How Pleo uses Pleo
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They say write what you know.
So it makes sense for a handful of our people to show off how they manage spending with their Pleo cards. Not just what they buy - from lunch to software and flowers - but how Pleo puts the dreamwork in teamwork.
Need a quick refresher on what Pleo actually is ? Check out this video 👇
Now, over to our Pleo'ers...
Evangelos – Employee Experience Lead, Copenhagen
The beating heart of our Copenhagen HQ is our office hero Evangelos. He's in charge of creating a memorable experience for each and every one of our employees. That involves working with leaders to make Pleo a safe and inclusive space, building what Evangelos fondly calls a "culture of care". Think remote onboarding has to be impersonal? Not where Evangelos is concerned.
With this much responsibility comes huge variety in how Evangelos uses his Pleo card.
Just look at this list of things he regularly pays for: “Several types of milk for coffee; lots of things for lunch, like napkins; beers for Friday drinks; stamps, balloons, bubbles if we need to celebrate. Not to mention painkillers, hygiene products and office supplies.
“Oh, and I help to do that for our satellite offices and remote workers too!”
OK, that’s a lot, but it’s outside of the everyday purchases that Evangelos and his card really shine.
“I can use Pleo to send flowers to people who are sick or going through a tough time, or to organise a baby basket for any new parents in our team.”
Told you he was a hero.
Sam – Solutions Architect, London
Going the extra mile to build customer loyalty and establish your brand is easier when it doesn’t involve faff and red tape.
Take our Solutions Architect, Sam Kelley, who’s part of the team that works closely with our customers.
Sam's job involves looking at our biggest markets, like Denmark, the UK and Germany, and thinking of creative ways to improve the onboarding experience for our customers.
This is where Pleo comes in handy. He uses his Pleo card to buy subscriptions for accounting software to test different scenarios for customers. This way, when a customer jojns Pleo, we already know the product will work like clockwork for them. Accounting software can be pricey, and using Pleo means Sam doesn't end up out of pocket while he waits to be reimbursed.
“It’s empowering to have the freedom (within a lot of reason) to do things that can really help me push my part of Pleo on,” says Sam.
Laith – IT Manager, Copenhagen
Now, some of us might break out in a sweat at the mere idea of forking out wads of company money. But for an IT manager, it’s just part of the job.
For Laith, the real value of his Pleo card is the freedom to make big purchases without having to jump through the hoops of traditional expense management.
The adjustable spending limits on Pleo cards mean Laith can be given more budget when he’s tooling up an office.
And subscriptions, so important to modern business, can add up too.
“I run all the company-wide software subscriptions on my Pleo card,” says Laith. “Notion, G-Suite, Office365, Slack, the list goes on.”
“Having all of that spending in a single-pane view? Super convenient. If I had to spread subscriptions out on different payment methods? Super annoying.”
Bene – Head of Growth Marketing, Copenhagen
Social media ads are crucial to so many companies today. They boost brand awareness and unlock new customers, as well as offering the kind of data-driven insights that can make a real difference.
But vital for those campaigns is setting a budget and sticking to it. Monitoring your spend to make sure you’re getting real bang for your buck.
For Benedikt Bürig, our Head of Growth Marketing, Pleo offers “a really convenient and centralised place to keep track of costs – particularly at the end of the month.
“Custom limits add a level of safety and help us avoid overspending,” he adds.
“Pleo makes regular reporting to our finance team totally redundant since they see ad platform invoices in real-time.”
And since Pleo cards have evolved from prepaid cards to company cards, they’re accepted by Google Ads. Which, we probably don’t need to tell you, is a pretty big deal.
Miia – Product Manager, London
Lockdown proved just how important it is to keep your team connected as we all work from home. And sometimes a Zoom quiz doesn’t quite cut it.
Luckily our Product Manager, Miia, has been creative when it comes to team-building exercises to keep morale high.
“I’ve always loved parties, bringing people together, food and cocktails, and this is something that I brought into Pleo. I’ve organised additional activities to do with the team in the UK office, something bigger quarterly.
“I planned a company cook-along, where people joined from across the world and could Pleo their ingredients. As a product manager, especially with a remote team, you want to bring the team together. And what better way than virtual experiences like beer tastings?
“Small things matter. Whether it's an ice cream or a refreshing Coke during the afternoon, with my Pleo card I can easily make my colleague’s day better. That small purchase can change a lot, and with a Pleo card I feel that’s the most powerful thing.”
But planning fun activities isn’t the only thing Miia has used her Pleo card for. “I’ve used Pleo to book a course as I just changed roles and wanted to ramp up my skills. After just one chat, I signed up for a course that has been so impactful on my development journey.”
Aiyana – Market Expansion Commercial Lead, Madrid
Growing a company like Pleo in markets like the UK and Denmark where we’re established is tough. Doing it in countries where we’ve just arrived is even tougher. Particularly when you're in charge of defining strategy, building teams in different countries and supporting them as and when they need.
But Aiyana Moorhead, our Market Expansion Commercial Lead, isn’t just taking that challenge on – she’s using her Pleo card to remove time-draining admin from her considerable workload.
Her spending runs from the practical (travelling to the new markets we've launched to help set up the teams) to the more intangible (coffees and lunches with market experts and at industry events).
A new market often involves using freelance or part-time talent as we find our feet and localise our product. By giving them their own Pleo card, Aiyana helps them to maximise their productivity and feel part of the growing team.
Jeppe – CEO and Co-Founder
Even as Pleo has grown, its key value for our CEO is the same as it is for most CEOs that love our cards.
Overview.
“We have different teams set up in Pleo based on departments. Managers of those teams are then responsible for the expenses of their own team,” says Jeppe.
“Automatic reminders within Pleo makes sure employees attach missing receipts, so we don’t have to ping them. Having all these things in place is crucial for us and makes our yearly audit a lot easier.”
But there's one Pleo feature that really, really helps Jeppe to do his job. It’s tags.
“Expense tags are a very valuable feature for us, as we can track not just department spending, but specific projects in more detail.”
New hire – you tell us, just about anywhere …
It’s not just seasoned Pleo’ers that get Pleo cards.
Everyone gets one.
Yes, all 750+ of us!
As soon as a new employee contract is signed, sealed and delivered, we ship out a Pleo card to the new starter. They get the chance to play around with Pleo before they arrive for their first day at work – buying any work essentials they need in the meantime, plus booking any travel or accommodation required as part of their onboarding.
Beyond the aspect of spending efficiency, handing over cards to every Pleo employee allows for each individual to have a deep-rooted understanding of our product and the overarching mission we're on: to become the go-to spending solution for forward-thinking teams.
P.s. We’re hiring right now. Come show us what you've got 💪.