For companies handling large numbers of expenses every month, a few missing receipts are to be expected. But when hundreds of receipts start slipping through the cracks, it’s time for a new approach.
That was the situation Jennie Boardman, Operations Manager at Black Box Golf, found herself in. Established in 2019, Black Box Golf is Spain’s leader in the design and installation of golf simulators across Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Andorra and Switzerland.
The company delivers end-to-end projects, from consultation and design to the project management, delivery, installation, and commissioning of golf simulators at a wide range of facilities, including prestigious golf clubs, indoor golf centres, golf fitting studios, private residences, and more.
The simulator technology is state-of-the-art. But until recently, the finance processes weren’t keeping pace. Since onboarding with Pleo, that’s changed.
Tackling late expense submissions plus hundreds of missing receipts
Black Box Golf covers a large geographical area across multiple countries, which means working with a lot of contractors and suppliers. Often, the team was holding onto receipts while travelling. “They’d have stacks of receipts, come back, and throw them on my desk, which wasn’t very efficient,” said Jennie.
But an even bigger issue was the significant number of unaccounted-for expenses. “I was dealing with up to 400 missing receipts every month, which you can imagine was a huge task and almost impossible to stay on top of,” explained Jennie.
Jennie began looking for a better way to manage spend, starting with solving the issue of missing receipts.
Luckily, Pleo offered exactly what she needed.
A seamless, supportive onboarding experience
From the very first call, Jennie and the Black Box Golf team found Pleo’s onboarding process to be seamless. “The first call and presentation weren’t overwhelming. It gave me exactly what I needed to know in terms of cost and functionality,” she explained.
Jennie noted that the only surprises during the entire process were positive ones, like discovering extra features and functionalities she hadn’t been aware of. “For me, the entire onboarding process was efficient and straightforward,” she said.
Another element of Pleo’s onboarding process that Jennie valued was the ability to add their bookkeeper to the calls: “She was able to ask questions from another perspective, because having shared knowledge between the team is really helpful. Being able to bring her in and iron out those little kinks that affect each part of our role was really important.”
Expert support that adapts to your team
Jennie also appreciated the knowledge of Pleo’s onboarding manager, Silvia Bazzanella. Her support was invaluable, not only for getting Pleo up and running, but also for helping Jennie explain how Pleo works to the wider Black Box Golf team.
As Jennie said, implementing Pleo wasn’t just about setting up a new system. It was also about making it work day-to-day, especially for team members who aren’t desk-based or technologically savvy. Silvia supported Jennie, ensuring she’d have what was needed to keep the process as straightforward as possible.
“There’s a lot of fear around change because people are used to working in a certain way, and it can add a layer of uncertainty,” said Jennie. She added that Silvia’s support allowed her to get up to speed with Pleo as quickly as possible, which helped the transition.
Jennie added that the ability to use Pleo’s booking calendar and to reach out in the early phases of onboarding was invaluable. “Then, as I became more efficient, it felt like a very client-led experience, where I knew I had support if I needed it, but I wasn’t consistently committed to meetings when I was already up and running. It’s been very nice to work at a rhythm that suits me.”
Once onboarding was complete and the Black Box Golf team began using Pleo, that’s when the benefits really became clear.
Transforming expense chaos into real-time control
“Thanks to Pleo, we’ve gone from having lists of 400 missing receipts each month to chasing just 10 receipts. That is absolutely life-changing,” said Jennie.
Another aspect of Pleo that has transformed how Jennie approaches spend management is having real-time control and visibility over expenses, which is especially valuable when employees are travelling away from the company’s central base. “Being able to nudge employees straight away if a receipt isn’t added makes communication around finances a lot smoother,” said Jennie, since it’s easy for employees to take a photo and submit receipts directly in the app.
Pleo’s spend controls have also transformed how the team approaches purchasing. “The ability to control expense limits has been revolutionary,” said Jennie. She explained that Black Box Golf places a lot of material orders, but these are often carried out by one person and collected by another. “It was very limiting for us if there was only one person who could collect them,” explained Jennie. “Having the facility to pay for expenses using Pleo cards, but also having complete control over the limits on those cards, is really good. If I know someone is going to collect a large amount of materials, I can take their expense limit up, then bring it back down the next day,” she added.
Another standout Pleo feature that’s proved its worth is the reimbursement function. “It wasn’t something I was really aware of when we signed up for Pleo, but it’s been really helpful in the day-to-day life for our team,” said Jennie. “With Pleo, people don’t have to call and get authorisation. They can just get on with the job in hand, knowing that those costs will be taken care of in a timely fashion,” she added.
And bringing it all together? “It’s all recorded in one place. It’s given us much more visibility of expenses that occur for each job,” explained Jennie.
A smarter way to manage spend
Thanks to Pleo, Black Box Golf has transformed its approach to spend management. “No one wants to be hunting through bins for lost receipts. Pleo has completely changed my job and given everybody more visibility and security around company financials, which is exactly what we were looking for.”
And Jennie has been keen to let others know about Pleo’s positive impact, too. “I’ve already been singing Pleo’s praises,” said Jennie. “I know a lot of people in similar roles, and I’ve been shouting about the benefits and my experience with Pleo.”
Ready to transform your approach to spend management? Book a Pleo demo today.
