Essential Guides for Finance Leaders on Optimizing Spend Management

Platinum Heritage is known for providing authentic yet luxurious desert safari experiences. 

This case study discusses how Platinum Heritage improved spend management within six months with Pluto’s hybridization of cash and corporate cards.

It has the flexibility of spending cash and visibility of card spend.

Christopher Anthony, Global Business Controller

Introduction

Platinum Heritage is a leading provider of desert safaris and camps in Dubai. Their desert safaris authentically showcase different periods in Dubai's history to provide exclusive, luxurious experiences.

They have earned recognition for their commitment to authenticity, receiving prestigious awards such as the World Travel Award for the Middle East's Leading Desert Safari Company. 

With plans to expand into Saudi Arabia, Platinum Heritage continues to uphold its mission of providing unforgettable desert experiences while preserving Dubai's heritage. 

Petty Cash and Corporate Cards Lacked Real-Time Visibility  

As the company grew, its petty cash transactions increased substantially. Even when it tried replacing petty cash with corporate cards, there was a lack of real-time visibility.

With petty cash, the growing number of transactions resulted in an increased administrative burden. The operations teams had to maintain an imprest system and manually manage receipts, including storing, recording, approving, and reimbursing expenses.

Contrarily, with corporate cards, the company received the bank statement at the end of the month. This meant that expenses were being checked and not approved. Also, with a single card being used by everyone, it was difficult to track each function’s expense.

We wouldn’t know until the statement turned up at the end of the month what had been spent and where.

Christopher Anthony, Global Business Controller

How Pluto Provided Both Real-time Visibility and Flexibility 

Platinum Heritage wanted an enhanced spend management system—reduced cash transactions and increased real-time transparency. 

Pluto helped it achieve these goals within 6 months with the following solutions:   

Physical and Virtual Corporate Cards

Unlike traditional business credit cards, Pluto corporate cards not only helped minimize cash transactions but also provided real-time visibility. 

Instead of a shared business card, Platinum Heritage could issue unlimited budget-controlled corporate cards that facilitated detailed insights. They no longer had to track or second-guess who spent what, where, and why. 

We can go into an individual card user spent and see exactly how the money was spent effectively in real time.

Christopher Anthony, Global Business Controller

WhatsApp Receipt Capture

Pluto also helped simplify and improve visibility on the accounting and receipt management process.

Earlier, the team religiously collected the receipts and waited till the end of the week to process them. However, with Pluto, each transaction triggered a WhatsApp notification, reminding employees to upload the receipt then and there. These receipts were directly attached to the respective expenditures on the platform, making it easier to track and report from a single platform. 

It simplifies things phenomenally because it’s easier to just take a photograph of the receipt before you even fold it up and put it into the wallet.

Christopher Anthony, Global Business Controller

Digitized Petty Cash Management System

From handling thousands of cash expenses manually to getting all the information on a single platform, Pluto simplified petty cash management.

Before Pluto, the team collected all receipts and managed an imprest system which became an administrative burden. 

After Pluto, employees were issued dedicated corporate cards. In this way, the team could track the expenses in real time. Moreover, WhatsApp integration prompted employees to upload receipts for each transaction, simplifying the accounting system. 

Platinum Heritage successfully created a digital petty cash system. 

Rather than waiting until the end of the week to collect enough receipts, you can actually see the money as it goes.

Christopher Anthony, Global Business Controller

No More Debate Between Petty Cash and Corporate Cards

Platinum Heritage wanted to reduce cash usage and replace it with card transactions for enhanced transparency. It was looking for a solution to track money with ease. 

Pluto not only proved to be a better spend management tool but also provided a sweet spot between petty cash and corporate cards.

It provided the flexibility of cash without taking away the control and visibility cards offer. And unlike cards that fail to give complete context in real time, it helped them track the what, who, where, and why of expenses. 

In a nutshell, Pluto revolutionized spend management for Platinum Heritage with increased visibility of the cash spent. 

We haven’t had a single transaction that when it’s received and gone through the approval process that we’ve said, oh my god, that shouldn’t have been spent.

Christopher Anthony, Global Business Controller

Unlike conventional gift platforms, BloomingBox stands out with its premium, handcrafted products, allowing customers to tailor their orders. This case study discusses how it uses Pluto to handle expenses while growing its operations in the Middle East.

We can expand without having to add more people because of Pluto.

Lee Kersen Mascarenhas

Introduction

BloomingBox is a home-grown UAE-based online gifting platform specializing in various customized gifts. Unlike conventional gift platforms, it provides personalized gifting options, including flowers, cakes, roses, plants, chocolate boxes, home items, gift hampers, bundle packs, and more. It offers same-day flower delivery to customers in Dubai and has collaborated with renowned international brands and events for customized projects.  

It is a go-to destination for both personal and corporate gifting needs. With reported sales growing from 4,000 gifts in 2018 to 55,000 in 2020, the brand has expanded its headquarters multiple times.

The Challenge: Managing Expenses as a Growing Business

BloomingBox is a growing company, expanding operations in multiple locations. However, being a startup, it faced two core challenges in scaling and managing their expenses:

• Poor cash flow visibility due to manual transactions and bookkeeping
• Delays in the approval process that made reimbursement difficult

Manual Transactions Hampered Bookkeeping and Cash Flow Visibility 

BloomingBox relied on a logbook and manual payment processes for all expenses. As a result, it was difficult to track cash flow. The team members didn’t know when the bills were paid and which ones were due. Moreover, they wanted control over who spent how much on various expense categories. 

For instance, they wanted to restrict the drivers to spend only on fuel. However, tracking expenses with such intricacy with manual processes was difficult. 

Additionally, the team members had to collect and manage all the receipts, and there was a risk of losing receipts. Overall, managing the expenses was hectic and tedious. 

The Solution: Pluto’s Corporate Cards

With Pluto’s corporate cards, both physical and virtual, BloomingBox automated all the payments. They could issue unlimited corporate cards with advanced controls to manage and track expenses. 

The admins could specify the budget and category of expenses for the card, restricting employees to spend dedicated amounts only on designated categories. For instance, they created cards for the drivers with a set specific budget, which could only be used for fuel. 

Further, Pluto simplified receipt management, as each transaction on the card triggered a workflow and notified the employee to upload the receipt. With Pluto’s WhatsApp integration, uploading receipts becomes easy as it only takes a few seconds, even for bulk upload. 

The beauty in one part that I was amazed about Pluto, in terms of your technology, was your whole integration with WhatsApp and the ease of how easy it was to swipe, make a payment, take a picture, upload it via WhatsApp, and it's there on the platform for approval.

Lee Kersen Mascarenhas

The Challenge: Delays in Reimbursement

Before Pluto, the company had a lengthy and tedious process for reimbursements.

It started with someone making a payment and submitting the receipt at the office. This included filling out reimbursement forms and seeking approval from the manager. Depending upon the amount, it could involve more stakeholders. Then, the request was forwarded to the accounting department, which confirmed all details and finally reimbursed the employee. 

The process took days or weeks, depending on the availability of the receipts and relevant stakeholders. The unavailability of a single person created bottlenecks and delayed the entire process.  

The Solution: Pluto’s Employee Reimbursement

With Pluto, BloomingBox automated the approval workflow using the no-code trigger-based approval workflow engine. This helped them save a lot of time in the approvals. 

Instead of employees managing the receipts and seeking approval manually, the stakeholders could immediately approve payments, and employees were reimbursed instantly. BloomingBox could add as many stakeholders as required and create workflows based on simple if-then rules.

Additionally, the team could split transactions for marking parts of receipts out of policy. This facilitated them to approve only a part of the expense and reject parts that didn’t align with company policy. This improved their cash flow without delaying the approval process.  

The beauty is you pay, upload your receipts right away, and approval can be done on the spot.

Lee Kersen Mascarenhas

Single Dashboard for Real-Time Spend Visibility 

Pluto provided Bloomingbox with a centralized platform to track and manage all their expenses in real time. All the awaiting requests, payment approvals, bills, etc., were accessible from a single dashboard.  

As a result, it became easy to clear all the payments on time without running the risk of duplicate payments.    

Save Time by Streamlining Spend Management

Pluto became a time-saver for BloomingBox. It automated the approval process and streamlined the entire spend management process on a single platform. BloomingBox got all the information on a single dashboard. They cleared all the dues much faster, even when multiple approvals were required. 

Apart from visibility, BloomingBox got control over the spending with advanced rules for the corporate cards. This included specifying budgets and categories to avoid maverick spending. 

Moreover, the employees no longer needed to manage physical receipts. They could simply upload a picture via WhatsApp, which was added to the platform. This simplified bookkeeping as all the receipts were already on the platform with dedicated expense information.  

What Has Been Your Favorite Part About Pluto? 

We have been using Pluto for a few months now, and we literally have everything in one place.

Lee Kersen Mascarenhas

SmartCrowd is a fractionalized property investing company, a concept that democratizes property investment by allowing multiple investors to collectively own and benefit from rental income. This case study sheds light on how SmartCrowd used Pluto to streamline and optimize its expense management while managing a portfolio of over 100 properties in the UAE.

Introduction

SmartCrowd revolutionizes real estate investment in Dubai, providing an affordable and hassle-free way for individuals to invest in income-generating properties collectively. 

As MENA's first regulated crowdfunding platform, SmartCrowd simplifies the investment process, allowing users to browse pre-vetted opportunities, invest seamlessly, and track their portfolios through a digital platform. Regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), SmartCrowd stands out for its market-leading returns, offering an average annualized return of 10.70%. 

Investors benefit from an all-digital experience, security, transparency, and a track record of consistently outperforming the real estate market.

The Challenges: Managing 100+ Properties With a Traditional Approach

SmartCrowd faced significant challenges in managing the expenses associated with a vast portfolio of properties. As the number of properties increased, the complexity of tracking payments, service charges, and government fees became overwhelming. 

They used the traditional approach to manage expenses, which included:

• Credit Cards: The company relied on a single credit card to make payments for all properties. This approach quickly exhausted the credit card and caused administrative headaches. 
• Excel Sheets: The team spent hours maintaining the Excel spreadsheets to track expenses for each property.  

This approach was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors.

The Solution: Digital Expense Management Platform 

Pluto helped SmartCrowd streamline its internal processes. SmartCrowd replaced its traditional methods and digitized its entire expense management system with Pluto and deployed following Pluto’s solution: 

1.Pluto’s Physical Corporate Cards 

SmartCrowd used Pluto’s physical corporate cards to issue separate cards to individuals for specific tasks. In the past, the company used a single credit card to make payments for all properties, including service charges and land department fees, causing administrative challenges.

With Pluto, each person had a dedicated card for specific expenses. This gave them visibility into the expenses, even on a per-property basis. Additionally, they saved about 40 hours per week, which was earlier spent on organizing Excel sheets and tracking expenses. 

It is much easier to have oversight over all the expenses… Our team saved a minimum of 5 hours per week cause making a sheet, putting the property names, then we have monthly expenses and track them.. It’s not just paying right; it’s using that information later.

Ambreen Manzoor

2.Expense Insights 

With 100+ properties to manage, SmartCrowd had a lot of expenses on a single card which later had to be categorized and tracked onto Excel sheets. 

Pluto enabled SmartCrowd to consolidate all the expenses on a digital dashboard and get detailed insights that could be tracked down per property. As a result, the team could pull out better information.

Insights help us plan how much expenses we can incur… that is very important for us because we can’t be using one property’s funds for another property, so we have to keep it separate. 

Ambreen Manzoor

Streamline Expense Management With Advanced Reporting

Pluto resulted in significant time savings for SmartCrowd, an estimated 40 hours per week, by digitizing its entire expense management system. Pluto replaced their old systems with physical corporate cards and digital expense management systems to simplify spending and tracking. SmartCrowd could easily categorize the expenses, which streamlined financial reporting for each property.

In fact, SmartCrowd looked forward to expanding its usage with separate cards and tags for each property and syncing with its accounting software.  

What Has Been Your Favorite Part About Pluto? 

Pluto has helped us a lot because we have 100+ properties now, so managing the expenses was getting really difficult… The customer experience has been good, like proactively the physical cards were given.

Ambreen Manzoor

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She was particularly impressed with Pluto's customer support team. Whenever SmartCrowd reached out for assistance, the Pluto customer support team promptly addressed its queries and provided quick solutions. This responsiveness was invaluable in ensuring a seamless experience for the finance team.

Conclusion

As SmartCrowd continues to expand its utilization of Pluto's solutions and further integrates them into its operational framework, this successful collaboration serves as a testament to the transformative impact of technological innovation in optimizing intricate financial processes within the real estate investment domain.

If you're seeking to streamline your company's expense management and revolutionize your approach to financial oversight, join the ranks of successful innovators like SmartCrowd. Sign up for Pluto today to unlock a world of simplified, efficient, and empowered expense management solutions tailored to meet your unique business needs. Experience firsthand the seamless integration, proactive support, and transformative capabilities that Pluto offers, empowering your team to focus on growth and financial success.

Introduction to DeveEnergy

DeveEnergy, a provider of maintenance, operational strategy, and contingency planning for gas turbine systems, focuses on improving efficiency and reducing costs. Their comprehensive services include Outages and Field Services, Consulting, Project Management, Owners Engineering, Parts and Equipment, and Borescope Rentals.

Challenges Faced by DeveEnergy

DeveEnergy encountered several challenges in their expense management process:

• Lack of Expense Management Platform: DeveEnergy had no dedicated platform for expense management, resulting in limited visibility and control over expenditures.
• Reliance on Personal Debit and Credit Cards: The company used personal debit and credit cards for business expenses, leading to a lack of transparency and control over company spend.
• Alignment with Lean Operations Methodology: DeveEnergy follows a Lean Operations Methodology, emphasising technology over human capital. They needed a platform that aligned with this approach.

In the energy sector, expenses can vary significantly due to the complexity of operations, the need for specialised equipment and services, and the unpredictable nature of maintenance and project-related costs. These challenges made it crucial for DeveEnergy to have a robust expense management solution in place.

Trying different expense management solutions

The key challenge DeveEnergy had to solve was the lack of visibility that came from the use of personal debit and credit cards along with a company card. This multi-card approach led to a lack of clear visibility into both individual card expenses and overall company spending.

Tomasz, Managing Director of DeveEnergy, had previously experimented with expense management solutions like Zoho Expenses and Concur:

• Zoho Expenses: Struggled with receipt recognition, leading to inefficiencies.
• Concur: Found Concur to be overly complicated and slow, making it unsuitable for Deve's needs.

Both platforms were deemed unnecessarily complicated and not user-friendly.

Comprehensive visibility offered by Pluto

Reporting gives monthly visibility of amount that flows through the company

Tomasz Tremblinski, Managing Director

Pluto's budget-controlled corporate cards prevented overspending, aligning with the company's financial management goals. In addition, Tomasz found Pluto's platform provided comprehensive visibility of all expenses, allowing the company to track and manage spending efficiently.  

Tomasz was also particularly impressed with Pluto's integration capabilities with accounting softwares.

Stunning that Pluto integrates directly with Accounting Software, it’s so much smoother, and CSV import/export means I'm living the dream.

Tomasz Tremblinski, Managing Director

‍‍Automating Expenses to complement the Lean Operations Methodology

Pluto's financial management platform perfectly complemented DeveEnergy's Lean Operations Methodology. By automating expense management processes, Pluto saved the DeveEnergy team valuable time, allowing them to focus on more impactful and enjoyable tasks within their roles. Further, the integration of comprehensive reporting and real-time data enabled informed, data-driven decision-making, crucial for lean operations.

This was another factor that helped Deve.

Other features DeveEnergy Loved About Pluto

The actual recognition of receipts works and its amazing! It’s saving me hours of work that I don’t enjoy

Tomasz Tremblinski, Managing Director