The £1 that changed my view on business spending

Redefining agility and control in business spending 

For over a decade, people have been talking about the evolving role of the finance team. From gatekeeper to growth partner. From bean counter to business strategist. But let’s be honest: the role already has changed. And so have most CFOs. 

Today, business spending is more decentralised, more frequent, and harder to control. The real problem today isn’t the people. It’s the processes. Finance is slowed down by outdated systems built for a world that no longer exists.  

That’s why, on 10 September at the Gartner(R) CFO & Finance Executive Conference 2025, I’ll be speaking about one of the key challenges facing Finance today: striking the right balance between spending control and business agility.  How finance can rethink spending to empower employees without sacrificing control or slowing the business down. 

Personally, I learned the power of this shift years ago, long before I joined Soldo. 

The £1 that changed my perspective on spend 

When I first arrived in the UK as a broke college tourist, I found myself late at night at Stansted Airport with just £60 for the weekend. At the bus stop, the driver wouldn’t break my £20 note. So, my choice was to use a third of my weekend budget on one bus ride or… be stuck. 

Then a stranger tapped me on the shoulder, dropped a £1 coin on the tray, and said, “You got it, mate.” That pound didn’t just get me to my hostel, it unlocked the rest of my trip. 

That’s the role of Finance. Finance should be that helping hand. Not the person holding the purse strings tight, but the one helping to get the business from point A to point B.  

The CFO’s dilemma: agility vs control 

Finance leaders face the same trade-off every day: 

• Loosen control of spending to move faster, but risk overspending and messy month-ends 
• Tighten control to protect the business, but slow everything down and frustrate employees

Neither is good enough. And the real culprit is in employees decentralised spend: the thousands of small, everyday purchases spread across teams, locations, and projects. 

Centralised spend is strategic.  It’s done by a few people, and easy to plan and control. Decentralised spend is much more difficult. It’s harder to see, harder to manage, and often only surfaces when the receipts roll in. 

Why rethink your business spending approach? 

First, it costs your business a tremendous amount of time. According to Soldo research from 2024*: 

• Employees spend 47 hours a month reconciling expenses
• Managers take 48 hours each month to manage expenses 
• The finance team use over 60 hours each month on expense admin  

But it’s not just costing time. Poor spend management slows growth. Our survey also revealed that: 

• 43% of employees said finance delays held up their work
• 71% of the finance team say slow processes stop them from helping employees 
• 76% of senior leaders missed growth opportunities due to slow budget access  

And this is a problem because the role of Finance has changed. It isn’t meant to be a gatekeeper. It’s meant to be an enabler. Which means the Future of Finance is changing the way you spend across three key areas: 

• Travel and entertainment (T&E): Business travel such as hotel or team meals
• Planned departmental spend: budgeted team spend like digital ads or replacement laptops 
• Unplanned operational spend: last-minute purchases like emergency fixes or ad hoc event costs 

Here’s how three companies have already made that change. 

1. T&E Spend — Shay Murtagh Precast 

This family-owned Irish construction supplier works across Europe on major infrastructure projects. Their engineers and installers were constantly on the move, juggling multiple credit cards in different currencies and often paying out-of-pocket. And Finance was drowning in expense admin and chasing VAT receipts. 

With Soldo, they easily track business spend by project, capture receipts instantly in euros or pounds, and use virtual cards for last-minute travel. Expense reconciliation dropped from weeks to half a day each month. 

2. Planned Departmental Spend — urbanbubble 

Managing 11,000 units across 85 residential communities in the UK, urbanbubble had planned site budgets for cleaning, maintenance, and community events. But drawing from a shared pot created confusion, delays, and cash flow headaches. 

With Soldo, they pre-programmed separate budgets for each community, linking them to client funds. This result, better business spend processes: 70% better cash flow, faster month-end reporting, and cleaner budget control. 

3. Unplanned Operational Spend — Mandala Productions 

This events and fashion production company works on shows across Europe with last-minute equipment needs. Teams still relied on cash which was risky, hard to track, and slow to replace. Reimbursements put staff out of pocket and created tension. 

By issuing project-specific Soldo cards with real-time top-ups, they eliminated cash handling, avoided misallocated budgets, and captured every receipt instantly. 

Each of these companies unlocked control and speed. They empowered employees without sacrificing accountability. And they gave finance teams their time back. 

Agility and Control: The progressive finance model 

The old model said you had to choose. Agility or control. Speed or governance. Empowerment or risk. But that’s no longer true. 

With Soldo, you reduce manual work. You cut surprise spending. You get real-time clarity across departments, teams, and geographies. You free your people to do their best work (without having to ask five times to get a payment approved). 

Because spending isn’t just about payments. It’s governance, payment, and review connected in one platform.   

*Source: Soldo & Statista Finance Core Research, July 2024 (n=300, UK & Italy). 

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