple clients and projects at once

• Short-notice trips and frequent changes

• Freelancers and contractors who travel occasionally

• Different booking channels and suppliers

• Cross-border trips with currency and tax complications

• Billable vs non-billable costs that must be coded right first time

Traditional tools don't help enough. Shared corporate cards create risk and poor accountability. Reimbursements shift the burden to employees and slow cashflow. Static card limits don't reflect project budgets. And PDF policies rarely influence day-to-day spend.

What multi-use virtual cards are

Give each traveller one multi-use virtual card with the right budget, end date, rules, and approvals attached.

The same card works across travel categories:

• Flights and rail

• Hotels and accommodation

• Meals and daily allowances

• Ground transport (taxis, private hire, public transport, parking)

Multi-use virtual cards work for online bookings and can be added to Apple Pay and Google Pay (where available) for in-person payments.

Every transaction appears immediately in Spendesk, coded to the correct client or project, with the receipt captured within the same workflow. Cards are time-bound and automatically deactivate on the set end date to reduce any risk.

Customers regularly see 95%+ of receipts collected on time.

How it works in practice

1. Create the card with a clear budget

A team member requests a card, then the budget owners/finance review and approve:

• Total trip budget (e.g. £1,200)

• Validity dates for the trip

• Project or client code and cost centre for automatic allocation

2. Book travel with confidence

Travellers use the same card for flights and hotels. Approvals are quick, and every decision is logged for audit. 

3. Pay for meals and transport on the road

Access the card on your phone to pay for taxis, trains, parking, and more. No personal spend. No tedious reimbursements. Top up or pause the card instantly if plans change.

4. Capture receipts automatically

Travellers snap a photo in the app or forward email invoices. Spendesk extracts supplier, date and amount, pre-fills VAT fields where possible, and flags anomalies so finance can fix issues early.

5. Track budget burn in real time

Budget owners see spend vs budget as it happens by trip, team and client.

Budget control that actually works

With multi-use virtual cards, budgets do more than sit in a spreadsheet – they actively guide spend:

• Set a budget for the card to control trip spending.

• See live spend and remaining budget for each trip

• Set clear spending limits and date windows to keep purchases on track

Because you see spend as it happens, you can fix issues before they become overruns – protecting client margin and preventing late surprises.

Policy compliance that runs itself

Policies work best when they're built into the payment experience:

• Fixed expiry dates reduce fraud and mistakes

• Receipt capture is part of the flow, with automatic checks for missing data or anomalies

• Every action – who approved what, and when – is logged for audit

This means fewer policy headaches, complete documentation and better VAT recovery rates.

Faster accounting and month-end close

Finance teams gain control without becoming the bottleneck:

• Auto-code to ledger accounts, cost centres, and client projects

• Machine-learning predictions and rules reduce manual categorisation effort

• Export clean data with digital receipts for a smoother close

• Keep a complete, searchable audit trail

Connect Spendesk to your accounting stack with flexible exports, digital receipts and cleaner data for a faster close. Where supported, you can set dedicated journals for purchases and bank transactions. Native connections to leading tools reduce CSV wrangling.

Better for travellers and project teams

When paying is simple and fair, travellers focus on the job:

• No personal spend or waiting for reimbursement

• One card for all trip costs, everywhere you travel

• Fast, in-app receipt capture and helpful reminders

• Clear budgets and rules, visible from the start

• Less back‑and‑forth with finance; fewer blocked payments

A simple rollout plan

1. Map your current policies
Define daily allowances and approval thresholds.

2. Connect your accounting
Map nominal codes, tax rates, cost centres, and project/client fields so transactions auto-code on import. Use native integrations where available.

3. Pilot with one team
Pick a team that travels often. Run for a month. Gather feedback. Refine rules and templates.

4. Train with simple guidance
Show travellers how to use virtual cards (online and in person), capture receipts, and request top-ups. Keep it short and practical. Share a one‑page “how we book and pay for travel” guide.

5. Roll out in waves
Onboard the next teams and entities. Track policy exceptions, receipt completion, and time to close. Iterate.

What outcomes to expect

Agencies that switch to individual virtual cards typically see:

• Higher receipt completion rates, thanks to in-flow capture and automated checks

• Faster month-end with fewer manual adjustments

• Fewer card-sharing incidents and chargebacks

• Clearer view of billable vs non-billable costs, per client and project

• Fewer reimbursement tickets and happier travellers

• Stronger documentation for audit and VAT recovery

• Examples: Hallam moved away from shared cards with 100% adoption; We Are Social reports 100% spend visibility across 13 countries and saves about two days per month.

If you want to quantify the impact, start with a 90-day baseline for "time to close", "receipt completion", and "policy exceptions", then re-measure after rollout.

Frequently asked questions

Can one card really cover every travel expense?
Yes. A virtual multi-use card can be used across flights, hotels, meals and local transport – for online bookings and mobile wallet payments.

How do we handle offline suppliers or deposits?
Create a multi-use virtual card with the expected amount and a tight date window. If a hotel needs a deposit, use a dedicated card for that booking to keep control and an audit trail.

Is this safe for international travel?
Yes. Multi-use virtual cards include two‑factor verification, and cards can be paused or cancelled instantly if something looks off. They work internationally where your card network and mobile wallets are supported.

Can freelancers use this?
Issue a time-bound card with clear category limits and the correct client code. The card automatically expires on the set end date. You keep full control and a complete record. Freelancers never see company bank details, and you keep full control with a complete approval and spend trail.

How are receipts handled, and what about VAT?
Receipts are requested in the payment flow. Spendesk extracts supplier, date, amount and VAT where possible, then flags gaps for review. Agencies typically see very high on‑time receipt capture, which supports cleaner VAT recovery.

Take control of travel spending

Your agency doesn't need more cards – it needs smarter ones. Multi-use virtual cards bring budgets, approvals and policies into the payment itself. That removes guesswork, reduces risk, and gives finance and project teams the live view they need.

Ready to eliminate travel expense chaos? Chat to an expert and learn how Spendesk helps agencies keep every trip on budget, every expense properly coded, and every client billing accurate.