Comm Card Best Practice

Visa Commercial Card
Best Practices
Commercial Card Program
Introduction
Commercial card best practices are part of Visa’s ongoing effort to understand and
improve the processes of business.
Visa Commercial Solutions commissioned Deloitte to conduct a comprehensive
study of procurement and payment best practices for companies nationwide. From this
study, 29 best practices relating to commercial cards emerged.
By adopting these best practices, companies can expect to:
• increase process effectiveness and efficiency
• boost user satisfaction
• improve vendor management
• enhance control over spending
• reduce transaction costs
Deloitte identified 52 large corporate and mid-size companies with leading
Procure-to-Pay practices. After distributing a detailed questionnaire to all companies,
they conducted 20 onsite interviews with select participants. The questionnaire gathered
quantitative and qualitative information, including:
• Understanding best practices, key drivers, enablers, challenges, anecdotal
information, user satisfaction ratings, service-level quality
• Macro-level statistics — dollar spend, average transaction on card, average dollar
size of transaction, vendor-negotiated discount rates; micro-level statistic —
indirect activity cost and time (excluding overhead); IT/data requirements
Participants included procurement, Accounts Payable (A/P), travel managers, buyers,
commercial card administrators, and representative users to gain greater insight into
companies’ specific commercial card best practices.
1
Best Practices
2
Commercial Card Program
Summary
Commercial cards play an important role in the Procure-to-Pay strategies of best
practices companies. They deliver increased processing efficiencies for procurement,
travel and entertainment (T&E), and fleet expenditures. As part of these programs,
companies may combine the functions of purchasing, fleet, and T&E into a Visa
Commercial One card, or issue individual cards for different applications.
To increase efficiencies and reduce the resource strain caused by manual
processes, many companies have streamlined Procure-to-Pay procedures. Commercial
cards have played an important role in this. By enabling immediate data integration,
reducing transaction costs, and enhancing control over spending, these cards have
improved allocation of accounting resources and time utilization for line-of-business
employees. The potential for savings has motivated many companies to create reward
and penalty programs to speed commercial card adoption. From charge-backs for
non-compliance to passing savings along to business units, best practices companies
have seen the benefit of encouraging card usage.
In addition to improving operations, commercial cards have also had significant
influence on vendor relationships. By implementing ghost accounts for specific
high-use vendors or establishing departmental cards, companies have improved
time payment records, ensured sales and use tax compliance, and automated data
gathering for discount negotiations. Additionally, commercial cards can guarantee
business continuity during systems outages or natural disasters.
The best practices described in this booklet encourage companies to have a
commercial card program that balances efficiency with control to optimize operations.
These best practices stress the importance of sound fundamentals in commercial card
management and organization and include innovative, yet practical tools that enable
additional cost savings and benefits.
Commercial cards help reduce purchase order volume, streamline vendor payment,
and improve cost allocations.
3
Commercial
Card Program Program Foundation
Best Practice 1 Source, select, and implement a Visa Purchasing card program
Best Practice 2 Source, select, and implement a T&E card program
Best Practice 3 Source, select, and implement a Visa Commercial One

card program
Best Practice 4 Align commercial card program objectives with company’s

overall Procure-to-Pay strategy
Best Practice 5 Obtain active senior management promotion of and

involvement in the commercial card program
Best Practice 6 Establish center-led management and administration

of the commercial card program
Best Practice 7 Institute a centralized travel management function
Best Practice 8 Develop enterprise-wide procurement policies

and procedures
Best Practice 9 Develop and distribute company-wide travel policies
Best Practice 10 Develop and disseminate enterprise-wide commercial card

policies and procedures
Program Management
Best Practice 11 Incorporate a comprehensive commercial card
training program
Best Practice 12 Establish Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

issuance criteria for optimal distribution to employees
Best Practice 13 Establish T&E/Visa Commercial One card issuance criteria

for optimal distribution to business travelers
Best Practice 14 Mandate and enforce use of Visa Purchasing/

Visa Commercial One card for all eligible purchases
Best Practice 15 Mandate and enforce use of the T&E/Visa Commercial One
card for all eligible purchases
Best Practice 16 Maximize use of Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One

card virtual accounts
Best Practice 17 Maximize use of T&E/Visa Commercial One card virtual

accounts
Best Practice 18 Incorporate commercial cards into business continuity

planning

Best Practices
4
Commercial
Card Program Program Management – continued
Best Practice 19 Establish parameters for eligible Visa Purchasing/
Visa Commercial One card transactions leveraging
appropriate controls
Best Practice 20 Integrate the Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

into the e-Procurement system as a method of payment
Best Practice 21 Use the Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card to pay
invoices received in Accounts Payable
Best Practice 22 Incorporate Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

acceptance into preferred vendor contract terms
Best Practice 23 Investigate Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

expansion to additional spend categories to maximize
benefits achieved
Program Reporting
Best Practice 24 Work with your Issuer to receive commercial card statements
electronically with cost centers and General Ledger (G/L)
codes predefined to facilitate end-user reconciliation
Best Practice 25 Pre-populate expense reporting with commercial card data
Best Practice 26 Develop solutions that support the reporting and payment
of sales and use taxes
Best Practice 27 Gain a comprehensive view of spend by integrating data

from multiple sources (e.g., e-Procurement, travel, ERP,
Visa Purchasing cards)
Best Practice 28 Share commercial card performance and savings reports

with senior management to promote appropriate use
of the card
Best Practice 29 Use Issuing bank or card-provider analysis tools to review

and improve your commercial card program performance
5
Commercial Card
Program Program Foundation
Source, select, and implement

Best
Practice 1 a Visa Purchasing card program
Leading companies use a thorough sourcing process to select a purchasing card

program that will help the company meet its goals and objectives. Sourcing a purchasing
card program can occur at implementation of a new program or at a transition point
when the needs of the company change. Companies must determine the following when
selecting a card program: Issuer (e.g., financial institution or other issuer), card provider
(e.g., Visa, MasterCard, American Express), and card type (e.g., Visa Purchasing card and
Visa Commercial One card). Leading companies recognize the following benefits through
implementation of a Visa Purchasing card program:
• Integration of Visa Purchasing card data into internal MIS, Accounts Payable
(A/P), and General Ledger (G/L) systems
– Streamlines data input
– Improves data quality and accuracy
– Automates mapping of transactions to cost centers
– Online access to cardholder account data
– Consolidation of spend for reporting purposes
(e.g., sourcing, exception reporting)
• Reduced transaction costs for purchasing and payment activities
– Reduces volume of purchase requisitions and purchase orders
– Automates payment to suppliers
– Enables consolidation of transactions for single payment to Issuer
• Increased cardholder satisfaction
– Streamlines procurement process
– Reduces requirement to fill out purchase requisitions and obtain approvals
for typical purchases
– Empowers user to make timely purchases
• Improved control over spend
• Maintains control through use of card restrictions and parameters on front end
(e.g., credit limits)
• Increase visibility of potential non-compliant purchases through back-end
exception reporting
• Reduced petty cash and check requests, resulting in reduced costs associated
with processing and tracking petty cash and check requests
continued on next page

Best Practices
6
Commercial Card
Program Source, select, and implement a Visa Purchasing card program
continued
Best
Practice 1 Leading companies develop specific and achievable goals and objectives for their
Visa Purchasing card programs. These goals and objectives should be consistent with
corporate culture and procurement policies. Best practice companies periodically review
the goals and objectives for continuous improvement purposes.
Prior to implementing a Visa Purchasing card solution, best practice companies
analyze the costs and benefits of each available program, taking into consideration any
product variations from one Issuer to another.
Companies compare purchasing programs based on the following factors:
• Merchant acceptance
• Current Issuer relationship
• Financial arrangement
• Industry reputation
• Card management and administration tools available through Issuer, including:
– Templates to assist with implementation (e.g., Policies and Procedures)
– Integration of card data with financials or ERP
– Online account administration
– Online reporting capabilities
– Expense reporting management tools
• Knowledge/experience of card sales personnel and ability to provide consultative
services
• Customer service levels (e.g., Service Level Agreements, proactive relationship)
Companies compare purchasing cards based upon the following factors:
• Standard transaction cost charged for use of the card
(e.g., two percent versus four percent)
7
Commercial Card
Program Source, select, and implement a Visa Purchasing card program
continued
Best
Practice 1 MARKET APPLICABILITY: All Companies
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Sourcing for an appropriate card

Process Efficiencies program ensures the greatest possible cost savings
Amount of Benefit: Medium
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Ensures that the card program meets the
Amount of Benefit: Medium needs of the end users
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Thorough review of card program enables
Amount of Benefit: Medium company to select a card that provides needed ven-
dor acceptance and provides greatest data for ven-
dor management and negotiations
IMPLEMENTATION Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Ensures that the selected card program
ACTION STEPS: Amount of Benefit: Medium has the appropriate controls in place
1. Review goals and

objectives for the Visa
Purchasing card program
2. Create cross-functional IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
team of key stakeholders • The top two reasons cited by study participants for selecting a particular Issuer were: financial
to participate in card arrangement with Issuer and merchant acceptance.
selection process — at a
• 67 percent of study participants had implemented a Visa Purchasing card program to meet the
minimum include both
objectives of transaction cost reduction, settlement convenience, and user convenience.
procurement and A/P
personnel
3. Develop request for
proposal and distribute
to Issuers
4. Evaluate Issuer responses
against purchasing card
goals and objectives and
select Issuer based upon
ability to meet those goals
and objectives

Best Practices
8
Commercial Card
Source, select, and Implement a T&E card program

Best
Practice 2
Travel and entertainment (T&E) cards are a very effective tool for managing travel-
related spend, reducing cash advances, and providing travelers with an easy, fast, and
safe method of payment while on the road. Even for businesses with low volumes of
travel, T&E cards should be considered. Leading companies recognize the following
benefits through implementation of a T&E card program:
• Reduced cash advances, resulting in improved cash management and reduced
costs associated with processing and tracking cash advances
• Integration of T&E card data into internal MIS, expense reporting,
Accounts Payable (A/P), and General Ledger (G/L) systems
– Streamlined expense report administration
– Reduced expense report cycle time
– Improved travel data quality and accuracy
• Improved traveler convenience and safety
– Decreased concerns regarding funds while traveling
– No need to use personal cards for travel
– No need to carry large cash advances while traveling
– Online access to cardholder account data
• Improved access to funds for international travel
– Converts funds to U.S. dollars on T&E statement
– Reduces currency conversion rates as card transaction rates are typically
better than those available at stores providing this service
– Cash access provides money in local currency
Leading companies develop specific and achievable goals and objectives for their
T&E card programs. These goals and objectives should be consistent with corporate
culture and travel policies. Best practice companies periodically review the goals and
objectives for continuous improvement purposes.
9
Commercial Card
Program Source, select, and Implement a T&E card program
continued
Best
Practice 2 Leading companies utilize a thorough sourcing process to select a T&E card program
that will help the company meet goals and objectives set for the program. Sourcing a
card program can occur during the implementation of a new program or at a transition
point when the needs of the company change. Issuers are vendors and should be
included in the standard vendor reviews to ensure that they continue to provide services
that meet program objectives.
Prior to implementing a T&E card solution, best practice companies analyze the
costs and benefits of each available program, taking into consideration any product
variations from one Issuer to another.
Companies compare T&E programs based on the following factors:
• Current relationship
• Card management and administration tools available through Card Issuer,
including:
– Templates to assist with implementation (e.g., Policies and Procedures)
– On-line account administration
– On-line reporting capabilities
• Knowledge/experience of card sales personnel and ability to provide
consultative services

Best Practices
10
Commercial Card
Program Source, select, and Implement a T&E card program
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Allows for the most efficient and cost-
Process Efficiencies effective method of purchasing and paying for travel-
Amount of Benefit: High related services; card programs reduce need for cash
advances, which improves cash management and
reduces processing and tracking costs; also provides
improved efficiency in expense report processing and
expense management
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: T&E cards provide significantly improved
Amount of Benefit: High travel convenience
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Implementation of a T&E card provides

Amount of Benefit: High improved data quality and accuracy for vendor man-
agement and negotiations
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Card programs facilitate a degree of con-

Amount of Benefit: High trol through card features and back-end audit and
exception reporting
IMPLEMENTATION IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS

ACTION STEPS:
• 69 percent of our survey respondents have implemented a T&E card program. The primary
1. Review Travel Policy and reason for selection of the Issuers was merchant acceptance followed by reporting capabilities.
set goals and objectives • Six of the survey participants reported that one of the greatest benefits of the card program was
for the T&E card program; traveler convenience, as travelers did not have to wait for cash advances to begin travel.
consider any cultural
• Several companies reported that transitioning to T&E cards provided them with improved data
implications (e.g.,
access for vendor negotiation purposes.
employee desire for
reward programs)
2. Create cross-functional
team of key stakeholders
to participate in card
selection process —
at a minimum
include procurement,
travel management,
and A/P personnel
3. Develop request for
proposal and distribute
to Issuers
4. Evaluate Issuer responses
against commercial card
goals and objectives and
select Issuer based upon
ability to meet those
goals and objectives
5. Leverage Issuer
experience and expertise
for implementation of
the T&E card program
(e.g., policies,
recommended reports)
11
Commercial Card
Source, select, and implement

Best
Practice 3 a Visa Commercial One card program
Sourcing a Visa Commercial One card program can occur when selecting a new
card program or upon deciding to reduce the number of card programs. Visa
Commercial One cards can be used for procurement, travel and entertainment, and
fleet expenses. Leading companies employ a thorough sourcing process for selecting a
Visa Commercial One card program, analyzing the program’s benefits, establishing
program goals and objectives, and determining the appropriate Issuer and card provider
that can best help the company achieve its specific objectives.
Best practice companies employing a Visa Commercial One card program have
recognized the following benefits:
• Increased efficiency and effectiveness of card management and administration
– Improved negotiating position and streamlined relationship management
with the card provider
– Reduced number of card accounts managed, particularly for companies
with a high degree of purchasing and T&E cardholder overlap
– Complete and detailed view of spend through access to aggregate and indi-
vidual cardholder account data
• Cardholder satisfaction
– User convenience from having one statement to reconcile
– No confusion of which card to use
• Reduced transaction costs for purchasing and payment activities
– Reduced volume of purchase orders and check payments
– Reduced petty cash and check requests, resulting in reduced costs
associated with processing and tracking the requests
The Visa Commercial One card benefits must be balanced against the following
considerations:
• Program liability structure works optimally with corporate liability
– Some Issuers can help facilitate split-liability, e.g., corporate liability for
purchasing transactions and individual liability for T&E transactions
– Detailed reconciliation process must be put in place to ensure any
personal expenses placed on the card are correctly accounted for and
not paid by the employer
• Spend will have to be categorized (procurement versus T&E) to assist in
estimation of sales and use tax obligations
– Spend categorization is usually done using information found in
Merchant Category Codes (MCCs)

Best Practices
12
Commercial Card Source, select, and implement
Program a Visa Commercial One card program
continued
Best
Practice 3 • Issuers may be able to provide greater product functionality on separate card
programs
• While Visa Commercial One card programs are intended to reduce the number of
cards in the hands of employees, in many cases, the same employees do not
make both T&E and indirect procurement purchases
Best practice companies develop specific, achievable, short- and long-term goals for
their Visa Commercial One card programs. They align these goals with their overall
business strategy and ensure that they are consistent with their procurement and travel
policies. Best practice companies periodically review these goals to ensure their
achievement.
Leading companies analyze the costs and benefits of each available program, taking
into consideration product variations between Issuers (e.g., financial institution or other
Issuer) and card providers (e.g., Visa, MasterCard).
Companies compare Issuers based on the following factors:
• Current bank relationships
• Card management and administration tools:
– Templates to assist with implementation (e.g., policies and procedures)
– Online account administration
– Online reporting capabilities
– Program expansion tools
– Best practices benchmarking tools
• Knowledge/experience of card sales personnel and ability to provide consultative
services
Companies compare card providers based upon the following factors:
• Merchant/supplier acceptance
• Standard transaction cost charged to merchants for transaction processing
13
Commercial Card Source, select, and implement
Program a Visa Commercial One card program
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Sourcing for an appropriate card

Process Efficiencies program ensures the greatest possible cost saving
Amount of Benefit: High
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Having Visa Commercial One card
Amount of Benefit: High program consolidates management and
administration and eliminates end-user confusion
over which card to use for which type of spend
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Thorough review of card program enables
Amount of Benefit: High company to select a card that provides the needed
vendor acceptance and provides greatest data for
vendor management and negotiations
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Ensures that the selected card program
Amount of Benefit: Medium has the appropriate controls in place

ACTION STEPS:
• Three participating companies decided to implement a Visa Commercial One card solution to
1. Establish goals and decrease employee confusion and take advantage of a standardized technological platform.
objectives for the one Through an internal survey of end users, one of the companies determined that end users with
card program multiple card needs found it confusing to manage separate cards – i.e., trying to figure out which
2. Create cross-functional card to use. This in turn decreased the card’s appeal and resulted in lower card usage. The
team of key stakeholders simplicity and convenience of its Visa Commercial One card program, however, increased the
to participate in card company's internal acceptance and satisfaction with the payment mechanism.
selection process – at a • As a result of an acquisition, one company was employing all card programs, including
minimum include both purchasing, T&E, fleet and Visa Commercial One cards. Taking advantage of the opportunity to
procurement and A/P consolidate and automate the preferred practices of the merged entities, the company found the
personnel Visa Commercial One card program was an effective means of capturing total spend and intends
3. Develop request for to move all card programs to that platform.
proposal and distribute • Two participating companies implemented a Visa Commercial One card in an effort to move all
to Issuers low-dollar expenditures from invoices and purchase orders to card transactions. Satisfied with
4. Evaluate Issuer responses the benefits of their Visa Commercial One card programs, the companies are looking for other
against Visa Commercial spend categories to migrate onto the card. For example, one company is currently looking at
One card goals and moving its fleet expenditures onto the card.
objectives and select
Issuer based upon ability
to meet those goals
and objectives

Best Practices
14
Commercial Card
Align commercial card program objectives

Best
Practice 4 with company’s overall Procure-to-Pay strategy
A commercial card program should be consistent with, and implemented as part of,
the company’s overall Procure-to-Pay strategy. Procure-to-Pay strategies typically have
the following objectives: reduce transactions costs, improve vendor management,
increase controls, and enhance user satisfaction. Best practice companies ensure
specific commercial card performance measures are in place to correlate to Procure-to-
Pay objectives. Measurements can include: purchase transaction cost, invoice payment
cost, spend on card, and user satisfaction data.
Additionally, the companies periodically review their card program objectives and
performance for continuous improvement purposes.
IMPLEMENTATION MARKET APPLICABILITY: All Companies

ACTION STEPS:
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Leveraging cards as part of an overall
1. Review corporate/ Process Efficiencies company strategy assists companies in using
procurement mission and Amount of Benefit: High the most efficient and cost-effective method for
vision statement; review purchasing and payment
current Procure-to-Pay policy
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Ensuring that commercial card program
2. Develop simple commercial
Amount of Benefit: High goal setting and tracking is performed in conjunction
card goals and objectives;
with Procure-to-Pay performance measures will
highlight objectives that
facilitate greater management control of objectives
can be modified as the
program evolves or as
business needs change
3. Ensure that goals are
measurable and attainable IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
(e.g., reduction in invoice
volume, increase in card • One study participant had a strategic initiative to reduce the overhead cost of its transactional
penetration, reduction of Procurement functions and reallocate resources to other parts of the company. Through
number of suppliers) implementation of a Visa Purchasing card program, it was able to reduce A/P headcount by
4. Build in flexibility to allow
66 percent from 135 personnel to 45 personnel over a four-year span.
modification according to • Another study participant was able to meet its company’s productivity goals of reducing manual
specific division/unit/ process of paper invoices by increasing the volume of transactions on the card by 40 percent,
country needs which enabled its A/P personnel to focus on more strategic activities.
5. Communicate goals and
drivers for each goal or
objective to cardholders
and managers
6. Track these goals for
continuous improvement
efforts; publicize successes
15
Commercial Card
Obtain active senior management promotion of

Best
Practice 5 and involvement in the commercial card program
Obtaining senior management (e.g., business unit lead, senior or executive vice
president) support of and involvement in the implementation, administration, and
championing of the commercial card program is often critical to maximize the card
program’s benefits. In fact, one-third of the study participants indicated the lack of
senior management support and involvement as the most significant barrier to card
expansion.
Companies have successfully obtained and maintained senior management
involvement in the program by educating them about card use benefits and by
identifying ways senior management can demonstrate their support for the program.
Best practice companies often ask senior management to demonstrate commitment to
the program through the following:
• Integration of card use into business planning: Establishing and tracking
business unit goals for commercial card use jointly with procurement and the
business units
• Inclusion of card use goals in management bonus plan: Including goals for
commercial card use within management’s financial rewards program
• Communication: Sending an email or memo to employees advocating or
mandating use of the card and detailing the benefits of the program
• Training: Participating in card program training to display support of and
involvement in the card program
• Card program enforcement: Supporting and enforcing the stipulations of
non-compliance according to program policies and procedures
Finally, some best practice companies have found that an organizational structure
which allows Program Administrator access to senior management, such as a dotted
line relationship from Accounts Payable to the CFO, can be very effective for obtaining
senior management time and support for the program.

Best Practices
16
Commercial Card Obtain active senior management promotion of
Program and involvement in the commercial card program
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Senior management and business

Process Efficiencies unit support of the card program encourages
Amount of Benefit: High appropriate use of the card, resulting in anticipated
card program cost savings and process efficiencies
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Involvement of senior management

Amount of Benefit: High and business unit leaders in the card program
provides visibility into card program compliance
and discourages misuse of the card

ACTION STEPS:
• One large market company was able to obtain CFO involvement in card program communication.
1. Develop a cross- During card training, new hires were required to watch a video in which the CFO holds the card
functional team to form and explains why it is necessary and beneficial to use it.
communication initiative • The CFO at a high-tech manufacturer has communicated to all employees through an email
to share benefits of the memo that use of the corporate card is mandated for all cardable purchases.
card program with senior
management
• One construction company was able to garner business unit support for the card program
through constant interaction with site managers, utilizing:
2. Identify areas in which – Articles in the corporate newsletter
senior management or – User-satisfaction surveys
business unit involvement
can further promote or
enforce use of the card
3. Develop a plan for senior
management or business
unit involvement
(e.g., communication
through email,
involvement in training)
4. Schedule periodic review
meetings with senior
management to ensure
ongoing participation
and support
17
Commercial Card
Establish center-led management and administration

Best
Practice 6 of the commercial card program
Center-led oversight facilitates standardization of the commercial card program.

While card requirements and restrictions may vary slightly based upon business unit
procurement needs, the overall program will be consistent across the company.
This best practice approach reduces cardholder confusion and reinforces compliance
with a consistent corporate policy.
The majority of study participants reported centralized management of the
commercial card program. Development of commercial card policies and procedures,
vendor management and Strategic Sourcing, creation of training programs, and
program scorecard creation and management are activities performed centrally.
Large or geographically dispersed companies often have centralized oversight with
programs administered by location-specific representatives. These representatives are
typically responsible for the following: location-specific reporting, reconciliation, training
delivery, and response to end-user inquiries.

ACTION STEPS:
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Facilitates employee awareness and
1. Position the commercial Process Efficiencies understanding of commercial card program that
card program in a Amount of Benefit: Medium increases card usage
centralized function that
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Improves employee awareness of
has visibility and access
Amount of Benefit: Medium appropriate personnel to contact for questions
to senior management
and issues
2. Analyze the need for
centralized management Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Facilitates standardization of card
to be supplemented with Amount of Benefit: High program; increases employee awareness of program,
site-specific representatives which improves understanding of program importance
3. Communicate the and potentially increases spend placed on cards
appropriate points-
of-contact for the
commercial card program
to cardholders; make
contact list available on IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
company intranet and/or • Several best practice companies directly attributed the success of their purchasing card program
distribute updates to to having dedicated and attentive administrators. One company has credited its administrator for
cardholders more than doubling the card distribution and usage (from 2,000 users to 4,100 users) over a
four-year time period.
• 65 percent of surveyed companies centralized the card program administration in procurement
and 31 percent place it in Finance/Accounts Payable.

Best Practices
18
Commercial Card
Institute a centralized travel management function

Best
Practice 7
Best practice companies have centralized the travel management function to
achieve the following benefits:
• Improve travel coordination efforts
• Enhance negotiating strength
• Ensure consistent development and application of travel policy
• Streamline communication with vendors
• Increase user satisfaction from centralized service
• Ensure consistent and comprehensive reporting
The majority of study participants reported centralized travel management.
At a minimum, the development of travel policies and vendor negotiations and
management should be centralized. Other activities that can be centralized include:
• Travel policy management
• Travel policy communication (e.g., newsletters, web site)
• T&E card administration
• Management of travel agent(s) of any type:
– Outsourced
– In-house
– Location-specific
• Management of in-house travel web site
• Customer service management (e.g., reservation booking, responses to inquires)
• T&E reporting
19
Commercial Card
Program Institute a centralized travel management function
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Centralized travel and consolidation

Process Efficiencies of spend reduces costs and improves discounts
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Improves employee awareness of

Amount of Benefit: Medium appropriate personnel to contact for questions
and issues
IMPLEMENTATION Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Improves vendor relationships and
Amount of Benefit: Medium enhances management of travel vendors;
ACTION STEPS:
information collected in this function supports
1. Identify the size and the contract negotiation process
scope of travel volume
(e.g., number of travelers, Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Improves the ability to track and
city pairs) Amount of Benefit: High analyze travel spend at centralized location
2. Determine travel
management activities
and reporting structure,
and divide responsibilities IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
according to required skills
3. Staff the travel • 70 percent of our survey participants have a centralized travel management function. Two-thirds
management function of the participants have this function reporting to the Finance or Procurement departments.
with individual(s) who are • One study participant transitioned to centralized travel management, which consolidated
knowledgeable in the spend and allowed the company to decrease the number of travel agencies servicing the
travel industry to ensure company to one. The move to a single travel agency reduced rates and streamlined the
the greatest benefits are vendor relationship effort.
achieved through the
program; alternatively,
train those responsible for
the travel management
function on travel industry-
specific reporting, tools,
negotiation techniques,
and processes to ensure
staff have expertise
necessary to perform
successfully
4. Determine and develop
common tools to support
the travel management
function (including vendor
database, card
management policies,
data extracts from ERP
system to track spend,
dedicated web site,
and travel index/guides)

Best Practices
20
Commercial Card
Develop enterprise-wide procurement

Best
Practice 8 policies and procedures
Leading companies document procurement policies and procedures to

communicate to their internal customers their recommended Procure-to-Pay processes.
A procurement policy should contain the following content:
• Mission statement and objectives of procurement function, including alignment
with company’s mission statement
• Procurement organization chart with contact information
• Sourcing and procurement guidelines
– Sourcing strategy
– Requisition of expense items
– Requisition of capital items
– Requisition of services
– Preferred vendors
• Approval rules
• Receipt and return process
• Accounts Payable (A/P) process
• Procurement control and audit
• Use of commercial card
– Commercial card manager contact information
– Issuance criteria and process
– Cardholder agreement
– Usage guidelines
– Reconciliation process
– Payment process
On an annual basis, best practice companies review their policies and procedures
and modify as needed. Changes are then communicated to users and incorporated into
existing training.
21
Commercial Card
Program Develop enterprise-wide procurement policies and procedures
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Procurement policies and procedures

Process Efficiencies detail standard practices designed to make a pro-
Amount of Benefit: Medium curement organization operate more efficiently;
users who learn about and follow these practices
take actions that enable procurement savings, such
as use of preferred vendors
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Designing and documenting procurement

Amount of Benefit: High policies and procedures that fit a company’s
desired level of control enables communication of
requirements to ensure compliance

ACTION STEPS:
• 85 percent of our survey respondents have documented procurement policies and
1. Develop comprehensive procedures. 74 percent of those respondents had less than 5 percent of all purchases fail a
outline that covers all formal audit process.
relevant aspects of • All of the study participants who do not have formally documented policies and procedures
Procure-to-Pay process stated user inability to comply with procedures or failure to follow the approval process as the
2. For each policy section, reasons why they failed audit. These items are the most common component of any policy and
research current practices procedure document.
and third-party research
regarding best practices;
determine preferred
processes based upon
company culture and
capabilities
3. Document the policies
and procedures
4. Continually reexamine
policies and procedure
and update as needed

Best Practices
22
Commercial Card
Develop and distribute company-wide travel policies

Best
Practice 9
Best practice companies develop company-wide T&E policies and communicate
them in ways that maximize compliance. The policy should be clear, easily accessible,
and widely disseminated. Enhancing travelers’ understanding and buy-in to the policy
improves compliance, diminishes policy-related conflicts at the point of booking, and
increases benefits associated with compliance. Leading companies ensure that T&E
policies are aligned with overall Procure-to-Pay objectives and are actively endorsed
by senior management.
Travel policies should contain the following topics:
• Objectives • Non-reimbursable expenses
• Summary responsibilities • Reimbursement process
• Travel approval process • T&E card
• Designated travel agency – Cardholder benefits
• Air travel policies – Cardholder responsibilities
– Credit limits,
• Auto travel policies
restriction/controls
• Rental car travel policies – Liability associated with
• Other out-of-town expense policies the card
– Restricted transactions
• Other business expense policies
– Dispute resolution
• Reimbursable expense guidelines
– Lost card procedures
– Air travel – Cardholder agreement form
– Car rental – Card activation
– Personal vehicle use • Policy violations
– Lodging
• Safety and security measures
– Meals/business
entertainment
– Spousal travel expenses
23
Commercial Card
Program Develop and distribute company-wide travel policies
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Increases compliance with use of

Process Efficiencies preferred vendors, thereby leveraging the established
Amount of Benefit: Medium discounts and increasing the ability to maintain or
gain additional discounts through those vendors
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Improves employees’ ability to access

Amount of Benefit: Medium travel policy requirements and restrictions; empowers
employees to make appropriate travel decisions
IMPLEMENTATION Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Increases compliance with use of
Amount of Benefit: Medium preferred vendors, providing travel management
ACTION STEPS:
function with greater ability to assess vendor pricing
1. Develop a policy that is performance and greater leverage with vendors to
consistent with company improve performance and pricing (e.g., concierge
culture and needs by services, upgrades, travel incentives)
reviewing current policies,
surveying employees to Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Provides employees with understanding of
gain user insights, and Amount of Benefit: High travel restrictions, mandates, and policy updates;
reviewing current travel employees who are aware of and understand
spend data (e.g., hotels, policies are more likely to follow them
airlines, rental car
agencies, and cellular
phone carriers)
2. Gain senior management
IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
approval and participation
to demonstrate corporate • Three study participants noted that regular communication of travel “tips” for non-compliance
sponsorship areas improved employee compliance with the policy (e.g., in email or through company
3. Present the policy in a newsletters).
user-friendly format that • One mid-size study participant not only reviewed and updated his company’s travel policies
guides travelers through periodically, but also communicated the changes to travelers. This review and communication
the entire process; include process resulted in a reduction of the travel budget by one-third over the last three years, which
answers to frequently equated to a reduction from $9 million to $6 million.
asked questions (FAQs)
4. Make the travel policies
available through new hire
orientation; maintain
the travel policies on a
company intranet
5. Communicate updates
to the policy and related
successes of the program
on an ongoing basis; issue
periodic traveler tips that
focus on key elements of
the T&E policies

Best Practices
24
Commercial
Card Program Program Foundation
Develop and disseminate enterprise-wide

Best
Practice 10 commercial card policies and procedures
Leading companies document commercial card policies and procedures to

communicate the appropriate use of the commercial card to cardholders. The policy
should provide clear guidelines and be widely disseminated. Cardholders are more likely
to use cards for eligible purposes if they understand what the eligible purchases are and
how policy and procedural compliance fits with the overall company strategy. Companies
report a variety of reasons why they have implemented card programs, and their policies
reflect these objectives.
A Commercial card policy should contain the following content by commercial card type:
IMPLEMENTATION
ACTION STEPS: • Commercial card objectives
1. Review corporate/
• Cardholder responsibilities
procurement mission and
vision statement; review • Approving manager responsibilities
current Procure-to-Pay
policy to understand how • Credit/transaction/spending limits
a commercial card meets
policy objectives • Ordering process/eligible purchases
2. Develop and disseminate
a policy to address the • Record keeping/reconciliation
commercial card program
selected, including the • Security and liability
items listed above
• Auditing procedures
3. Review policy and update
periodically as needed • Restricted transactions
• Dispute resolution
• Lost card procedures
• Cardholder agreement form
• Card activation
• Training
MARKET APPLICABILITY: All Companies
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Clear guidelines empower the

Process Efficiencies cardholders to use cards appropriately,
Amount of Benefit: High ensuring expected savings are achieved
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Clear guidelines empower the

Amount of Benefit: Medium cardholders to use cards appropriately; use of
cards is more convenient than purchase orders
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Policies document and communicate

Amount of Benefit: High expectations and control mechanisms to managers,
administrators, and cardholders
25
Commercial
Card Program Program Management
Incorporate a comprehensive commercial card

Best
Practice 11 training program
Best practice companies develop training materials with relevant information and
mandate that employees receive appropriate commercial card training prior to card issue.
Strong policies and procedures must be established as the foundation for the
training effort. Fundamentals of a training program include goals, type of trainees,
content per trainee, and formats for delivery. The training goals should be matched to
trainee type:
Trainee Type Trainee Type Definition Training Goals

Executive Designated to be a senior vice Card program awareness
president or above
Super User Heavy use of card for Detailed commercial card

purchasing with reconciliation policies and procedures
approval responsibilities training
Approver Infrequent need to requisition; Overview of commercial

primary role to be approval card policies and procedures
of requisitions and detailed training on
approval processes
Cardholder Use of card for purchasing, Overview of commercial

with little approval capability card policies and procedures
and detailed training on
eligible purchases

Best Practices
26
Commercial
Card Program Incorporate a comprehensive commercial card training program
continued
Best
Practice 11 There are multiple training delivery formats. Best practice companies analyze each
format and determine the appropriate mix for the organization and trainee types.
Delivery formats include: virtual training (e.g., webcasts), classroom training, and self-
study. Each delivery format has its advantages and disadvantages.
Delivery Format Advantages Disadvantages

Virtual • Enables virtual classroom • Presents new learning style
setting
• Enables deep buy-in • Requires knowledge of

and accountability intranet technology
• Scalable and repeatable • Assumes companies

have intranet
• Low cost
• Ensures consistent
presentation of materials
• Best time to use if

geographically disperse
organization
Self-study • Scalable and repeatable • Requires trainee to

(computer-based independently access
training) • Low cost and complete the training
• Training facility not required • Eliminates face-to-face

human interaction
• Can be completed at
trainee’s own pace
Classroom via • Enables center-led design • Expensive

train the trainer and decentralized execution
of training program • Not easily repeatable
• Enables face-to-face • Potential for inconsistency

interaction of presentation of materials
• Preferred style of learning • Requires training facilities
27
Commercial
Card Program Incorporate a comprehensive commercial card training program
continued
Best
Practice 11 Other training materials can include Quick Reference Cards that summarize the
critical training topics and are posted at employees’ desks.
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Reduces costs through compliance

Process Efficiencies
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Empowers employees to comply

Amount of Benefit: High with policies
IMPLEMENTATION Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Increases the likelihood of choosing
ACTION STEPS: Amount of Benefit: Medium approved vendors
1. Identify the trainee types Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Increases the likelihood that
Amount of Benefit: High established policies and procedures will be used
2. Match training content
and delivery modes to
each trainee type
3. Execute training program
4. Review the training IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
program for effectiveness • A survey respondent had a dedicated purchasing card training program and directly linked this to
(policy compliance) and the successful penetration and expansion of the card program, as cardholders understood the
relevance (end-user benefits and were empowered to use the card.
evaluations)
• One survey respondent directly attributed increased purchasing card usage through
5. Periodically update incorporating purchasing card training into its new hire training program.
according to changes in
policies and procedures • During training, one company distributed a “Pink Book,” which contained its procurement policy.
This brightly colored manual was used as an easily recognizable, quick-reference tool
for understanding how to use the card.

Best Practices
28
Commercial
Establish Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

Best
Practice 12 issuance criteria for optimal distribution to employees
Leading companies ensure that purchasing/Visa Commercial One cards are

distributed appropriately. These companies develop criteria for distribution of cards that
are consistent with company culture, policies, and spend parameters for card-eligible
purchases. Issuing cards to the right people and encouraging use of the cards is key to
the success of a purchasing card program.
Distribution of cards should be wide enough to ensure all regular purchasers of
card eligible purchases have a purchasing card or have access to a department-
designated card. Best practice companies identify designated buyers who will use the
card on a frequent basis, typically called “Super Users.” Super Users are individuals
who may be responsible for all purchases for a business unit or facility.

ACTION STEPS:
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Distribution of cards to those who
1. Develop criteria for Process Efficiencies regularly purchase items ensures that the maximum
distribution of cards that is Amount of Benefit: High number of eligible purchases go through the card,
consistent with company reducing transaction costs associated with purchase
culture and policies; review orders and petty cash
purchase orders, petty
cash distributions, and Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Ensuring that appropriate personnel have
check requests to identify Amount of Benefit: High cards improves satisfaction with procurement
typical purchasers at your process; individuals who do make purchases
organization appreciate the convenience of the card
2. Distribute criteria for card Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Increases control by placing cards in
issuance as part of pro- Amount of Benefit: Medium the hands of the appropriate employees
curement and
purchasing card policies
3. Distribute cards to “Super
Users” and other identified
purchasers IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
4. Solicit feedback from • Survey respondents reported that identification of the appropriate purchasers, and distribution
cardholders and managers of purchasing cards to those individuals, directly led to the success of their card programs.
to ensure appropriate
• Leading companies regularly review inactive card and card activation reports to identify cards
distribution; e.g., if a card-
that are not being used. Companies reported that this information was used to identify
holder is regularly making
individuals who do not need cards, need additional education on use, or need encouragement to
purchases for another
transition to a new process.
employee, that employee
may require a card • One company that gave cards to designated users was able to move 100,000 transactions from
purchase orders to purchasing cards.
5. Review activation reports
to identify individuals that
have not activated cards
after issuance; these
individuals are likely to be
purchasing card-eligible
items through other
methods. Particular
attention should be paid
to this during rollout of a
new card program, as
there may be some
resistance to change 29
Commercial
Establish T&E/Visa Commercial One card issuance

Best
Practice 13 criteria for optimal distribution to business travelers
Leading companies ensure that T&E cards are distributed appropriately. These
companies develop criteria for distribution of cards that are consistent with company
culture, policies, and spend parameters for card-eligible purchases. The use of T&E cards
can reduce costs associated with processing cash advances and check requests.
Some companies distribute T&E cards to all travelers, and others only distribute
cards to regular travelers. To identify individuals who require T&E cards, companies
review cash advance requests and expense reports. Companies should also review
travel volume and needs of various business units (e.g., Sales) and roles when
identifying travelers. T&E cards can be a significant benefit to employees who may not
have an established credit history.
For employees who do not travel regularly (typically only once a year or less) or for
IMPLEMENTATION
recruits/interns who may be involved in limited short-term travel, companies may want
ACTION STEPS:
to investigate the use of virtual accounts or central billing accounts to handle airline,
1. Develop a criteria for hotel, and car rental costs.
distribution of T&E cards
that is consistent with
company culture and
policies; coordinate with
managers to determine
profile of a typical traveler; Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Encourages all travel-related expenses to
review expense reports Process Efficiencies be purchased with the T&E card, reducing
and cash advances to Amount of Benefit: High transaction costs associated with cash advances
identify individuals who and check requests
should have T&E cards
2. Prior to any travel for a Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Improves travelers’ ability to pay for
non-cardholder, managers Amount of Benefit: High travel-related expenses, reduces travelers’ concerns
should determine whether over access to funds while traveling, and alleviates
the employee will have need for travelers to use personal funds or credit
ongoing travel responsibili- for business travel
ties – if the employee Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Optimal distribution of T&E cards
does, then the manager Amount of Benefit: Medium increases eligible spend on the cards, providing
should consider issuing a improved reporting of actual travel spend for
T&E card to the employee vendor management
3. Regularly review inactive
T&E card reports; Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Increases control through consolidation
determine whether Amount of Benefit: High of spend – allows for improved reporting and
employee is using his own reconciliation of travel spend
card to pay for travel-
related expenses; if so,
encourage use of the card;
if not, reevaluate the need
for the employee to have
the card • Best practice companies have increased their issuance of T&E cards by monitoring expense
reports and identifying travelers who pay exclusively out of pocket. A majority of the companies
surveyed reported that use of T&E cards significantly reduces the need for cash advances.
• One company issued cards to all employees who needed to travel and mandated use of the card.
That company was able to achieve a 29 percent discount on its $3.5 million travel spend.

Best Practices
30
Commercial
Mandate and enforce use of Visa Purchasing /

Best
Practice 14 Visa Commercial One card for all eligible purchases
Best practice organizations mandate and enforce use of commercial cards.

Consolidating eligible spend onto purchasing cards improves the organization’s ability
to achieve cost savings and control maverick spend.
Companies should decide how to enforce compliance to their prescribed use of the
purchasing cards. Some companies strongly encourage usage through education and
compliance reporting, while other companies mandate usage and charge those
business units not in compliance with the cost of purchase order generation. Some
companies have elected to reward business units by passing cost savings back to the
business unit. Each company must determine how best to encourage purchasing card
usage for eligible transactions based upon their culture.

ACTION STEPS:
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Increased use of the card for eligible
1. Regularly communicate Process Efficiencies purchases reduces transaction costs associated
which purchases are Amount of Benefit: High with those purchases and overall program costs
eligible for purchasing
on cards Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Increases compliance with criteria for
Amount of Benefit: High placing eligible spend on commercial card
2. Review purchases made
through other methods
(e.g., purchase orders)
to determine whether
purchases should have IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
been made on a card
3. Notify cardholders and/or • Survey results indicate that 68 percent of the respondents either mandate or strongly encourage
management when the usage of their Visa Purchasing cards to maximize savings.
purchases should have • One survey participant distributed Visa Purchasing card spending goals to all business units to
been made through a generate competition to increase eligible spend placed on the card.
Visa Purchasing card • Another survey respondent reported that encouragement and communication worked with all
4. Communicate benefits of but one business unit. To force compliance, the procurement department declined to pay the
and successes associated invoice and forwarded it to the business unit to figure out how to pay the vendor.
with use of cards • One survey participant declined purchase requisitions for items that met criteria for purchase
with the Visa Purchasing card. This significantly reduced the number of purchase orders being
processed at the company and increased eligible spend on the Visa Purchasing card.
• Mid-size companies have reported that declining check requests and decreasing petty cash on
hand have resulted in increased use of commercial cards for eligible purchases.
• One company-mandated use of the commercial card for all eligible spend. If cardholders did not
follow policy, they were given a warning after the first violation and then incurred increasing
charges back to the business unit for each additional violation.
31
Commercial
Mandate and enforce use of the T&E/

Best
Practice 15 Visa Commercial One card for all eligible purchases
Best practice companies mandate and enforce use of T&E/Visa Commercial One
cards. Consolidating travel payments into a single payment vehicle improves a
company’s ability to capture and analyze data for vendor negotiations and compliance
reporting (e.g., tracking of progress against volume guarantees and use of preferred
vendors). T&E card use also facilitates automated pre-populated expense reporting.
Additionally, use of a T&E card helps minimize the need for cash advances. One-third of
the survey participants mandated usage of their T&E cards.
Companies use a variety of techniques, based upon their corporate culture, to
IMPLEMENTATION enforce use of the card. A typical method is distribution of exception reporting to
ACTION STEPS:
non-compliant travelers and their supervisors. Some companies reported that
1. Develop policies and employees are given initial warnings for non-compliant behavior (e.g., email, voice mail,
procedures as a foundation
to compliance
in person). Should the traveler continue to spend outside of policy, the company will not
2. Mandate T&E card use
reimburse those expenses.
and communicate benefits
to cardholders
3. Encourage card use by MARKET APPLICABILITY: All Companies
training cardholders on
proper use Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Increases compliance, reducing travel
4. Regularly communicate Process Efficiencies costs and trip-planning effort; reduces the level of
benefits and successes of Amount of Benefit: High effort required to gather travel spend information
the T&E card program Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Can help strengthen vendor relationship
5. T&E card administrators, Amount of Benefit: High due to increased use, and improved data can be used
travel managers, and/or for future contract negotiations
Accounts Payable should
monitor compliance; Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Enables company-wide, centralized
review expense reports Amount of Benefit: High visibility to spend data and supports effective report-
to identify exceptions; ing for audit and control purposes
leverage exception
reporting tools available
through Issuers
6. Based on culture, IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
distribute non-compliance
reporting to non-compliant • A large corporate study participant mandated and enforced use of the corporate T&E card,
traveler, direct supervisor, increasing spend on the card and enabling reduced fees through the Issuer. On average, survey
and/or management participants that mandated T&E card use also appeared to achieve higher discounts through
travel vendors. For air travel, the average discount was 26 percent compared with
7. Based on culture, take
13 percent for companies that did not mandate T&E card use.
steps to enforce use for
continued non-compliance • Of the survey participants that mandated T&E card use, only 20 percent felt the need to
continue to provide cash advances. Of the survey participants that did not mandate use of the
T&E card, 55 percent continued to fund cash advances to their employees.
• A mid-size company mandated use of the corporate T&E card for all airfare to reduce control
concerns associated with travel booked but not taken. Through implementation of this program,
the company achieved better tracking of unused travel and was able to reduce thousands of
dollars of unused airfare credit.

Best Practices
32
Commercial
Maximize use of Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One

Best
Practice 16 card virtual accounts
Virtual accounts are commercial cards associated with one department or vendor,
regardless of the particular end user making the purchase. The two most common
examples of virtual accounts are ghost accounts and department cards. Ghost accounts
are master accounts with no associated physical card. A department card is a plastic
card that is assigned to a specific group within the company. With both cards, purchases
are charged to an individual commercial card account number, which can only be
accessed by designated purchasers.
Best practice companies leverage virtual accounts as part of their overall Visa
Purchasing card strategies. Consolidation of spend onto virtual accounts reduces
administration of purchase orders, various card programs (e.g., virtual accounts can be
substituted for supplier cards), and multiple card statements.
Examples of spend categories that are typically handled through virtual accounts:
• Recurring charges through service companies, such as monthly bills for
shredding, cleaning, telephone/pager services, rent, and utilities
• Services, such as temporary services, catering, and copier maintenance
• Events planning expenses, such as hotels and transportation for marketing or
training functions.
• Capital items for projects, such as technology equipment
Ghost accounts are a particularly effective and efficient method of payment for
e-Procurement purchases, as they provide settlement convenience: a single Electronic
Funds Transfer (EFT) payment for multiple charges instead of numerous individual
checks. Ghost accounts should be set up for each e-Procurement supplier with high
levels of spend. For both e-Procurement and standard purchasing, this approach
minimizes administrative work, because the company will manage fewer accounts,
compared to establishing an account for each buyer.
For ghost accounts, the vendor typically maintains the card number at its location to
be charged at the time of each purchase or on a monthly basis. Ghost accounts reduce
the risk of late payments, minimize burden on A/P to pay recurring monthly bills, and
increase vendor satisfaction with timely payment.
33
Commercial Maximize use of Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card
Card Program virtual accounts
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Use of ghost accounts reduces time
Process Efficiencies for reconciliation and settlement of transactions
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Eases both the order placement and
Amount of Benefit: High payment processes; increases vendor satisfaction
through timeliness of payments
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Maintaining a single vendor and or

Amount of Benefit: Medium commodity on a ghost account allows for improved
tracking of spend with the supplier(s)
IMPLEMENTATION Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Use of back-end audit maintains the
Amount of Benefit: High controls on these purchases; improved controls
ACTION STEPS:
can be achieved through reporting on the card
1. Evaluate current spend account (e.g., companies can review monthly
and identify suppliers or charges for variance and month-to-month
commodities to target for variance); enables greater management of
virtual card programs departmental or commodity-based spend
2. Leverage Issuer
experience to implement
and manage a virtual
card program
3. For current suppliers,
coordinate transition to • Half of the survey respondents use virtual accounts.
ghost accounts • One study participant has significantly leveraged use of the ghost account program for all
4. Determine data possible recurring expenditures, including catering, telephone, cellular phone, pagers,
requirements and shredding, and maintenance that significantly improved the reconciliation process and vendor
communicate to vendor negotiations by placing all spend with each vendor on a single account. The transition also
5. Finalize requirements resulted in a significant reduction in the number of invoices and purchase orders.
for reconciliation purposes • One survey respondent implemented e-Procurement and ghost accounts with designated vendors
and communicate to (e.g., computer provider). Ghost account use facilitated issue resolution and expedited payment.
purchaser/cardholder

Best Practices
34
Commercial
Maximize use of T&E/Visa Commercial One card

Best
Practice 17 virtual accounts
Virtual accounts are commercial cards associated with one department or vendor,
regardless of the particular end user making the purchase. The two most common
examples of virtual accounts are ghost accounts and department cards. Ghost accounts
are master accounts with no associated physical card; the account number is typically
maintained with a single vendor. A department card is a physical card that is assigned to a
specific group within a company. In both cases, purchases are charged to an individual
commercial card account number, which can only be accessed by designated purchasers.
Best practice companies use virtual accounts as part of their overall T&E card
strategy. For example, companies set up ghost accounts with their contracted travel
agents for T&E spend, most commonly airline spend, and they use department cards to
cover T&E spend for infrequent travelers or non-employees, e.g., contractors or recruits.
The advantages of T&E virtual accounts include:
• Convenience for those who have not yet received a T&E card or who do not meet
the company’s guidelines to receive a T&E card, such as:
– New hires/recent college graduates
– Potential hires
– Contractors
– Foreign employees/new immigrants
– Employees who are infrequent travelers based on annual T&E spend
or number of trips per year
• Reduction of costs associated with individual employee reimbursement of travel
spend
• Elimination of employee burden to cover travel expenditures during the period
between when they are incurred and reimbursed
• Reduction of late payments to the vendor or Issuer
Best practice companies receive and pay virtual account bills centrally. They
establish controls to validate purchases or reconcile card statements through
department/employee verification of their expenses. These companies also mandate
the use of virtual accounts and ensure that travelers and the travel agency understand
the company’s travel and expense policies, preferred suppliers, and negotiated rates.
Best practice companies use and consolidate the virtual account card data with
other T&E data (e.g., from the travel agency, hotels, car rental agencies, and other
internal reporting systems) in order to get a complete view of spend for improved
reporting and negotiating power with vendors.
35
Commercial
Card Program Maximize use of T&E/Visa Commercial One card virtual accounts
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Use of ghost accounts reduces time
Process Efficiencies for reconciliation and settlement of transactions
IMPLEMENTATION Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Eases both the order placement and
Amount of Benefit: High payment processes; increases vendor satisfaction
ACTION STEPS:
through timeliness of payments; and decreases
Department Cards employee debt burden
1. Evaluate current T&E spend
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Maintaining a single T&E expense on
and T&E buyer profiles
Amount of Benefit: Medium a ghost account allows for improved tracking of
2. Identify groups of T&E pur- spend with the supplier
chasers to whom to assign
department cards (e.g., Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Use of back-end audit maintains the
by department, function, Amount of Benefit: High controls on these purchases; improved controls
or related activities, etc.) can be achieved through reporting on the card
account (e.g., companies can review monthly
3. Use Issuer experience
charges for variance and month-to-month
to implement and manage
variance); enables greater management of
T&E department cards
departmental or travel spend
4. Transition current
purchasers/cardholders to
T&E department cards
5. Determine data require-
ments and communicate IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
to vendor(s)
• In addition to issuing individual T&E cards for frequent travelers, one company has set up 85
6. Finalize requirements for virtual travel accounts with its contracted travel agent for each of its departments. These virtual
reconciliation purposes travel accounts pay for the air travel of each department’s infrequent travelers, including
and communicate to employees with less than $500/year of T&E expenses. By setting up these virtual accounts, the
purchasers/cardholders company is able to control T&E expenses centrally and manage the T&E card program more
effectively by concentrating on high spend users.
Ghost Accounts • Two mid-market companies have issued T&E cards for non-air travel and require all air travel to
1. Evaluate current T&E be booked through the company’s virtual travel account with its contracted travel agent. These
spend and identify companies have benefited from central control, real-time access to travel data, and end-user
categories to target for satisfaction. End users are relieved of the debt burden of air travel expenses.
ghost accounts
2. Use Issuer experience
to implement and
manage T&E ghost
accounts at vendors
3. Set up current purchasers/
card holders on T&E ghost
accounts at vendors
4. Determine data
requirements and
communicate to vendor(s)
5. Finalize requirements for
reconciliation purposes
and communicate to
purchaser/cardholder

Best Practices
36
Commercial
Incorporate commercial cards into

Best
Practice 18 business continuity planning
Leading companies incorporate continuity planning into all business operations and
leverage commercial cards as part of their plan. Business disruption causes may be minor
(e.g., system outage) or catastrophic (e.g., natural disaster), yet the use of commercial
cards as part of this process can facilitate continuing business operations. Visa
Purchasing cards and T&E cards can be alternate forms of purchase and payment for
transactions and can additionally be used as a cash management tool or for immediate
access to credit. Credit limit increases may necessitate coordinating with your Issuer.
Study participants regularly reported use of commercial cards to remedy
unexpected circumstances.

ACTION STEPS:
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Reduces need to process emergency
1. Include use of commercial Process Efficiencies cash advances and check requests
card in contingency Amount of Benefit: Medium
planning documents as
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Enables employees to use purchasing
an alternate form of
Amount of Benefit: High cards to handle unexpected business events; reduces
purchase and payment
employee stress with resolving these issues
2. Detail commercial card
use in the event of a Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Enables employees to manage business
business disruption in the Amount of Benefit: Medium needs through unforeseen circumstances
commercial card policy
3. As part of communication
of Visa Purchasing card
successes, tips, and
updates, include use of
card to resolve continuity • One New York City-based study participant reported that use of its commercial card allowed it to
or emergency issues facilitate business continuity when the events of September 11 impacted its purchasing and
payment technology infrastructure.
• At one company, video equipment did not arrive in a timely fashion for use at a marketing event –
employees were able to lease video equipment locally using a Visa Purchasing card and the
marketing event continued as planned.
37
Commercial
Establish parameters for eligible Visa Purchasing/

Best
Practice 19 Visa Commercial One card transactions leveraging
appropriate controls
One of the most critical steps in establishing a purchasing card program is to define
well-thought-out parameters, such as identification of the appropriate commodity and
spend limits that encourage ease of use but allow for appropriate control.
Leading companies clearly define eligible commodities and a spend target for
purchasing card use. Companies surveyed differ by the commodity types that are
eligible for their card program. Commodity-type allowance ranges from only office
supplies, to all indirect spend of a certain dollar value, to all capital and expense items.
Companies also differ by their established card spend targets, ranging from
all items under $250 to all items under $5,000.
To determine the appropriate purchasing parameters, a company should undergo a
spend analysis process. To begin, companies should analyze their A/P data to identify
spend patterns, such as average spend and number of transactions by commodity.
Where possible, high-volume transactions or recurring transactions should be
transitioned to purchase through the card program. Companies should also analyze
current approval requirements (e.g., signature approvals, purchase requisitions) for
commodities and dollar amounts, to determine for which items back-end audit
procedures can be leveraged to maintain controls. Finally, leading companies leverage
Card Issuer experience and knowledge in determining eligible purchases.
Once the commodities for card usage are determined, a spend target should be set.
Spend targets should be set at a dollar amount that enables cardholders to purchase
items that are frequently purchased in their eligible commodity groups.
Organizations should set credit limits that strike a balance between control and ease
of use. No single credit limit will be appropriate for every organization. Even within
organizations, different business units and levels of employees may have different credit
limits associated with their individual card accounts. Initial setting of credit limits should
incorporate an analysis of monthly purchase volumes, so the cardholder will be able to
purchase as required. Limits should be reviewed and adjusted on a periodic basis.
Finally, best practice companies optimize use of Merchant Category Code (MCC)
blocking: They ensure that appropriate purchases are not declined due to an MCC block
but also restrict purchases that are outside of company policy, such as purchases at
jewelers or casinos.

Best Practices
38
Commercial Establish parameters for eligible Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial
Card Program One card transactions leveraging appropriate controls
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Conducting a thorough analysis of

Process Efficiencies spend to be placed on Visa Purchasing cards
Amount of Benefit: High ensures that goods and services are purchased
through the most cost-effective method
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Clear guidelines empower the

Amount of Benefit: Medium cardholders to use cards appropriately
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Spend parameters provide clear

Amount of Benefit: High guidelines for what items should be purchased
through card

ACTION STEPS:
• One mid-size manufacturing company established a Visa Purchasing card spend target for all
1. Review spend and number manufacturing purchases up to $1,000. This step significantly reduced the number of
of transactions for each requisitions processed by each manufacturing facility.
commodity, division, and • Another study participant established spend targets of $1,000 within the manufacturing facility
role. Review current spend and $5,000 for engineers, as the engineering group regularly purchased larger dollar items.
and commodities on cards
• One large corporate company places 60 percent of its procurement transactions, accounting for
2. Identify the high-end 12 percent of its $11.4 billion of annual spend, on its Visa Purchasing card.
dollar amount for typical
• Another large corporate company places 49 percent of its $30.5 billion of annual spend on its
purchases; identify the
Visa Purchasing card.
dollar amount for most
frequent purchases • One company reviewed credit limits monthly during pilot and rollout and transitioned to quarterly
review on an ongoing basis.
3. Select commodities and
dollar amounts to target • One study respondent identified that procurement increases in the summer, so limits were
for card program temporarily increased for that period of time.
4. Set card spend targets for
the various commodities,
divisions, and/or roles;
card spend targets should
be slightly higher than the
cost of the most frequent
purchases
39
Commercial
Integrate the Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial

Best
Practice 20 One card into the e-Procurement system as a
method of payment
Best practice companies strive to achieve end-to-end Procure-to-Pay process
automation. These companies implement e-Procurement software to streamline and
automate their requisition, approval routing, and order placement activities.
To automate the payment of an electronically ordered product or service,
companies can integrate the Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card as one
effective method of payment. Card integration can be more efficient than check
payments as process steps such as invoice receipt and processing, manual
reconciliation, and check printing can be eliminated.
Best practice companies generally implement ghost cards (account numbers not
associated with a physical card) with their e-Procurement software. These cards are
assigned to a specific department or, more commonly, a specific vendor.
Below is a typical process companies have used to integrate the Visa Purchasing/
Visa Commercial One card into their e-Procurement system:
• Consult with the Issuer to format the card transaction file for integration into the
e-Procurement system; the card transactions will enter the system as if they
were electronic invoices
• e-Procurement vendors paid by card should be advised not to mail a paper invoice
• As payment information is received, the system will mark the order and payment
as reconciled if the invoice amount is within a specified dollar or percentage
threshold of the purchase order (to account for shipping and taxes)
In addition to process efficiencies, using Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One
cards to pay e-Procurement purchases reduces risk of late payment to vendors and
assists in vendor management, as spend by supplier can be consolidated on one card
account.

Best Practices
40
Commercial Integrate the Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card into
Card Program the e-Procurement system as a method of payment
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Significantly reduces payment

Process Efficiencies process costs
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Assists with spend data capture by
Amount of Benefit: Medium vendor through payment with ghost cards assigned
by supplier
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Enforces card payment for electronic pur-
Amount of Benefit: High chases

ACTION STEPS:
• Of the survey respondents who have implemented an e-Procurement system, on average,
1. Determine e-Procurement 27.5 percent of their spend on e-Procurement software is being paid by card to reduce payment
suppliers to investigate for process costs.
payment via card through • One large market company has set up ghost accounts by vendor to pay for electronically
the system procured goods. In doing so, it has been able to gain improved visibility into spend by vendor and
2. Develop cross-functional to enable greater sourcing savings.
team of business and
technology employees to
analyze the costs and
benefits of card payment
to the selected
e-Procurement suppliers
3. Present analysis to senior
management for approval
of integrating the card as a
form of payment into the
e-Procurement system
4. Notify suppliers of the
decision to pay via card
5. Develop a joint
implementation plan
with the Issuer
6. Implement use of the
purchasing card with the
e-Procurement system
7. Train e-Procurement
buyers on the new
payment process
8. Track actual savings
relative to plan and
adjust as needed
41
Commercial
Use the Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

Best
Practice 21 to pay invoices received in Accounts Payable
Many companies are realizing the benefits associated with Visa Purchasing/Visa
Commercial One card use in the Accounts Payable (A/P) department. Those benefits
include improved company compliance to commercial card program policy and
increased process efficiencies.
Best practice companies establish guidelines for commercial card use and work to
ensure compliance to policy. Card-use policy typically includes the definition of spend
types and purchase amounts most appropriate for payment with the card. Companies
also develop a list of suppliers that are strongly encouraged or mandated for card use.
This list can be developed by providing the Issuer with a list of suppliers that can be
analyzed through Visa’s Supplier Matching Service to identify those suppliers who
accept commercial card payment.
Companies distribute their commercial card use policies to all cardholders, but in
order to prevent “leakage” and increase compliance to policy, many companies are
identifying and paying, within A/P, invoices that should have been paid by the card. For the
purchase order-based purchases, A/P also provides the buyer, if they are a card holder,
with card policy information to re-educate them on how to use the card or, if they are not a
cardholder, with information on how to obtain a card.
The cards used in A/P departments are typically department cards that are
assigned to an individual, such as the A/P manager or an A/P technician. The monthly
spend limit may be higher than that of average cardholders to allow for the higher
volume of spend anticipated on the card. In addition to more traditional spend types,
A/P departments also use the card to pay for spend categories such as: hardware,
software, MRO, temporary services, and telecommunications.

Best Practices
42
Commercial Use the Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card
Card Program to pay invoices received in Accounts Payable
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Increases process savings through

Process Efficiencies displacement of check payments
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Allows A/P to increase policy

Amount of Benefit: Medium compliance and re-educate cardholders on
appropriate card use, without requiring the
cardholder to pay the received invoice with the
card themselves, which may delay payment
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Encourages A/P to more closely

Amount of Benefit: High monitor and improve card compliance

ACTION STEPS:
• One survey participant established a ghost card in A/P to reduce the number
1. Develop and distribute of one-time vendor setups, decrease working capital pressures, and increase card policy
commercial card use compliance.
guidelines • A software company has one cardholder and one ghost card in A/P. The ghost card is used to
2. Measure compliance to pay three vendors: promotional items, office supplies, and catering. The plastic card is used for
policy; determine if card invoice payments under $1,000 in support of the company’s mandate that every transaction
use guidelines can better under $1,000 be paid with the card.
be met through having a
card in A/P
3. Identify the individual to
whom to assign the card;
design control parameters,
such as monthly spend
limit, MCC restrictions,
and card-use audit process
4. Implement the A/P
card by establishing the
account and conducting
card-holder training
5. Determine whether or
not follow up with buyers
will occur to encourage
use of the card at the time
of purchase
6. Periodically review card
use guidelines in A/P;
update policies accordingly
43
Commercial
Incorporate Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

Best
Practice 22 acceptance into preferred vendor contract terms
The utilization of cards as a payment method can reduce purchase transaction

costs and settlement costs for organizations. Card purchases do not require a purchase
order, and payment of card statements, which have multiple transactions per
statement, can substantially reduce the number of paper invoices processed.
Additionally, end users are often pleased with the ease of use of a card versus the
requirement to generate a purchase order. The primary benefit to vendors is faster
payment of card purchases.
Recognizing the advantage of using Visa Purchasing cards as a payment method,
leading companies often require that their preferred vendors accept Visa Purchasing
cards as a form of payment. Also, where appropriate, they often work through the
details of vendor acceptance of virtual accounts, which are accounts set up in order to
charge transactions with one supplier/commodity-type to one account regardless of the
end user making the purchase. Finally, companies work with vendors to define the
transaction information, such as Level III data; they would like to receive from the
vendors to supplement their reporting and sourcing needs.

ACTION STEPS:
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Utilization of Visa Purchasing cards
1. Include Visa Purchasing Process Efficiencies reduces transaction costs by eliminating the creation
card/ghost account Amount of Benefit: High of purchase orders and processing of paper invoices
acceptance in preferred
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: End users often find purchasing items
vendor selection criteria
Amount of Benefit: Medium with cards much easier and faster than completing
2. Review with vendors a requisition to generate a purchase order
rationale for the
requirement that they Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Vendor spend data is more accessible
accept Visa Purchasing Amount of Benefit: Medium through Visa Purchasing cards and/or virtual
cards/ghost accounts accounts is accessible
3. Finalize details of card
utilization and reporting
requirements
• 50 percent of the survey respondents who electronically requisition goods use the Visa
Purchasing card as a form of payment for those orders. On average, they pay 30 percent of
their transactions with a card.
• The three most frequently cited objectives of a Visa Purchasing card program by our survey
participants were transaction cost reduction, settlement convenience, and user convenience.
Implementation of these best practices facilitates achievement of these objectives.
• Several survey participants had the vendor ghost account number embedded in their order entry
system, which provided further settlement convenience.

Best Practices
44
Commercial
Investigate Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

Best
Practice 23 expansion to additional spend categories to maximize
benefits achieved
The use of cards as a payment method can reduce purchase transaction costs and
settlement costs for organizations. Companies tend to focus on using cards only for high-
transaction, low-dollar items. While use of cards for this purpose provides significant
benefit, companies should also investigate expansion of use into other spend categories,
including: recurring payments (e.g., phone, utilities), temporary services, and computers.
To identify the spend categories that will provide the greatest benefit through
transition to a card program, look at ongoing vendor relationships and select vendors
with whom you have high transactions/spend or recurring payments. Issuers can assist
with analysis of Accounts Payable (A/P) files, vendor targeting, and incorporation of data.
Issuers also provide services to help companies identify which suppliers within the
company’s vendor base already accept cards as a form of payment.
Recognizing the advantage of using Visa Purchasing cards as a payment method,
leading companies often require that their preferred vendors accept Visa Purchasing
cards as a form of payment. Companies also may use the following creative techniques to
encourage card acceptance: identify large local companies that have implemented cards
and investigate use of the same vendors; develop a consortium relationship and leverage
the combined purchasing power of the group to encourage vendor acceptance of cards;
and incorporate card acceptance in the request for proposal (RFP) or bid process.
45
Investigate Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card
Commercial expansion to additional spend categories to
Card Program maximize benefits achieved
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Increases ability of Visa Purchasing cards
Process Efficiencies to reduce transaction costs by eliminating additional
Amount of Benefit: High purchase orders and processing of paper invoices
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Employees often find purchasing items
Amount of Benefit: Medium with cards easier and faster than completing a
requisition to generate a purchase order
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Placement of additional spend

Amount of Benefit: Medium categories on cards enables reporting by vendor
through card program
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: By increasing the volume and

Amount of Benefit: Medium commodities purchased through the card,
companies achieve greater visibility to spend
and increased control in those areas

ACTION STEPS:
• One mid-size company leveraged its significant spend with local vendors to require their
1. Review categories of acceptance of cards for payment.
spend to identify target • One company used its card program to expand spend to recurring payments for phone services,
areas for transition to card pager services, copier maintenance, shredding, coffee supplier, flowers, catering, etc. Due to the
program (e.g., recurring financial success of this initiative, management continues to investigate opportunities to expand
charges, services, spend and has incorporated the requirement for acceptance of commercial cards in RFPs.
temporary services,
projects, raw materials)
• Survey responses illustrate spend for a variety of commodities:
2. Request that Issuer

– Two mid-size manufacturing companies use the card for over 75 percent of hardware/
conduct a supplier/
software purchases
merchant matching to – One large corporate finance company uses the card for 100 percent of spend with
identify which of your temporary employees and contractors
vendors accept payment – One large corporate services company uses the card for 80 percent of spend on packaging
by credit card to identify and shipping
additional commodities for
transition to card program
(e.g., The Visa Supplier
Matching Service)
3. For those vendors that do
not currently accept cards
as a method of payment,
request that vendor begin
to accept payment; if
necessary, use creative
methods detailed above

Best Practices
46
Commercial
Card Program Program Reporting
Work with your Issuer to receive commercial card statements

Best
Practice 24 electronically with cost centers and General Ledger (G/L)
codes predefined to facilitate end-user reconciliation
Best practice companies streamline the reconciliation process by minimizing the
time spent receiving statements and allocating transactions to G/L codes and cost
centers. Companies can work with their Issuer banks to determine the best mechanism
for automating this process according to their specific needs.
Automated statement delivery enables cardholders to receive statements faster
and in a format that can be more easily updated than statements sent by mail. Typically,
to receive a statement electronically, companies will do one of the following:
• Download an electronic statement from its Issuer’s web site
• Receive the data via e-mail
• Receive data feeds according to a predefined schedule or based upon
transaction volume
To further automate the reconciliation process, companies predefine a G/L
code and cost center code for the card payment transaction. Predefinition assists
cardholders in reconciliation by providing a “best guess” allocation that cardholders can
adjust as needed prior to submitting a statement for approval.
General Ledger code predefinition rules can be based on criteria such as vendor
name, cardholder and, most commonly, merchant category code. Cost centers are
typically predefined based on the cardholder. As business units/cost centers may
allocate the same type of spend to a different G/L, the G/L predefinition mapping can
be specific to a business unit or cost center. Companies should work with their Issuers
to implement the predefinition mapping best suited to their needs as well as to design a
maintenance schedule of the rules.
47
Work with your Issuer to receive commercial card statements
Commercial electronically with cost centers and General Ledger (G/L) codes
Card Program predefined to facilitate end-user reconciliation
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Reduces the amount of time spent
Process Efficiencies on card payment reconciliation and reduces errors
Amount of Benefit: High associated with manual processing
Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Facilitates cardholder reconciliation

Amount of Benefit: High efforts
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Ensures allocation of the correct

Amount of Benefit: High G/L codes to track spend and improve the
budgeting process

ACTION STEPS:
• 54 percent of surveyed companies have implemented automated delivery of electronic card
1. Determine and implement statements to minimize the most time-intensive activities reported: buyer reconciliation and
an automated statement assignment of cost center.
delivery mechanism with • Several survey respondents linked predefinition of codes with success of reconciliation
the Issuer automation efforts and purchasing card programs.
2. Work with Issuers to • Implementation of an automated reconciliation system facilitated the management of spend
develop G/L code and through a Visa Commercial One card program.
cost center mapping
and incorporate it into
• One survey respondent that predefines G/L codes reduced invoice payment transaction costs
electronic statement
from its computed industry benchmark average of $2.50 to $1.90.
information
3. Incorporate the revised
reconciliation process
into cardholder training
and card procedures
information

Best Practices
48
Commercial
Pre-populate expense reporting with

Best
Practice 25 commercial card data
Best practice companies seek out ways to minimize low-value tasks of their
employees. One of the most time-consuming, administrative tasks required of traveling
professionals is travel expense reporting. According to Aberdeen, the average employee
spends approximately 30 to 45 minutes to complete a manual expense report, with a
cost of approximately $45 to process it on the back-end. An automated report, pre-
populated with card data, on the other hand, can be completed in 10 to 15 minutes (a
67 percent improvement from manual reporting) and reduce the processing costs by 80
percent. Additionally, the system helps reduce reconciliation errors associated with
manual data entry and encourages T&E card use compliance.
In order to reduce the costs associated with expense reporting, companies have
begun to implement automated expense reporting systems. These systems provide an
automated form that can be accessed from the user’s desktop and allow for integration
with the data feed from the T&E card provider.
When the user accesses the system, they receive an expense report that has been
pre-populated with T&E card data. Fields are created for allocation to cost centers and
entry of out-of-pocket expenses. After completion, the form is electronically routed using
workflow rules (included with the system) for automated manager approval and
subsequent delivery to the Accounts Payable (A/P) department for reconciliation and
reimbursement. Receipts are forwarded to A/P in a separate envelope.
Of companies surveyed, 26 percent have implemented an enterprise-wide,
pre-populated expense reporting solution, which is better than the nine percent industry
average. While automated expense reporting is viewed as an innovative T&E best
practice, it has not been as widely adopted as predicted. This low adoption has been
attributed to other Procure-to-Pay solutions, such as e-Procurement, Strategic Sourcing,
and ERP implementations that have eclipsed automated expense reporting in priority.
Additionally, the market for automated expense reporting solutions was less mature
than it is today and did not provide companies with an extensive amount of functionality
required to justify the implementation. The results of the survey indicated that
companies will begin to adopt these tools more rapidly going forward.
49
Commercial
Card Program Pre-populate expense reporting with commercial card data
continued
Best
Practice 25 In addition, compared to five years ago, the number of companies offering expense
reporting solutions has grown dramatically. ERP and e-Procurement vendors have
developed automated expense-reporting solutions and marketed them as “second-wave”
initiatives. Other third-party products have developed strategic alliances with card
providers and software companies to provide more robust functionality.
Mid-size companies that do not necessarily have the resources to spend and
implement an expense-reporting solution have explored cost-optimal alternatives such as
outside hosting of the expense reporting package or creation of in-house, automated
expense templates.

ACTION STEPS: Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Significantly reduces cycle time, data
Process Efficiencies input, and input errors
1. Evaluate third-party
expense reporting
packages for ability to Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Users appreciate the ease, convenience,
meet functionality and Amount of Benefit: High and time savings of pre-populated expense reports
integrate with existing
platform Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Pre-population of data increases control
Amount of Benefit: High over data and reduces possible data input errors
2. Work with Issuers to
receive automated feed,
define cost center codes,
and create workflow rules
3. Pilot expense-reporting IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS
package within a business
unit to optimize solution • In addition to the 26 percent of study participants who have already implemented an enterprise-
and build initial momen- wide expense reporting solution, 36 percent plan to implement one in the next two years.
tum • One large corporate participant reported the average time to complete a pre-populated,
4. Develop and deliver automated expense report is two minutes; this is a 93 percent improvement from the industry
comprehensive training average for completing a manual report.
program to ensure user • 100 percent of the companies that implemented an enterprise-wide solution expressed
acceptance and satisfaction with their product and the associated cost savings.
satisfaction with the
product
5. Rollout expense-reporting
package, including
comprehensive training

Best Practices
50
Commercial
Develop solutions that support the reporting

Best
Practice 26 and payment of sales and use taxes
Leading organizations understand and manage their businesses within the

labyrinth of tax regulations imposed by local, state, and federal jurisdictions.
Understanding anticipated tax liabilities is a key factor in developing sound ROI
evaluations, business case assessments, and managing overall spend. As companies
implement automated procurement processing technologies and adopt commercial
card products and programs, it is also an appropriate opportunity to implement
solutions that support the reporting and payment of sales and use taxes. In this survey,
businesses reported using software solutions like Vertex, TaxWare, and InfoSpan to
collect and manage tax-related information. Best practice companies endeavor to
understand the liabilities associated with underpayment.
The most successful tax strategies ensure collaboration between commercial card
program and Corporate Tax administrators. Generally, the most accurate and auditable
results have been obtained in programs where taxes are calculated without cardholder
involvement.
Leading organizations develop a tax compliance methodology that combines
the amount of electronic transaction data delivered to the program administrator
with assumptions regarding the tax consequences of certain types of purchases.
For example, some programs assume that if the transaction data shows that the
cardholder and vendor are located within the same state, the transaction was correctly
taxed. Programs make this assumption because, in most jurisdictions, the vendor would
charge tax unless presented with a valid exemption certificate.
Tax determinations between cardholders and out-of-state vendors rely on a variety
of approaches, such as enhanced transaction data to substantiate tax paid or certain
characteristics of the out-of-state vendor. After eliminating the exempt transactions and
transactions where sales tax was paid, use tax is accrued on the remaining
transactions. Commercial card transaction receipts are retained until the state’s
authority to audit expires.
Finally, best practice companies implement a process that documents the
transactions where sales tax was collected by the vendor, identifies purchases of items
exempt from tax, and calculates the use tax accrual on taxable purchases where tax
was not charged by the vendor.
51
Commercial Develop solutions that support the reporting
Card Program and payment of sales and use taxes
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Tax record management processing

Process Efficiencies and appropriate tax accrual calculation
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Provides visibility over tax liability


ACTION STEPS:
• 86 percent of study participants have implemented strategies and accounting systems designed
1. Partner with Corporate Tax to expedite tax reconciliation and accrual and move responsibility away from the individual
to understand procure- employee. These companies no longer consider reconciliation of sales and use tax a time-
ment tax liability intensive activity.
2. Implement a tax tracking • One study participant worked with the company’s Corporate Tax department to design a
mechanism and train purchasing card statement and receipt-retention process that augmented the company’s
users existing sales and use tax compliance and reporting capabilities. Through accurate reporting
3. Continually monitor and thorough record keeping, the company has been able to effectively estimate and pay its
program compliance and taxes and comply with IRS regulations.
adjust accordingly

Best Practices
52
Commercial
Gain a comprehensive view of spend by integrating

Best
Practice 27 data from multiple sources (e.g., e-Procurement,
travel, ERP, Visa Purchasing cards)
Leading procurement organizations consolidate commodity spend data from
multiple sources. A comprehensive view of spend assists with management of sourcing
and Procurement/Accounts Payable (A/P) functions.
Spend data is typically consolidated within a General Ledger (G/L) from multiple
sources: A/P systems, expense reporting systems, card statement data feeds, and
travel agency booking systems.
Companies can consolidate spend data via the following tools, depending on spend
volume and complexity of desired reporting:
• Access and Excel databases
• Accounts Payable/General Ledger/purchase order reporting tools
• Data mart/Data warehouses
The integration of transaction-level card data into a G/L can be automated through
the following steps:
• Develop G/L and cost-center default mappings for card transactions based upon
cardholder and vendor name or MCC; defaults can be changed by the cardholder
as needed
• Reformat the card transaction file for integration with the receiving financial
system
• Allocate single, monthly bank payment for the card to an In-Process G/L account
• When reconciled, integrate the line-item card transaction file into the G/L,
offsetting the In-Process account
Once all payment data is consolidated, companies can analyze the information to
identify trends, manage vendors, and ensure compliance with procurement policies.
53
Gain a comprehensive view of spend by integrating
Commercial data from multiple sources (e.g., e-Procurement,
Card Program travel, ERP, Visa Purchasing cards)
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Enhances strategic sourcing efforts by

Process Efficiencies examining comprehensive spend data
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Assists in supplier negotiations as

Amount of Benefit: High a company can inform the supplier of the total
volume it is receiving from the company
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Provides visibility across all sources

Amount of Benefit: High of spend

ACTION STEPS:
• One survey respondent initiated its strategic sourcing efforts by creating a spend analysis.
1. Identify the sources The spend analysis integrated data from multiple sources and formed the foundation for its
of payment data (e.g., Strategic Sourcing successes.
e-Procurement, travel, ERP, • One construction company has automated the integration of card transactions into their
commercial card, etc.) G/L to enable a global view of spend and reduce the manual effort of keying the data details
2. Define the information that into their system.
should be consolidated by
understanding information
available through A/P as
well as information avail-
able from vendors, travel
agents and Card Issuers
3. Select the data repository
in which to consolidate
the data
4. Define and implement a
process for initial load of
the repository
5. Define a process for the
periodic updates of the
repository
6. Determine reports
necessary to analyze data
and prepare findings

Best Practices
54
Commercial
Share commercial card performance and savings

Best
Practice 28 reports with senior management to promote
appropriate use of the card
Leading companies have recognized that fostering ongoing senior management
support (e.g., business unit lead, senior or executive vice president support) through
regular communication of card program performance can maximize benefits of the card
program.
Companies have successfully maintained senior management support by
developing regular and ongoing communication of the activities and successes of the
card program through an executive-level report, which can contain the following:
• Process metrics: purchase order volume and trend, invoice volume and trend,
T&E volume and trend, purchasing card usage and trend
• Savings metrics: dollars saved through expanded use of the commercial card
• Lost savings: dollars lost through non-compliance to card policies and
procedures (e.g., maverick spend, low-dollar check payments)
• Current initiatives underway: high-level descriptions of efforts and
expected benefits
Companies have used innovative methods to share this information with senior
management. This includes creating unique presentations, assigning business unit
liaisons, and actively communicating successes through internal newsletters.
In addition to simply communicating successes, organizations have actually shared
their savings with their internal business customers to encourage further compliance to
policies and procedures.
55
Share commercial card performance and savings
Commercial reports with senior management to promote
Card Program appropriate use of the card
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Frequent communication of successes

Process Efficiencies and opportunities for improvement provides senior
Amount of Benefit: High management with the incentive to continue support
of cost-saving card program activities
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Frequent communication of savings

Amount of Benefit: High from compliance and lost savings from
non-compliance to card program policies and
procedures encourages senior management to
promote compliance

ACTION STEPS:
• One organization tied management’s bonus objectives to achievement of procurement-related
1. Develop cross-functional goals. Because of this, the procurement department regularly reported its progress relative to
team to form senior goals and successes to the other business units in the organization.
management • Another survey participant shared procurement performance numbers, such as cost avoidance
communication initiative and cost savings, quarterly with his peers to obtain ongoing support of initiatives.
2. Proactively identify • One large market company’s head of procurement is a member of the company’s senior
compelling and relevant management team and thus provides procurement performance information at weekly planning
card program metrics and and status meetings which include the company’s president.
review with senior
managers to determine
• One study participant’s card program administrator provided the director of finance a monthly
appropriateness
report that contained: major projects, training status, and department successes and savings.
3. Develop communication
initiative with related tools
(e.g., Web casts, report
layouts)
4. Adjust initiative to reflect
feedback as received
5. Schedule periodic review
meetings with senior
management to share
information and ensure
active participation

Best Practices
56
Commercial
Use Issuing banks or card-provider analysis tools

Best
Practice 29 to review and improve your commercial card
program performance
Best practice companies use program expansion analysis tools and reporting
solutions offered by their card provider or issuing bank to enhance the performance of
their commercial card programs. Card providers and issuing banks offer a range of tools
to their clients to assist in the ongoing identification of savings opportunities and in
information management, such as card program performance. These tools can be
categorized as follows:
• Online card program reporting tools can help companies make more informed
business decisions, streamline operations, and improve their bottom line.
Such tools often offer standard reports and customized reporting capabilities
that facilitate:
– Spend analysis
– Program administration
– Travel management
– Tax reporting
• Return on Investment (ROI) tools allow companies to estimate the financial
benefits from implementing or expanding a card program. These tools aid in
quantifying the benefits of card program growth, such as net process savings,
which reflect any costs associated with the implementation or expansion of the
program
• Accounts Payable (A/P) Analysis tools determine opportunities to grow the card
program by identifying vendors and spend categories in which card potential is
not being met. Such tools give a company a view of its spend and areas for card
growth by looking at:
– Current spend by payment method
– Current check spend with card-accepting merchants,
categorized by transaction size
– Current card program compliance by vendor, business unit or cost center
• Benchmarking tools assist companies in comparing the performance of their
Procure-to-Pay functions and commercial card program against best practice
companies to identify opportunities for strategic and tactical improvement
57
Commercial Use issuing bank or card-provider analysis tools to review
Card Program and improve your commercial card program performance
continued
Best
Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Reporting tools can simplify accounting
Process Efficiencies processes by enabling system integration of
Amount of Benefit: High transaction data; such tools can also reduce the
manual process of card statement reconciliation.
Card program analysis tools aid in identifying
potential process savings associated with card
program expansion
Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Reporting tools allow a company to

Amount of Benefit: High review spend with key suppliers and use this
information for effective negotiations
Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Visibility into cardholder spend is

Amount of Benefit: Medium increased through use of card reporting tools, in
particular through analysis of exception reports. A/P
analysis tools can track compliance by business
units to card program policies by identifying spend
mandated/strongly encouraged for card use that is
being paid by check

ACTION STEPS:
• One middle market company wanted to expand its card program in order to replace manual
1. Meet with the issuing processes with electronic payment and was able to use the results of the A/P analysis tool to
bank to discuss the tools identify card program expansion targets to bring its spend on the card to its desired 25 percent
offered by the bank and of total spend benchmark.
card provider • One large market manufacturing company implemented an initiative to pay all transactions
2. Work with the issuing bank under $1,000 with a card. The company wanted a mechanism to track compliance to its policy.
to evaluate areas of the It was able to use the A/P analysis tool to identify the business units that had the greatest
card program requiring compliance success and those with the greatest leakage. The company was able to educate
support and identify which those with the greatest leakage about the policy to increase compliance.
tools assist in addressing • ROI tools can typically quantify process savings from $15 to $70 per transaction due to card
those needs expansion based on how efficient processes are.
3. Work with the issuing
bank to implement and
utilize the tools
4. Set quantifiable goals for
realizing the opportunities
identified by the tools
5. Continue ongoing
communication with the
issuing bank to track
progress against the goals
6. Conduct periodic reviews
to identify new vendors to
target for expansion

Best Practices
58
59
© 2005 Visa U.S.A., Inc. V13093-11-04cbp

Comm Card Best Practice

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Visa Commercial Card

Best Practice 2 Source, select, and implement a T&E card program

Best Practice 3 Source, select, and implement a Visa Commercial One

Best Practice 4 Align commercial card program objectives with company’s

Best Practice 5 Obtain active senior management promotion of and

Best Practice 6 Establish center-led management and administration

Best Practice 7 Institute a centralized travel management function

Best Practice 8 Develop enterprise-wide procurement policies

Best Practice 9 Develop and distribute company-wide travel policies

Best Practice 10 Develop and disseminate enterprise-wide commercial card

Best Practice 12 Establish Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

Best Practice 13 Establish T&E/Visa Commercial One card issuance criteria

Best Practice 14 Mandate and enforce use of Visa Purchasing/

Best Practice 16 Maximize use of Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One

Best Practice 17 Maximize use of T&E/Visa Commercial One card virtual

Best Practice 18 Incorporate commercial cards into business continuity

Visa Commercial Card

Best Practice 20 Integrate the Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

Best Practice 22 Incorporate Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

Best Practice 23 Investigate Visa Purchasing/Visa Commercial One card

Best Practice 25 Pre-populate expense reporting with commercial card data

Best Practice 27 Gain a comprehensive view of spend by integrating data

Best Practice 28 Share commercial card performance and savings reports

Best Practice 29 Use Issuing bank or card-provider analysis tools to review

Source, select, and implement

Leading companies use a thorough sourcing process to select a purchasing card

continued on next page

Visa Commercial Card

continued on next page

Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Sourcing for an appropriate card

1. Review goals and

Visa Commercial Card

Source, select, and Implement a T&E card program

continued on next page

continued on next page

Visa Commercial Card

Benefit Obtained: Vendor Management Rationale: Implementation of a T&E card provides

Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Card programs facilitate a degree of con-

IMPLEMENTATION IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS

Source, select, and implement

Visa Commercial Card

continued on next page

Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Sourcing for an appropriate card

IMPLEMENTATION IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS

Visa Commercial Card

Align commercial card program objectives

IMPLEMENTATION MARKET APPLICABILITY: All Companies

Obtain active senior management promotion of

continued on next page

Visa Commercial Card

Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Senior management and business

Benefit Obtained: Control Rationale: Involvement of senior management

IMPLEMENTATION IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSES and TRENDS

Establish center-led management and administration

Center-led oversight facilitates standardization of the commercial card program.

IMPLEMENTATION MARKET APPLICABILITY: All Companies

Visa Commercial Card

Institute a centralized travel management function

continued on next page

Benefit Obtained: Cost Savings/ Rationale: Centralized travel and consolidation

Benefit Obtained: User Satisfaction Rationale: Improves employee awareness of

Visa Commercial Card

Develop enterprise-wide procurement

Leading companies document procurement policies and procedures to