Four ways construction companies can save time and spend smarter

We work with 1000s of construction companies across the UK to make their jobs a little easier. And that’s not just a line our marketing department came up with by the way – we literally ran the numbers.

Almost 14% of our customers work in construction and over 97% of those construction customers are small and medium-sized businesses.

So why are we telling you this? The point here is that we think we’ve got a pretty good idea of the challenges construction companies are facing when it comes to paying for the things that keep business running smoothly. For example:

• Your employees need to spend company money
• Paying out of pocket puts pressure on your team
• Chasing receipts is a waste of everyone’s time
• Month-end reconciliation is a pain in the neck

The good news is that we’ve also got a pretty good idea of how Soldo can help with these challenges, so let’s dive right in.

Your employees need to spend company money

Picture the scene: someone from your team is heading out for the day. He’s working on a driveway, shopfitting a café or renovating a city centre apartment – depending on your exact line of business.

Let’s call him Gavin, shall we? Gavin stops for fuel at Esso on the way, maybe he grabs something to eat too. A few hours later he needs to pop into Screwfix to pick up a few things. He puts the receipt in his pocket for safekeeping.

All of that spending is essential for Gavin to do his job – and a crucial part of the way you do business. But this simple scenario is not without it’s problems, so let’s break those down and look at a few ways you could use Soldo to solve them.

Paying out of pocket puts pressure on your team

Problem

Gavin must use his own money for these purchases, submit an expense form at the end of the month and wait a week or so for the business to pay him back.

But we’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis and Gavin can’t really afford to be out of pocket.

“We’re a small business so we get our hands dirty with everything. But, fundamentally, we don’t believe that our employees should be loaning the business money to do their jobs properly.”

Gus, Co-founder

Solution

With Soldo, you can give Gavin a prepaid company card. You can make sure he has enough money to get the job done and keep track of where, when and how much he’s spending.

When the balance is low, you’ll get a notification to top up, so he never has to swipe his personal card for a business purchase.

Chasing receipts is a waste of everyone’s time

Problem

Gavin’s pocket wasn’t that safe after all and he misplaces the Screwfix receipt. You waste time chasing him up at the end of the month and he wastes time looking in his laundry basket or under the front seat of his van.

Lost or not, manually reconciling a handful of receipts every four weeks is a headache you’d both rather do without.

Solution

If Gavin had a Soldo card, he’d also have the Soldo app on his phone. Instead of pocketing the receipt, he could simply snap a photo, link it to the Screwfix purchase in seconds and even add a note about the client or project it relates to.

Month-end reconciliation would take half the time and neither one of you has to worry about chasing bits of paper.

“Our biggest issue was recording receipts. We can claim VAT back, but not without the receipt. Soldo’s drastically reduced the amount of time it takes to do that.”

Gillian, Owner

Month-end reconciliation is a pain in the neck

Problem

While we’re on the topic of month-end reconciliation, perhaps you’re not really a numbers person. Maybe you’ve run a successful business for years but accounting is a still chore that completely does your head in.

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re matching Gavin’s purchases with his expense reimbursement, you know you’ve missed out on VAT claims and your accountant will be tearing their hair out during tax season.

Solution

You switched to cloud-based accounting software a few years ago – your accountant got you set up with Xero. That’s already made a huge difference.

By using Soldo, you’d locked in the last piece of the puzzle because it seamlessly integrates with Xero (Sage, Quickbooks and others too). Here’s what that looks like:

• Gavin taps his Soldo card at Esso
• He uses the app to mark it as fuel, snap a photo of the receipt and add a note of the job he was travelling to
• Soldo automatically flows that transaction, receipt and note to Xero

“‘With Soldo, the best bit is that I don’t need to do loads of work at the end of the month.”

Karen, Operations Manager

Put these solutions into action

Like that line about working with 1000s of construction companies, we didn’t invent Gavin and his daily spending needs out of nowhere.

We know that places like Screwfix and Esso (as well as Amazon, Shell and Tesco) are where our construction customers find their Soldo cards most useful. We also know that our mobile app, receipt capture, accounting integrations and company cards are some of the features construction companies love most about Soldo.

Sign up to save time on reconciliation, stress less about chasing receipts and simplify spending for your team.