From new kit to equipment rental and accommodation for away games, a lot goes on behind the scenes at sports clubs.
Whether it’s grassroots or the elite level, big wins start with smart moves in the office. Like keeping tight control over spending, while also providing everything your team needs to succeed.
But many clubs still rely on outdated, manual expense processes. We’re talking a crumpled pile of receipts after every away game, clunky spreadsheets that never quite add up, plus compliance and audit worries when funding season rolls around.
All that chaos comes at a price. That’s why Pleo gives sports businesses the control, compliance, and clarity they need to drive off-field efficiency and on-field results.
The messy manual processes holding sports clubs back
Whether you’re managing the finances for a local club or the CFO of a professional team with multiple squads and sponsorship deals, keeping control of spend is essential.
But old-school, messy processes aren’t exactly the recipe for peak performance.
Coaches and athletes have to share company cards or make out-of-pocket expenses, adding stress rather than allowing them to focus. Meanwhile, finance teams spend hours grappling with time-consuming data entry, reconciliation, and approvals.
Because there’s no centralised way to assign spend limits or permissions, no one knows who’s spent what, where. Until the end of the month rolls around, when overspending and mistakes come to light too late.
This approach might be traditional, but it doesn’t help sports clubs meet the unique challenges that set them apart from other businesses.
Seasonal budget fluctuations
Most sports teams experience spikes and dips in spend throughout the year. Pre-season training camps, new kit purchases, and tournament travel push spend up, while post-season downtime decreases spending.
That means sports clubs need to manage their cash flow flexibly, so that on-season spend doesn’t derail day-to-day operations for the rest of the year.
Emergency equipment purchases
Broken groundskeeping equipment or damaged training gear can’t wait until the month-end. To keep sports clubs running smoothly, they need to be replaced right away. That means flexible systems that allow for fast, one-off purchases.
Compliance with sports governing bodies
Small sports clubs are often reliant on funding from national federations or local councils, while larger teams need to report to governing bodies like UEFA and FIFA.
Whether applying for local grants or complying with regulations like UEFA Financial Fair Play, staying compliant and audit-ready is essential. But manual systems don’t exactly make this easy, leaving many clubs scrambling to prepare reports.
Managing expenses across multiple teams and age groups
Sports clubs typically juggle multiple teams across different age groups and divisions, all with their own spending needs and budgets. While travelling, these teams often have last-minute expenses, and trying to manage this manually leaves finance teams on the back foot, never fully knowing what’s been spent.
All these messy processes mean sports clubs spend more time fighting financial fires than figuring out how to drive performance.
It’s time for a new winning playbook.
Switching to digital systems and processes doesn’t just save time and boost productivity. It also gives sports clubs the insights they need to spend smarter.
Pleo: The finance tool helping sports teams play a smarter financial game
By reducing expense processing time, simplifying reporting, and offering cashback on every card purchase, Pleo helps sports companies focus on performance, not paperwork.
Here’s how it works.
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Smart company cards
Issue physical and virtual company cards so your athletes, coaches, and team can spend confidently — no shared cards or inconvenient out-of-pocket payments required. Visiting coach joining the team? No problem, issue a temporary card for the duration of their stay.
Every card purchase earns 1% cashback, helping turn everyday purchases into smart savings for your club.
Pleo’s smart company cards help sports clubs cut expense approval time by 85%.
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Real-time spend tracking
When finance teams don’t know who spent what, the end of the month can be a nasty surprise.
Large or unexpected purchases tip your budget over the edge. Different teams travelling to different locations every other weekend means time-consuming data entry and a messy pile of receipts to sort through on Monday.
Pleo tracks every transaction, so it’s easy to see what’s been spent by each team member. Pleo also makes it possible to assign specific cards to budgets or vendors, teams, and projects, so there are no surprises at the end of the month.
Pleo helps sports companies reconcile expenses in under 10 minutes with built-in OCR and seamless integrations.
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Budget controls
From new kit for the upcoming season to equipment rentals, groundskeeping, travel, and fees, running a sports club means an endless stream of expenses. Without clear budget controls, all those expenses can quickly equal big overspends.
Pleo helps sports clubs control spend at every level, thanks to its smart budgeting features and automated controls.
Easily assign different budgets for each team, vendor, or event. Then, instantly view current spend to keep budgets on track and under control.
If recurring vendor payments make up a large portion of your budget, use Pleo’s AI-powered insights to bring hidden costs to light.
Pleo helps sports clubs achieve up to 2% spend reduction through real-time visibility and smarter budgeting.
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Audit-ready reporting
Sports clubs might field a full squad. But behind the scenes, things often run on a smaller scale, with the support of part-time staff and volunteers. That means when audit season rolls around, there can be a last-minute panic preparing reports.
For clubs that rely on public funding or sponsorships, clear and efficient account management isn’t optional. It’s an essential part of staying compliant and securing funding for future seasons.
That’s where Pleo comes in. It gives sports clubs complete spend visibility across all teams and facilities. Reports can be generated within minutes, and bookkeeping integrations mean it’s easy to demonstrate full compliance with public funding requirements and stay audit-ready, minus the panic.
How Pleo helps Forza Football stay on top of their game
The small team at the live score app, Forza Football, has a unique approach to management: they manage through values, not policies. Thanks to this approach, every employee has a sense of ownership of the company expenses.
Initially, this meant one company credit card being shared between the team. No one really knew who spent what until the end of the month, when the bank statement arrived. But as the app and the team grew, this became unsustainable.
Now, thanks to Pleo, every employee has a Pleo card, and the manual work of chasing lost receipts is a thing of the past. And because Pleo integrates with their bookkeeping system, spend can be tracked in real-time.
That leaves the Forza Football team with more time to concentrate on their goals: making the world of football more open and accessible to everyone.
Chase wins, not receipts, with smarter spend management
Running a sports club comes with its fair share of highs and lows. Match day wins, new sponsorship deals, and funding approvals on one side. Last-minute kit orders, broken equipment, and never-ending data entry on the other side.
But keeping spend running smoothly means everyone can focus on performance where it really counts. That’s where real-time spend visibility, seamless integrations, and smarter budgeting come in.
By giving you total visibility and control, Pleo becomes your sports club’s latest MVP.
To take your spend management from grassroots to greatness, book your free Pleo demo.
