The Small Business Playbook to Track & Limit Employee Expenses in 2025

Studies show companies use only about half the SaaS licenses they pay for, leaving a hidden drain on cash flow. And in 2025, with hybrid work, heavier SaaS adoption, and more global contractors, the cracks only widen.

That’s where Relay comes in. With real-time visibility, smart corporate cards, and built-in expense controls, it helps owners and finance leads stay ahead of every dollar leaving the business.

This playbook lays out five steps you can put in place today: write a clear expense policy, pick the right tools, roll out smart limits, measure results, and adjust as you grow. Done right, you’ll protect cash flow, simplify reimbursements, and give your team the freedom to spend responsibly.

Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply.

The Real Cost Of Uncontrolled Employee Spend

For small businesses, cash flow isn’t theoretical—it’s survival. Letting employee expenses run unchecked creates problems that ripple across your finances, compliance, and even culture.

Hidden Cash-Flow Leaks In Small Teams

It’s rarely the big-ticket items that sink you. It’s the slow drip: unused SaaS seats, duplicate subscriptions, unapproved travel upgrades, or late-payment fees on vendor invoices. A few small leaks across a lean team can add up to thousands a year.

That accelerates your burn rate—the speed at which you’re spending available cash. And when burn rate climbs faster than revenue, growth feels shaky no matter how strong sales look on paper.

Compliance And Audit Risks

Small businesses don’t have audit teams or extra staff to fix mistakes. If receipts are missing or records are inconsistent, you’re the one on the hook with the IRS. Mileage padding, per-diem abuse, or “rounded up” receipts might seem minor, but they still create compliance risk.

The IRS mileage rate for 2025 is $0.70 per mile, and businesses are expected to substantiate expenses with receipts or logs. A policy engine—the ability to set automatic rules on what’s approved, denied, or flagged—helps enforce those standards. Relay’s built-in rules and transaction logs keep you compliant without adding hours of admin.

Culture Impact When Policies Are Unclear

When employees aren’t sure what’s allowed, spending becomes a guessing game. Delayed reimbursements erode trust, and staff stop treating company money with the care they should. On the flip side, transparency builds confidence. Clear rules—and tools that make them easy to follow—turn expense management from a pain point into a shared standard.

Build A Bulletproof Expense Policy

A good expense policy doesn’t drown your team in rules—it gives them a clear path to follow. Growing businesses need policies that are simple, role-based, and flexible enough to scale. Relay offers a free template to get you started, but here’s what every strong policy should include.

Define Allowed And Disallowed Categories

Be explicit about what’s covered and what isn’t. Don’t leave it to guesswork.

• Always Allowed: reasonable meals while traveling, office supplies, recurring software subscriptions

• Needs Pre-Approval: conferences, new SaaS tools, team outings

• Never Allowed: personal electronics, alcohol above legal limits, first-class flights

Putting this in a simple table saves everyone time and awkward back-and-forth.

Set Role-Based And Vendor-Specific Limits

Sales reps on the road need different spending power than an intern ordering supplies. That’s where smart limits—card-level caps that auto-reset daily, weekly, or monthly—come in.

Relay lets you assign spend limits by role, category, or vendor card. For example, a $150/day client meal cap for sales, a card restricted to Amazon purchases with a $500 monthly limit, or a $200 supply budget for interns. The result: flexibility without overspend.

Outline Approval And Reimbursement Timelines

Slow approvals frustrate employees and make the business look disorganized. Define who approves what, and how fast. Aim for same-day approvals on <$50 purchases and clear escalation for larger amounts.

With Relay, you can assign employees cards with tailored spending limits and vendor or category restrictions—so most expenses are covered upfront. That means reimbursements become the exception, not the rule, and no one has to float personal cash for weeks while waiting for payback.

Choose Spend Management Tools With Real-Time Visibility

You don’t need enterprise-grade software. What you need are tools that give you clarity without complexity—and that plug straight into your existing accounting.

Must-Have Features For Small Businesses

Look for spend management tools that give you:

• Receipt capture with reminders and storage (Relay supports this; OCR parsing is used for bills)

• Mobile app with instant notifications

• Real-time card controls and freeze ability

• Automated policy rules

• Direct integrations with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Gusto

• Support for paying international contractors via local rails or SWIFT

• Audit-ready records stored in the cloud

Relay offers these features natively, designed specifically for small-business use cases—so you don’t have to bolt on expensive enterprise platforms.

Scenario-Based Tool Recommendations

Here’s how to think about alternatives:

Unlike enterprise cards (Brex, Ramp) that target larger startups or corporations, Relay is built around the realities of small businesses—cash flow clarity, flexible card controls, and keeping overhead low.

Integrations With Accounting And Payroll

Integrations aren’t a luxury when you’re running lean—they’re what save you hours each month. Relay’s direct bank feeds flow into QuickBooks and Xero automatically (updated about every 3 hours ). Reimbursements can sync with payroll through Gusto, keeping your books and your people up to date.

Roll Out Controls And Limits Step By Step

Rolling out new systems all at once can overwhelm a small team. A phased approach keeps everyone onboard.

Issue Corporate Cards With Smart Limits

Start with leaders, then extend to departments. With Relay, you can spin up both physical and virtual cards instantly—virtual for SaaS, physical for in-person. A $200/day meal limit for sales? Easy. A $500/month subscription cap? Done.

Automate Receipt Capture And Policy Flags

Turn on mandatory photo upload within 24 hours. Relay can automatically nudge employees via SMS or email when receipts are missing, and freeze cards if compliance is ignored . That means you stay consistent without chasing people down manually.

Train Employees And Monitor Adoption

Run a short kickoff session, record it for new hires, and share a one-page policy sheet with a QR code. Track progress with simple adoption metrics inside Relay:

• % of transactions with receipts

• Average approval time

• Number of violations flagged by the system

Measure, Audit, Iterate

Your business changes every quarter. Expense controls should evolve with it.

Track KPIs Like Burn Rate And Policy Violations

Set up a dashboard to monitor:

• Burn rate

• Spend vs. budget

• Number of violations

• Average reimbursement time

• Declined transactions (trackable via exports/filters)

Relay provides real-time reporting so you don’t wait for month-end to spot problems.

Schedule Monthly Policy Reviews

Block 30 minutes a month to look at trends. If policy violations top 10% or burn rate is creeping up, tweak limits before they become bigger issues.

Use Data To Forecast And Optimize Budgets

Spend data is fuel for smarter planning. Cutting unused SaaS spend by 12% could free $4,000/month for hiring or marketing. With Relay’s reporting, you can spot these opportunities quickly—and forecast next-quarter needs with more accuracy.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Reimburse International Employees Without Hidden Fees?

Use a platform that supports local rails (e.g., SEPA, FPS) or SWIFT with transparent FX. Relay processes international payments via Currencycloud and supports multiple payout currencies . You can also connect your Relay account to Wise if you prefer.

Can Contractors Use The Same Spend Policy As Full-Time Staff?

Yes. Issue virtual Relay cards with lower smart limits to contractors. That gives them what they need without risking overspend—and makes offboarding a click.

What Records Should I Keep For Tax Compliance And Audits?

The IRS generally requires you to keep records for at least 3 years, up to 6 years in some cases, and 7 years for specific items like bad debts . Many small businesses keep 7 years of records to be safe. Relay automatically stores receipts and approvals in the cloud.

How Often Should I Revisit And Update My Spend Limits?

Quarterly is a good rhythm, or sooner if violations spike. Relay makes it easy to adjust limits in minutes instead of rewriting policies.

Wrapping Up

Uncontrolled employee spend can quietly drain thousands each year from a small business. But with a clear policy, the right tools, and smart controls, you can protect cash flow without slowing growth.

Relay was built for this exact challenge: helping small businesses track, control, and optimize every dollar in real time. With smart corporate cards, instant reporting, and seamless integrations, it’s the easiest way to turn expense chaos into cash flow clarity.

Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply.