The Rise of Subscription Management: A New Approach Required
In recent years, subscriptions, as well as other types of recurring payments, have become popular payment models for various B2B products and services such as software solutions, cloud computing services and digital marketing.
While subscriptions and recurring payments offer a convenient and cost-effective way for organisations to access the needed services, managing them should be easier. Companies lack an overview of the different subscriptions, the associated payments, and, importantly, who owns them. A new approach to subscriptions and recurring payments is critical to cater to the needs of organisations employing hundreds or thousands of employees.
The Role of Approval Flows when Purchasing Subscriptions
Approval flows are an important consideration for subscriptions and recurring payments. We have seen in many use cases that personal commercial cards allow employees to spend without approval before purchasing or use them for purchases not allowed according to business rules. We have also seen cases where employees lend cards to colleagues because they do not have cards available, creating significant risks for the enterprise. The lack of a structured process for card payments also causes problems for finance, who must untangle the maze of transactions. Approval flows ensure that all required approvals are completed before a purchase can be made, giving organisations the needed control. This helps businesses manage their spend transparently and ensures that subscriptions and recurring payments are aligned with business rules.
Keeping Subscriptions Secure
Security is an important consideration when it comes to subscriptions or recurring payments. We have already mentioned the chaos caused by personal commercial cards: unauthorised and unnecessary purchases and exceeded budgets. This can lead to wasted resources and, in some cases, to compliance breaches. Pre-approvals and virtual cards with an end-to-end process can help solve these problems. The issued virtual card is tied to the approved subscription, so it cannot be used for other purchases. Approvers can ask for all the necessary documentation before the purchase, approve or decline them easily, making it simple for employees to follow business rules. IT security or legal highly benefit from this by ensuring that the required GDPR documentation and required IT security controls are enforced without spending hours on administration.
Gaining Visibility: An Organizational Overview
Another challenge is to get an overview of all running subscriptions and recurring payments in the organisation. It is often difficult to control personal subscriptions; when we talk about global organisations, these difficulties multiply greatly. This can lead to overlapping subscriptions or subscriptions that are no longer needed. Organisations need a solution where they can easily see and manage all subscriptions and recurring payments.
The Necessity of Efficient Receipt Collection
Finance knows how difficult it is to get receipts for business expenses. Using personal commercial cards for subscriptions and recurring payments makes keeping track of receipts and invoices for subscriptions even more challenging. An end-to-end process supported by virtual cards allows organisations to collect receipts and invoices automatically. A solution like this can notify the employees when the transaction is made; it makes receipt collection fast and reliable. The transactions are connected to their receipts, and ownership and organisational roles are visible thanks to the approval flows, offering complete transparency.
Harnessing Cost Savings Through Subscription Management
You can realise significant cost savings when you have a solution to control your subscriptions and recurring payments.
Without an overview, subscriptions can run forever, wasting resources and creating unnecessary expenses. With virtual cards, each subscription is tied to a specific card with a specific expiration date. The dashboard overview helps everyone keep track of the subscriptions and payments within their area of responsibility.
Conclusion: The Future of Subscription Management
In conclusion, subscriptions are a popular payment model for organisations, but they carry many challenges if not managed appropriately. A solution with an end-to-end process based on virtual cards solves all these problems. This approach provides a clear overview of all subscriptions and recurring payments, ensures approval before all purchases, increases security, and reduces GDPR risks.
If you want to manage your subscriptions and recurring payments with a solution that can do all the above, read more on mazepay.com and enjoy a simplified way of managing your spend.
Mazepay is an all-in-one long-tail spend management software that enables the seamless control
of all subscriptions, from approvals to payments. Get in touch today to find out more and gain control over your marketing spend.