I can't imagine functioning as a company without Spendesk. We couldn't ask for a better expense management system.

Key results with Spendesk

• Eliminated shared credit card risks: No more cards "passed around different people" causing month-end nightmares

• Real-time budget visibility: Budget holders can now track spend throughout the month instead of waiting for monthly reports

• Automated subscription control: Prevented "zombie subscriptions" when employees leave with active tool accounts

• Streamlined month-end: Expenses arrive pre-coded and reconciled, reducing manual cleanup

• Multi-currency efficiency: Reduced currency conversion fees on ad and software spend

About Hallam

Hallam is a marketing agency with a distributed team across the UK and Europe. With significant software tool investments and complex travel requirements for client meetings and company events, they needed a sophisticated expense management tool to support their growth while maintaining tight budget control.

The challenges

Before Spendesk, Hallam faced the classic agency expense management nightmare: shared credit cards creating chaos and zero visibility into real-time spending.

The core problems:

• Shared credit card chaos with cards passed between team members causing reconciliation nightmares

• Zero budget visibility with manual monthly reporting instead of real-time tracking

• Zombie subscription problem when employees left with active tool accounts, nobody could cancel

• Manual month-end processes requiring extensive cleanup before expenses reached Xero

• Currency conversion losses on significant international software purchases

• No spending accountability across the distributed team

The solution

Hallam implemented Spendesk to provide every team member with controlled spending access while maintaining complete financial oversight with full Xero integration.

The comprehensive solution covers:

• Individual cards for all team members across the UK and Europe

• Real-time budget tracking with department-level visibility

• Automated receipt chasing reducing admin burden

• Multi-currency payments for international software and freelancers

• Purchase order workflows for freelancer management

• Complete Xero integration for seamless month-end processing

From chaos to control

The transformation was immediate. Instead of hunting down who used the shared card for what purchase, every transaction now has an owner, receipt, and approval trail. Budget holders can see their spend in real-time rather than waiting for monthly finance reports.

Most importantly, the "zombie subscription" problem disappeared entirely. When team members leave, finance can immediately take control of any recurring payments and decide whether to continue or cancel them.

The results

Hallam has transformed their expense management since implementing Spendesk:

• Lower fraud risk: Complete visibility into all spending across the distributed team

• Real-time budget control: Budget holders track spending throughout the month

• Streamlined month-end: Pre-coded expenses arrive clean in Xero

• Subscription control: No more zombie subscriptions from departed employees

• Currency savings: Multi-currency wallets cut conversion fee costs

• Reduced admin: Automated receipt chasing and approval workflows

• Complete adoption: 100% team usage across all business spending

  We are benefiting from seamless expense reimbursement, purchases and purchase orders, budget tracking and the ability to pay in multiple currencies. We have reduced our administration, which has enabled our team to focus on higher-value work.

  Julie Rodrigues

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