Automate, track, innovate: How Pleo helps tech companies take control of spending

Software and IT companies are at the forefront of innovation. But behind every breakthrough and new product release, the systems that power day-to-day operations aren’t always so cutting-edge.

Finance teams, including those in IT and software, typically spend hours on manual work: making sense of scattered expenses, completing time-consuming manual reimbursements, and tracking every SaaS subscription across departments. It’s a lot to manage, and it only gets harder as the company scales. 

All that manual work isn’t just a total contrast to the innovative end product. It creates blind spots, increases the risk of errors, and slows down decisions. That’s why forward-thinking software and IT companies are turning to Pleo. By bringing automation, clarity, and control to business spending, Pleo means tech companies can focus on scaling, not spreadsheets.

The impact of wasted time and money 

Pleo’s latest report, The power of better business decisions, finance leaders highlight time constraints as one of the biggest reasons for getting stuck in decision-freeze. 

The consequences of decision-freeze look something like this:

• Missed business opportunities (23%)
  • 27% for CFOs
• Decreased business efficiency (22%)
• High employee frustration (18%)

But it’s not just wasted time that’s an issue. Every manual process increases the risk of errors: missing receipts, duplicated payments, and forgotten renewals. 

Add the complexity of cloud services to the mix, and it’s no surprise that finance departments relying on manual work can’t keep up. With every department from engineering to DevOps and product teams running their own tools, cloud subscription costs can quickly spiral out of control. 

Often, the payments for these cloud services are spread across multiple payment cards and accounts. Without full visibility over who’s using what, finance can’t track which subscriptions deliver value, and which are wasting money. 

That’s where spend automation tools, like Pleo, give companies the clarity and agility they need to focus on innovation, not admin. 

How spend automation helps teams focus on what matters

Automating spend isn’t just about cutting down on paperwork. It also gives teams the freedom and flexibility needed to keep innovating, while providing finance with the visibility they need to manage budgets. 

Here’s what that can look like:

• Seamlessly manage every subscription: From cloud costs to recurring payments and managing SaaS subscriptions, spend automation centralises all subscriptions in one place. This visibility means finance can easily see which team uses which service, quickly cancel unused subscriptions, and prevent surprise renewals. 
  
  
• Simplify multi-currency payments: Distributed teams mean global, multi-currency expenses. Spend automation makes it easy to pay employees and vendors in multiple currencies without juggling multiple cards and accounts. It’s also possible to hold and trade different currencies while still having instant access to surplus cash. 
  
  
• Quickly reimburse remote team members: IT and software companies often have remote teams, which can complicate expenses and reimbursements. Spend automation speeds up the reimbursement process, streamlines expense approval, and helps everyone stay focused on their work, not chasing receipts. 
  
  
• Gain real-time visibility and control: By tracking every transaction in real-time, finance gains a clear picture of company spending. These kinds of detailed insights and analytics make it easier to manage budgets and make strategic, proactive decisions, rather than an end-of-month panic. 

By freeing finance teams from inefficient, manual tasks, automating spend changes the way companies operate. Spend management tools like Pleo help software and IT companies regain control over spend, without slowing down innovation. 

Debug your finances with Pleo

Modern tech teams don’t rely on old-school finance systems, and neither should you. With Pleo, they’re freeing up time to focus on the product, not paperwork. 

Streamlined spend management 

Rather than struggle with manual, fragmented payment processes, give global teams the autonomy to buy what they need for work, when they need it. Pleo cards and a mobile-first app let employees make purchases easily, track spend in real-time, and instantly capture and submit receipts, while finance has full visibility over every expense — no messy, manual work required. 

Efficient accounting management 

Wave goodbye to time-consuming, repetitive data entry and hours of manual work every week, with complete spend visibility across every team. Seamless integrations with your existing accounting software, including Xero, NetSuite, and QuickBooks, make it easy to maintain compliance, generate audit-ready reports, and close each month without any stress.    

Control spend at every level 

Instead of struggling to enforce budgets or being surprised by unexpected purchases, Pleo helps tech companies control spending at every level, thanks to automated controls and smart budgeting features. Assign budgets to specific vendors or teams, tailor approval workflows to manage large purchases, and keep spending on track. 

Smart spend optimisation 

Pleo’s smart spend optimisation features make it easy to tag, track, and optimise spend. Gaining this kind of detailed, real-time insight into spending makes it easier to optimise business costs and uncover savings opportunities. All Pleo card spend also earns 1% cashback, turning everyday costs into a chance to earn extra revenue. 

Pleo helps modern tech teams achieve: 

• Up to 2% spend reduction 
• 90% faster expense handling
• 95% of receipts captured instantly 
• Reconciliation completed in under 10 minutes 

How Pleo helped Paired cut one day of admin per week

UK-based startup Paired provides innovative ways for couples to grow together. But while the app was taking off, inefficient workflows, manual payments, and unnecessary admin left the finance team struggling to keep up.

Pleo offered a smarter way to manage spend, replacing manual payments with automated workflows. The switch saved the finance team a full day of admin work every single week, so they can focus on what matters most. 

"Pleo has helped us automate key finance processes and drive efficiencies across the entire business. Instead of chasing receipts or filling out forms, we can focus on what matters, and everyone at Paired now has the tools to spend smarter." — Magda Tulacz, Head of Finance at Paired

Finance that moves as fast as your code 

For fast-moving software and IT companies, every minute counts, and finances shouldn’t be holding you back. Manual expenses processes, disorganised subscriptions, and slow reimbursements drain time, money, and focus. 

Pleo changes that. By streamlining spend management, improving visibility, and enabling smarter, faster decision-making, Pleo makes managing spend feel effortless. And that leaves more time and energy for the kind of confident, informed decisions that drive business growth and innovation.

If you’re ready to experience spend management that’s built for tech innovators, book your free Pleo demo.