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Spend Controls

Spend Controls: Set the rules once, then step back

With Spendesk's Spend Controls, finance teams can build spending rules directly into the platform. Set budgets, define policies, route approvals, and enforce compliance automatically. Your team gets the freedom to spend what they need, while you maintain company spending control without being in the way.

Built with insights from 12,000+ finance leaders in the CFO Connect community

How Spend Controls work

Build policies that match how you work

Set spend limits for any expense category with flexible time periods. £15 per day for lunch. £50 per month for learning. £1000 for travel annually. Once your policies are in the platform, you choose what happens next. Requests within policy can skip approval entirely. Requests outside policy can get blocked automatically. The rules enforce themselves.

Approvals route to the right people

Use the visual workflow builder to set up approval paths based on spend type, cost centre, expense categories, analytical fields, amount, and more. Invoices over £5,000 go to the CFO. Marketing expenses route to the Marketing Director. Team expenses under £100 go to reporting managers. No coding, no confusion.

Set card controls that work 24/7

Build spending controls into every card. Block purchases on weekends, limit cards to specific categories, turn off ATM withdrawals. When someone tries to spend outside the rules, the card simply won't work. The card does the enforcing, not you.

Receipt and payment compliance runs itself

Set deadlines for receipt submission & mandatory payment info and limit late submissions allowed. The system sends automatic reminders. Users who don't comply get blocked from new card requests until they catch up. You get 95%+ receipt collection & payment info without chasing anyone.

Routine decisions happen automatically

Set requests within policy to skip approval entirely, or block out-of-policy requests automatically. Your team spends less time on routine approvals and more time on work that matters.

Let automation handle the routine, so you can focus on what matters

Flexible spend policies

Set company-wide policies or tailor rules by seniority and role. C-level with no approval threshold, department heads with a monthly cap, junior members requiring sign-off on every purchase — all configured from one place

Custom approval workflow builder

Design approval flows that keep everyone aligned. Customise workflows to fit your processes and get real-time status updates and automated notifications via email, Slack, or directly in Spendesk.

Advanced card controls

Get instant notifications for any transaction that falls outside policy. Approve or deny directly from your phone, with full context — merchant, amount, and category — before you decide

Automatic receipt compliance enforcement

Give employees a clear path to stay compliant. Automated prompts, in-app notifications, and deadline reminders mean they always know what's outstanding — and the consequences of missing it.

Cards with built-in controls

Every card comes pre-loaded with your company's spending rules. Merchant restrictions, category limits, and time controls are built in before the card reaches the employee — no manual oversight needed.

Policy-driven request handling

Requests within policy skip the approval queue entirely. Requests outside policy are blocked before anyone sees them. You define the rules once — the system applies them consistently, every time.

Role-based approver assignment

Route every request to the right approver automatically, based on amount, spend type, team, or department. When someone changes role, update in seconds — no requests fall through the gaps.

95%

Receipt collection rate

3,000+

Finance teams trust Spendesk to control their spending

0

Manual enforcement needed when policies are built into the platform

Unlimited

Approval workflow combinations with the visual builder

4

Types of virtual and physical cards to match every spending scenario

Real-time

Policy limit visibility for employees, approvers, and finance

What you can do with Spendesk in 90 days

Real-time control on spend, secure payment methods, clever automations, and more — making accounting a breeze.

Onboarding complete. AI begins reading documents and building your secure transaction history. Set up budgets and integrations at this stage

Bookkeeping suggestions begin appearing as confidence builds. Approval workflows configured and live.

Duplicate detection and anomaly flagging fully active. Team in review mode, not data-entry mode.

Month-end close faster than before. Data exported, books closed. Your team has time back.

What you can do with Spendesk in 90 days

Real-time control on spend, secure payment methods, clever automations, and more — making accounting a breeze.

Onboarding complete. AI begins reading documents and building your secure transaction history. Set up budgets and integrations at this stage

Bookkeeping suggestions begin appearing as confidence builds. Approval workflows configured and live.

Duplicate detection and anomaly flagging fully active. Team in review mode, not data-entry mode.

Month-end close faster than before. Data exported, books closed. Your team has time back.

Trusted by finance teams who move fast and don’t break things

100% adoption, in under 30 days

Read the full story

"I can’t imagine how our business would operate without Spendesk. We couldn’t ask for a better spend management system."

Julie Rodrigues

Finance director

12x transaction volume

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“ Spendesk gives us the agility we need to manage spend and accounting at scale. Today I couldn't imagine working without it.”

Isabelle Decomble

Finance manager

Seamless integrations

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“ The friction-free NetSuite integration was one of the deciding factors for us.”

Nicoletta Hinrichs

Senior Finance Manager

+3 days per month gained

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“ How Evaneos gains 3 days per month with automated reconciliation.”

Guillaume Lalau

Responsable Comptable & Financier