With its 200 local stations, Besikta Bilprovning needed better control over all its purchases. They achieved this thanks to the right corporate card, new expense procedures and a central web portal. - The difference now is huge, says Sophia Palebo, Chief Financial Officer.
Since it was started in 2013, Besikta Bilprovning has quickly grown, not least after its acquisition of ClearCar in 2016. The company has 200 inspection stations in 164 locations across Sweden, making it one of the largest players in the industry. A large number of purchases are of course made in such a large and geographically dispersed organisation.
-This includes everything from nuts and bolts to payments for business trips, marketing and consumables. All purchases are governed by a matrix and each station manager is responsible for local purchases, says Sophia Palebo, CFO at Besikta Bilprovning.
This is a big difference compared with a few years ago. What was then a slow and confusing purchasing process has become an efficient digital machine, where each individual transaction is tracked in real time.
A lot of paperwork
- Previously, all card processing was done on paper, new suppliers were added manually post-purchase and all card applications had to be validated by the CEO. As well as everything taking a long time, it was very difficult to get a good overview of suppliers, receipts and cards, says Sophia Palebo.
Lislott Fraser Borglin, Chief Accounting Officer at Besikta Bilprovning, agrees.
- Previously, card purchases were not handled by our existing payroll system and there were no photographic records, which made processing slow and uncertain, she says.
At the beginning of 2022, it was decided to restructure the purchasing process by introducing a new purchasing matrix, while finding a payment solution that provided full control and minimised paperwork. Eurocard was the solution chosen.
-What we needed was for the cards to be linked to a central portal and for all transactions to be monitored in real time. We also wanted to be able to manage photos of receipts and for the transactions to be automatically linked to the payroll system for further reporting, says Sophia Palebo.
“The difference is substantial”
All station managers now have their own Eurocard corporate card and the cards are stored in the Eurocard Portal. Card administrators at Besikta can see which cards belong to whom, add and remove cards, and adjust purchasing limits on individual cards.
It has also become much easier for cardholders.
-After a purchase, the cardholder makes a digital record of the expense, which is then authorised by a manager, and finally approved by the finance department together with the physical receipt. I also receive automatic notifications whenever a cardholder needs to add a new supplier or wants to change the limit on a card, says Sophia Palebo, who continues:
-This new way of working with the Eurocard portal has given us complete control, as it offers an overview of all the transactions, invoices and suppliers. The difference compared with how we used to work is substantial.
A virtual card too
Besikta Bilprovning has also added a virtual card to its physical corporate cards.
-We use it to pay for digital media purchases online, such as our adverts on Facebook and Google, says Lislott Fraser Borglin, who manages the virtual card.
-It is also easy to share with colleagues, while retaining control, as it is me who authorises each purchase through a mobile bank ID. In addition, all the transactions are consolidated in a single invoice every month, she says.
About Besikta Bilprovning
Besikta Bilprovning is one of Sweden's largest companies within periodic inspection and testing of cars, motor vehicles, caravans and trailers.
