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Published on 25 August 2025•8 minutes

IT expense management | Airwallex for tech-driven teams

Airwallex Editorial Team

IT expense management | Airwallex for tech-driven teams

Your IT department manages a complex ecosystem of expenses. From monthly SaaS subscriptions to cloud infrastructure costs, from software licenses to hardware purchases – every dollar needs tracking, every vendor needs managing, and every expense needs justifying. Research shows that 50% of organisations spend more than 40% of their cloud budget wastefully ¹, while the average CPU utilisation on clusters sits at just 18% ¹. These statistics highlight a critical challenge: without proper expense management, IT teams hemorrhage money on underutilised resources.

The landscape of IT spending has transformed dramatically. In 2025, organizations view expense management as a cost-optimization tool, a compliance safeguard, and a data-driven decision enabler ². Tech teams now juggle subscriptions across multiple vendors, manage cloud costs that fluctuate daily, and navigate complex approval workflows for every purchase. The subscription market alone is worth $170 billion ³, with weekly subscriptions now capturing 47% of all revenue ³. This shift demands a new approach to expense management – one that matches the speed and complexity of modern IT operations.

The hidden costs draining IT budgets

Every tech team faces the same challenge: expenses that spiral out of control without proper oversight. Each mid-sized organisation wastes ₹52 lakhs per year on inefficient cloud spending alone ¹. This waste stems from multiple sources that compound over time.

SaaS subscription sprawl

Software subscriptions multiply faster than teams can track them. Weekly plans revenue grew by 9.5% from 2024 to 2025 ³, while monthly plans revenue decreased by 9.7% ³. This shift toward shorter billing cycles creates more frequent transactions to manage. Without centralised tracking, duplicate subscriptions emerge, unused licenses persist, and costs accumulate silently.

The challenge intensifies when considering that free trials boost lifetime value by 64% ³. Teams sign up for trials, forget to cancel, and suddenly find themselves paying for services they never intended to purchase. Managing these subscriptions requires real-time visibility into every active service, upcoming renewals, and usage patterns across the organisation.

Cloud infrastructure overspending

Cloud costs present their own complexity. Google Cloud announced improvements to its spend-based committed use discount program, accessible from January 2026 ⁴, highlighting how providers constantly change their pricing models. Spot instances can deliver 45-80% savings for non-mission-critical workloads ¹, yet many teams miss these opportunities without proper cost management tools.

The problem extends beyond simple overspending. Without proper expense tracking, teams cannot identify which projects consume the most resources, which departments exceed their budgets, or which services deliver poor value. This lack of visibility prevents strategic decision-making and leads to reactive cost-cutting measures that often harm productivity.

Real-time expense tracking for modern IT teams

Modern expense management demands real-time visibility. Airwallex provides comprehensive tracking capabilities that give IT teams instant insights into their spending patterns ⁵. This real-time approach transforms how teams manage their budgets and make purchasing decisions.

Automated categorisation and reporting

Expense management software now 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 ². This automation eliminates manual data entry and reduces errors that plague traditional expense tracking.

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% ². When applied to IT expense management, these capabilities mean faster approval for critical purchases, automatic flagging of policy violations, and instant visibility into spending trends.

Multi-currency management for global teams

IT teams increasingly work with international vendors. Airwallex offers a unified, business-centric solution integrating payments, foreign exchange, multi-currency accounts, treasury and expense management ⁶. This integration becomes crucial when managing subscriptions from US-based SaaS providers, cloud services from European data centers, and development tools from Asian markets.

Businesses can open local currency accounts online across markets with Airwallex with no monthly fees or telegraphic transfer charges ⁶. This capability eliminates foreign exchange fees on recurring subscriptions and provides predictable costs for budgeting purposes.

Streamlining approval workflows

IT purchases often require multiple approvals. Organizations are moving towards role-based, dynamic expense approval workflows based on department, spend category, risk level, and geography ². This shift enables faster decision-making while maintaining control over spending.

Dynamic approval routing

Airwallex simplifies the company expense process through intelligent routing and automated workflows ⁷. When an IT team member requests a new software subscription, the system automatically routes it to the appropriate approver based on amount, category, and urgency. This eliminates bottlenecks that delay critical purchases.

Brex AI automates in-policy approvals, custom routing, and exception detection ⁸. Similar capabilities in modern expense management platforms mean that routine purchases get approved instantly, while exceptional requests receive appropriate scrutiny. This balance maintains control without sacrificing speed.

Policy enforcement and compliance

Compliance becomes automatic with proper expense management. Companies now enforce expense policies proactively and dynamically rather than reacting to non-compliance after reimbursement ². For IT teams, this means embedding spending limits directly into purchasing workflows, preventing over-budget purchases before they occur.

The average rate of employee compliance with automated systems reaches 99% ⁸. This dramatic improvement comes from making the right choice the easy choice – when systems guide users toward compliant purchases, violations become rare exceptions rather than common occurrences.

Virtual cards for vendor management

Virtual cards revolutionise how IT teams manage vendor relationships. Airwallex provides virtual cards that offer granular control over spending ⁹. Each vendor gets a unique card number with specific limits, expiration dates, and spending categories.

Subscription management made simple

Creating dedicated virtual cards for each SaaS subscription provides immediate benefits. Teams can set monthly limits that match subscription costs, preventing unexpected charges. When a service increases its price, the transaction fails, prompting a review rather than automatic acceptance. This control mechanism protects against the subscription creep that plagues many organisations.

AI tools can now generate fake receipts that appear frighteningly real ¹⁰, making receipt verification crucial. Virtual cards eliminate this risk by providing transaction-level data directly from the payment network. Every charge appears instantly in the expense management system with merchant details, amounts, and categories already populated.

Enhanced security and control

Virtual cards provide security benefits beyond traditional corporate cards. Each card can be instantly frozen or deleted if compromised. Spending limits prevent unauthorised charges. Merchant restrictions ensure cards only work with approved vendors. These controls give IT teams confidence to distribute purchasing power without losing oversight.

The ability to create and manage virtual cards through Airwallex's platform means IT managers can provision new cards in seconds ⁹. This speed enables rapid response to new requirements while maintaining strict control over spending.

Analytics and insights for strategic decisions

Data drives better decisions. 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 ². These insights transform expense management from a compliance exercise into a strategic advantage.

Identifying cost optimisation opportunities

Airwallex's expense management tools provide detailed analytics that reveal spending patterns ¹¹. IT teams can identify underutilised subscriptions, consolidate duplicate services, and negotiate better rates with data-backed insights. When you know exactly how much you spend with each vendor, you gain leverage in negotiations.

Brex AI provides instant insight into spending patterns with natural-language search ⁸. This capability means asking questions like "Which subscriptions increased the most last quarter?" or "What percentage of our cloud spend goes to development environments?" and receiving immediate answers. These insights enable proactive cost management rather than reactive budget cuts.

Forecasting and budget planning

Predictive analytics transform budget planning. AI-powered systems predict future spending patterns based on historical behavior ². IT teams can forecast next quarter's expenses, identify seasonal patterns, and plan for growth. This forward-looking approach prevents budget surprises and enables strategic investments.

The integration of expense data with other business systems amplifies these benefits. When expense management connects with project management tools, teams can track costs per project. When it links with HR systems, they can monitor spending per employee. These connections provide the complete picture needed for strategic decision-making.

Integration with existing IT systems

Seamless integration makes or breaks expense management adoption. Airwallex's platform integrates with existing financial and operational systems ¹², ensuring expense data flows smoothly between applications. This connectivity eliminates duplicate data entry and ensures consistency across systems.

API-first architecture

Modern expense management requires robust APIs. Airwallex partnered with payments orchestration platform Yuno, enabling access to more than 1,000 payment methods across over 195 countries ⁶. This extensive network means IT teams can pay vendors anywhere, in any currency, through their preferred payment method.

The platform also integrated with platforms like Amazon and PayPal, allowing businesses to collect and pay in local currencies ⁶. These integrations streamline reconciliation and reduce the manual work required to match payments with expenses.

Automated reconciliation

Reconciliation consumes countless hours for finance teams. Automated matching between expenses and payments eliminates this burden. When a virtual card charge appears, the system automatically matches it with the corresponding expense report. When a reimbursement processes, it links to the original expense claim. This automation frees teams to focus on analysis rather than data entry.

Airwallex's approach to reimbursement streamlines the entire process ¹³. Employees submit expenses through mobile apps, managers approve with one click, and payments process automatically. This efficiency reduces the time from expense to reimbursement, improving employee satisfaction while maintaining control.

Compliance and audit readiness

Regulatory compliance grows more complex each year. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires management to assess and report on the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting ¹⁴. IT expense management systems must support these requirements through comprehensive audit trails and controls.

Automated audit trails

Every transaction needs documentation. Modern expense management systems maintain complete audit trails automatically. Each expense records who created it, who approved it, when changes occurred, and why decisions were made. This documentation proves invaluable during audits and investigations.

AI-generated fake receipts can cause major financial and compliance headaches for businesses worldwide ¹⁰. Airwallex's digital receipt capture and verification helps prevent fraud while maintaining compliance. The system validates receipts against transaction data, flagging discrepancies for review.

Policy enforcement and reporting

Compliance requires consistent policy enforcement. Companies that take proactive steps to gain visibility, set budgets, optimize architecture and measure success will dramatically reduce cloud costs ¹⁵. Expense management systems embed these policies directly into workflows, preventing violations before they occur.

Reporting capabilities support both internal and external requirements. Generate reports for tax filings, create summaries for board presentations, or export data for external audits. The flexibility to produce any required report ensures readiness for any compliance requirement.

The future of IT expense management

The evolution of expense management continues accelerating. Future innovations include voice-enabled expense submissions, blockchain-based audit trails, hyper-personalized employee spending limits, AI-driven fraud detection, and conversational interfaces for finance queries ². These advances promise even greater efficiency and control.

AI-powered automation

Artificial intelligence transforms expense management. Brex AI reduces expense busywork by 10x while increasing compliance and accuracy ⁸. This dramatic improvement comes from automating routine tasks like receipt matching, expense categorisation, and policy checking. As AI capabilities expand, even more processes will become automatic.

The average time managers and employees saved per year on compliance with AI-powered systems reaches 4,000 hours ⁸. This time savings translates directly to productivity gains and cost reductions. IT teams can focus on strategic initiatives rather than administrative tasks.

Predictive cost management

Predictive analytics will revolutionise budget management. Systems will forecast cost overruns before they occur, recommend optimisations based on usage patterns, and automatically adjust spending limits based on project requirements. This proactive approach prevents problems rather than solving them after the fact.

The integration of expense management with other business systems will deepen. Expense data will flow seamlessly between project management, procurement, and financial planning systems. This connectivity will provide complete visibility into the true cost of IT operations and enable data-driven decision-making at every level.

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Getting started with Airwallex

Transforming IT expense management starts with choosing the right platform. Airwallex helps businesses manage the demands of international expansion through its comprehensive financial platform ⁶. The platform's combination of expense management, virtual cards, and multi-currency capabilities makes it ideal for tech-driven teams.

In fiscal year 2024, Airwallex's Singapore revenue rose 153% year-on-year, while transaction volume climbed 159% ⁶. This growth reflects the platform's ability to meet the complex needs of modern businesses. About 96% of Singapore SMEs surveyed by Airwallex have adopted or plan to adopt fintech solutions ⁶, demonstrating the widespread recognition of these tools' value.

Implementing Airwallex for IT expense management delivers immediate benefits. Real-time visibility reveals spending patterns. Automated workflows accelerate approvals. Virtual cards provide granular control. Analytics drive strategic decisions. These capabilities combine to transform expense management from a burden into a competitive advantage.

The path forward is clear. IT teams need expense management solutions that match their speed and complexity. Traditional approaches fail to provide the real-time visibility, automated workflows, and granular control that modern operations demand. Airwallex delivers these capabilities through a unified platform that grows with your business.

Take control of your IT expenses today. Eliminate wasteful spending, automate tedious processes, and gain the insights needed for strategic decision-making. With Airwallex, every dollar works harder, every process runs smoother, and every decision becomes clearer. Transform your IT expense management and unlock the full potential of your technology investments.

FAQ

How can Airwallex help tech teams manage SaaS subscription expenses?

Airwallex provides virtual cards and real-time expense tracking that help tech teams monitor and control SaaS subscription costs. With automated categorization and spending controls, teams can prevent subscription sprawl and ensure compliance with company policies. The platform's unified dashboard gives visibility into all recurring software expenses, making it easier to identify unused subscriptions and optimize spending.

What makes Airwallex different from traditional expense management tools for IT departments?

Airwallex offers a unified financial platform that integrates payments, foreign exchange, multi-currency accounts, and expense management specifically designed for global businesses. Unlike traditional tools, it provides real-time visibility into cloud infrastructure costs and SaaS subscriptions while offering virtual cards for secure vendor payments. The platform's AI-powered features can automatically categorize IT expenses and flag anomalies, reducing manual work by up to 60%.

How does Airwallex help control wasteful cloud spending?

With research showing that 50% of organizations waste more than 40% of their cloud budget, Airwallex provides real-time spending alerts and automated controls to prevent cost overruns. The platform enables IT teams to set spending limits on virtual cards used for cloud services, track usage patterns, and receive instant notifications when spending thresholds are approached. This proactive approach helps organizations avoid the average ₹52 lakhs per year that mid-sized companies typically waste on cloud resources.

Can Airwallex automate IT expense reporting and compliance?

Yes, Airwallex automates expense reporting through AI-powered receipt matching and policy compliance checks. The platform automatically categorizes IT expenses, matches receipts with transactions, and generates detailed reports for finance teams. This automation reduces processing time and errors while ensuring compliance with company spending policies, making it easier for IT departments to justify their expenses and budget allocations.

What is spend management and how does Airwallex support it for tech teams?

Spend management is a comprehensive approach to controlling and optimizing all business expenses before, during, and after they occur. Airwallex supports tech teams through proactive spending controls, real-time visibility into IT expenses, and automated policy enforcement. The platform helps teams track everything from software licenses to cloud infrastructure costs, ensuring every dollar is accounted for and aligned with business objectives.

How secure are Airwallex virtual cards for IT vendor payments?

Airwallex virtual cards provide enhanced security for IT vendor payments through unique card numbers for each subscription or vendor, spending limits, and real-time transaction monitoring. This approach reduces the risk of fraud and unauthorized charges while providing complete visibility into vendor payments. IT teams can instantly freeze or modify card limits, ensuring better control over recurring payments to SaaS providers and cloud services.

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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