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Published on 25 August 2025•10 minutes

Business expense management | Control company spending globally

Airwallex Editorial Team

Business expense management | Control company spending globally

Managing business expenses across multiple teams, currencies, and geographies creates significant challenges for growing companies. Research shows that in 2025, organizations view expense management as a cost-optimization tool, a compliance safeguard, and a data-driven decision enabler ¹. With global cross-border payments exceeding USD 200 trillion and expected to increase by 5% annually until 2027 ², businesses need robust systems to track, control, and optimize their spending across borders.

The complexity intensifies when you consider that 47% of global payments revenues are generated in Asia Pacific alone ³. Modern businesses require solutions that handle multi-currency transactions, automate approval workflows, and provide real-time visibility into spending patterns – all while maintaining compliance across different regulatory environments.

The evolution of expense management in global business

Traditional expense management methods struggle to keep pace with modern business demands. Many Canadian businesses still rely on spreadsheets or basic tools to manage expenses, creating delays, inefficiencies, and limited oversight ⁴. This approach becomes increasingly problematic as companies expand internationally.

The shift toward digital solutions reflects broader market trends. The global digital payment market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.5% from 2024 to 2033, reaching $32.07 trillion by 2033 ⁵. This growth drives demand for sophisticated expense management platforms that integrate seamlessly with digital payment infrastructure.

Companies now enforce expense policies proactively and dynamically rather than reacting to non-compliance after reimbursement ¹. This proactive approach helps organizations maintain control while empowering employees to make necessary purchases without bureaucratic delays.

Key challenges in managing global business expenses

Currency complexity and foreign exchange costs

Managing expenses across multiple currencies presents significant challenges. With only 20% of Airwallex's transactions currently containing FX ⁶, many businesses underestimate the impact of currency management on their expense processes. Foreign currency credit in dollar, euro and yen grew respectively by 5%, 10% and 6% year-on-year at the end of the first quarter of 2025 ⁷, highlighting the increasing importance of multi-currency expense management.

Exchange rate fluctuations create budgeting challenges and unexpected costs. Research indicates that 44% of respondents are frustrated by poor exchange rates when sending money internationally ⁸. These frustrations extend to business expense management, where poor rates can significantly impact overall spending.

Compliance and regulatory requirements

Different countries have varying regulations for expense reporting, tax deductions, and financial documentation. Tracking business expenses helps you stay compliant, reduce your tax bill, and make smarter financial decisions ⁹. Organizations must navigate these complexities while maintaining accurate records for audit purposes.

Merchant category codes (MCCs) play a crucial role in compliance. A merchant category code is a four-digit number credit card companies use to classify spending by the type of goods or services purchased ¹⁰. MCCs help Canadian businesses manage spending and expenses, making reconciling transactions easier.

Real-time visibility and control

Lack of real-time visibility into spending creates control issues. Analytics dashboards in expense management platforms allow users to compare team-wise and department-wise spending, identify budget leaks and top expense categories, and benchmark spend across vendors or time periods ¹. Without these capabilities, finance teams operate with outdated information, making it difficult to prevent overspending or identify cost-saving opportunities.

Modern solutions for expense management

AI-powered automation

Artificial intelligence transforms expense management processes. Expense management software uses AI to automatically categorize expenses and flag anomalies, suggest policy-compliant vendors and bookings, auto-match receipts with corporate card transactions, and predict future spending patterns based on historical behavior ¹. Tools like SutiExpense leverage AI for auto-approvals, policy alerts, and smart validations, enabling finance departments to reduce errors and process times by over 60% ¹.

Airwallex is increasingly implementing AI across its internal and customer-facing services ⁶, enhancing expense management capabilities through intelligent automation and predictive analytics.

Multi-currency corporate cards

Corporate cards designed for international use eliminate many traditional expense management headaches. Airwallex offers multi-currency company and employee cards ¹¹ that enable teams to spend in local currencies without excessive conversion fees. These cards integrate directly with expense management platforms, automatically capturing transaction data and eliminating manual entry.

The benefits extend beyond convenience. In the US, credit card fees are unregulated and can go up as high as 3.5% ³. Multi-currency cards help businesses avoid these excessive fees by enabling local currency transactions.

Integrated reimbursement systems

Reimbursements are used to repay employees who have incurred out-of-pocket expenses for work-related purchases ¹¹. Modern platforms streamline this process through automated workflows and direct integration with payroll systems.

Speed matters in reimbursements. Research shows that 65% of respondents rank speed as their top priority when choosing a payment method ⁸. Fast reimbursements improve employee satisfaction and reduce administrative burden on finance teams.

Building an effective expense management strategy

Establishing clear policies and workflows

Organizations are moving away from rigid, top-down expense approvals to role-based, dynamic workflows based on department, spend category, risk level, and geography ¹. This flexibility enables faster decision-making while maintaining appropriate controls.

Clear policies should address:

Spending limits by role and department
Pre-approval requirements for large expenses
Documentation standards for different expense types
Currency conversion guidelines
Reimbursement timelines and processes

Leveraging technology integrations

Integration with HRMS, ERP, and accounting systems ensures smooth data flow, enhancing financial forecasting and tax reporting ¹. Airwallex provides native integration with Xero and other accounting platforms ¹², eliminating manual data entry and reducing errors.

The importance of integration extends to payment infrastructure. Airwallex partnered with payments orchestration platform Yuno, enabling access to more than 1,000 payment methods across over 195 countries ¹³. These integrations create seamless expense management workflows across different payment methods and currencies.

Implementing real-time reporting and analytics

Modern expense management requires sophisticated analytics capabilities. Airwallex provides comprehensive analytics dashboards that offer detailed insights into transaction patterns, currency exposure, and spending trends ¹². These tools enable finance teams to identify cost-saving opportunities and optimize spending patterns.

Real-time reporting becomes particularly valuable for global operations. With Airwallex enabling businesses to send and receive funds across more than 150 countries ⁶, consolidated reporting across all markets provides essential visibility for financial decision-making.

The role of spend management platforms

Spend management encompasses more than just expense tracking. From spreadsheets to spend management platforms, the right tools make it easier to manage expenses as your business grows ⁹. Modern platforms combine expense management with broader financial operations capabilities.

Comprehensive financial operations

Airwallex offers a unified, business-centric solution integrating payments, foreign exchange, multi-currency accounts, treasury and expense management ¹³. This comprehensive approach eliminates the need for multiple disconnected systems.

The platform's growth demonstrates market demand for integrated solutions. In fiscal year 2024, Airwallex's Singapore revenue rose 153% year-on-year, while transaction volume climbed 159% ¹³. This growth reflects businesses' preference for unified platforms over fragmented solutions.

Global scalability

As businesses expand internationally, their expense management needs become more complex. Airwallex has been expanding its financial infrastructure to new markets, including Japan, Korea, the UAE and Latin America ⁶. This global reach ensures businesses can maintain consistent expense management processes across all markets.

The company holds more than 60 licences globally, including in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, mainland China, and Japan ¹³. This regulatory compliance enables seamless expense management across different jurisdictions.

Success stories and practical applications

Enterprise transformation

McLaren Racing modernizes cross-border payments with Airwallex ⁹, demonstrating how even complex global organizations can streamline expense management. The partnership enables McLaren to manage expenses across multiple countries and currencies while maintaining strict financial controls.

Ready to grow globally?

Explore Airwallex today.

SME efficiency gains

RYSE transformed complex cross-border finances into streamlined, cost-saving, and efficient global operations with Airwallex ⁹. This transformation illustrates how proper expense management tools can turn a potential weakness into a competitive advantage.

Research shows that about 96% of Singapore SMEs surveyed have adopted or plan to adopt fintech solutions, with 91% trusting fintechs to manage their financial operations ¹³. This high adoption rate reflects the tangible benefits businesses experience from modern expense management platforms.

Future trends in expense management

Sustainability tracking

Modern expense software includes CO2 impact metrics for flights and hotels, tags for tracking sustainability-compliant vendors, and reports for ESG audits and compliance ¹. As environmental considerations become increasingly important, expense management platforms must provide visibility into the environmental impact of business spending.

Enhanced mobile capabilities

Modern expense management apps offer intuitive UIs, OCR capabilities, and offline syncing ¹. The Airwallex mobile platform offers real-time transaction monitoring, instant payment approvals, and multi-user access management ¹². These capabilities enable employees to manage expenses from anywhere, improving compliance and reducing processing delays.

Emerging payment technologies

Future innovations in expense management software include voice-enabled expense submissions, blockchain-based audit trails, hyper-personalized employee spending limits, AI-driven fraud detection, and conversational interfaces for finance queries ¹. These technologies will further streamline expense management processes and improve user experience.

The rise of alternative payment methods also impacts expense management. Stablecoins enable near-instant global transfers, helping meet the G20's target of 75% of cross-border remittances arriving within one hour by the end of 2027 ⁸. As these technologies mature, they will likely integrate with corporate expense management systems.

Optimizing your expense management approach

Start with assessment

Evaluate your current expense management processes to identify pain points and inefficiencies. Consider factors such as:

Time spent on manual data entry and reconciliation
Frequency of policy violations
Average reimbursement processing time
Currency conversion costs
Visibility into real-time spending

Choose the right platform

Select a platform that addresses your specific needs. Airwallex offers a variety of products and services including multi-currency accounts, high-speed international transfers, multi-currency company and employee cards, expense management, automated accounts payable management, and more ⁹. This comprehensive suite ensures all expense management needs are covered.

Consider platforms that offer:

Multi-currency support with competitive exchange rates
Real-time expense tracking and reporting
Automated approval workflows
Integration with existing financial systems
Mobile accessibility for global teams

Implement gradually

Roll out new expense management systems in phases to ensure smooth adoption. Start with a pilot group, gather feedback, and refine processes before expanding to the entire organization. Employee satisfaction is a key ROI metric in the selection of modern expense software ¹, so prioritize user experience during implementation.

Monitor and optimize

Regularly review expense data to identify optimization opportunities. Use analytics to track spending patterns, identify cost-saving opportunities, and ensure policy compliance. Companies now seek end-to-end T&E platforms that unify travel booking, per diem tracking, expense reporting, and reimbursement processing ¹, so consider expanding your platform's capabilities as your needs evolve.

Conclusion

Effective business expense management requires more than just tracking receipts and processing reimbursements. In an era where Airwallex is approaching $900m in annualised revenue and expects to hit $1bn later in 2025 ⁶, the demand for sophisticated expense management solutions continues to grow.

Modern platforms combine multi-currency capabilities, automated workflows, and real-time analytics to give businesses complete control over their spending. With Airwallex targeting an addressable global native SMB market of 120 million companies ⁶, the opportunity for businesses to transform their expense management processes has never been greater.

By implementing comprehensive expense management solutions, businesses can reduce costs, improve compliance, and gain valuable insights into their spending patterns. Whether you're managing expenses for a small team or a global enterprise, the right platform can transform expense management from a administrative burden into a strategic advantage. Start optimizing your expense management today to build a more efficient, compliant, and data-driven financial operation.

FAQ

What are the key benefits of modern expense management software in 2025?

Modern expense management software in 2025 serves as a cost-optimization tool, compliance safeguard, and data-driven decision enabler. AI-powered features automatically categorize expenses, flag anomalies, and match receipts with corporate card transactions. These tools can reduce errors and processing times by over 60%, while providing predictive spending insights based on historical behavior patterns.

How can businesses effectively track expenses across multiple currencies and geographies?

Businesses can use multi-currency expense management platforms that support real-time foreign exchange rates and automated currency conversion. Solutions like those offered by global fintech companies provide support for 50+ currencies with transparent fee structures. This enables seamless expense tracking across international teams while maintaining accurate financial reporting and compliance with local regulations.

What is the difference between expense reimbursement and corporate card programs?

Expense reimbursement requires employees to pay out-of-pocket and submit receipts for repayment, creating cash flow challenges and administrative burden. Corporate card programs provide employees with company-funded payment cards, eliminating personal expense advances and enabling real-time expense tracking. This approach streamlines the expense process by reducing paperwork and providing immediate visibility into company spending patterns.

How do automated approval workflows improve expense management efficiency?

Automated approval workflows use AI to process expenses based on predefined company policies, routing transactions to appropriate managers only when exceptions occur. This reduces manual review time, ensures policy compliance, and accelerates reimbursement cycles. Smart validation features can automatically approve routine expenses while flagging unusual spending patterns or policy violations for human review.

What should companies look for when choosing expense management software tools?

Companies should prioritize expense management tools that offer automated receipt capture, real-time reporting, multi-currency support, and seamless integration with existing accounting systems. Key features include mobile accessibility, customizable approval workflows, policy enforcement capabilities, and comprehensive analytics dashboards. The software should also provide audit trails and compliance reporting to meet regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions.

How can businesses simplify their company expense process for remote and global teams?

Businesses can simplify expense processes by implementing cloud-based expense management platforms that work across time zones and currencies. Digital receipt capture, automated categorization, and mobile-first design enable remote employees to submit expenses instantly. Integration with corporate cards and real-time spending notifications help maintain control while providing flexibility for distributed teams to operate efficiently without complex reimbursement procedures.

Citations

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Airwallex Editorial Team

Airwallex’s Editorial Team is a global collective of business finance and fintech writers based in Australia, Asia, North America, and Europe. With deep expertise spanning finance, technology, payments, startups, and SMEs, the team collaborates closely with experts, including the Airwallex Product team and industry leaders to produce this content.

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Expense management Corporate cards Finance operations