Much like personal cards, business credit cards come in handy when you need them. Whether you need new computers for the office, or a pipe burst in the bathroom, making you hire a plumber in the middle of the night. A card will help bail you out of any mess that may spring up on you. Let us go over some of those ways so you can completely understand why you should have at least one business credit card.
1.Separation-This is one of the biggest benefits that a business card can give to you. It separates your business life, and your personal life. You will not ever have to worry about separating everything out at the end of the year because all your business purchases will be completed with the business card. Vice versa as well. Your personal transactions will be covered with a personal debit or credit card.
2.Business Credit Rating-Keeping your personal credit rating high is important, but when it comes to a business it could mean the difference between getting a loan and being denied. It could also reflect badly on you if you try to get a new supplier for one of the items that you need. People that you do business with will judge your business upon the score, just like your personal number.
3.Credit Limits-As you use your business card, and then pay it off, your credit number will increase. Your card holder will also raise your credit limit as soon as you have shown that you can pay for the bill that you are sent. It will also increase the chances of you getting another card, or even business credit with a supplier or wholesaler.
4.Cash Flow-It can be hard running a business. Trying to keep track of a bunch of cash transactions can be more time consuming than time that you have available. Cash flow is detrimental in all phases of business. Using a credit card will remove the possibility of forgetting about an accounts payable transaction being completed. A credit card statement will detail every penny spent in the name of the company. A card will also allow you to get supplies you need without having to pay up front for it all. This also helps your cash flow by keeping more useable money within reach if you need it for anything.
5. Perks-Just like your personal card you can rack up air miles, dinner points, or any other perks that you are accustomed to getting. If you check out a credit card compare site online you can get a business credit card that will do the same things for you, but better. Business customers usually spend more money so the card holder will give you better rewards and incentives for you to use their card. After all, they are not the only company offering to carry a card with you.
6. Travel protections-As you probably know most personal cards offer you travel protections, such as travel insurance. A business card will do the same for you, or your representatives. Travel insurance can be rather expensive when you need to travel, unless you purchase a policy that goes through the entire year. It is easier to carry a business card with you, which will cover many different things, such as lost luggage expenses, or reimbursement for tickets or lodgings that were prepaid for, in the case that you need to cancel them at the last minute. Obviously, each card will approach this differently, so read through your specific terms and conditions to see what they offer.
7. Employee Spending-It is a total hassle to keep track of money that employees spend during the course of the day that involves company expenses. You can have some cards mad up for them to specifically use, or you can hand yours over. This is a fantastic way to keep an eye on employee spending, and to know exactly what they are buying when they buy it. Controls can be set on it that prevents any major fraudulent activities, and when it is used you can get a notification on your mobile device. This make sit possible to control company spending even when you are on vacation.
8. Management Tools-Many business cards offer tools to help you keep track of your spending. Year end summaries can be downloaded into an excel spreadsheet to make it easy to put the year behind you. You can get a semiannual report as well if you need to keep a better rein on your expenditures. Getting a list that can be exported to an excel sheet will help when it is time to do the taxes, whether you do it or you have an accountant that takes care of it.
9. Automated-Running a business is a non-stop task that is hard to pull yourself away from, let alone remember to pay some of the little bills. Bills that do not jump out at you are easy to forget about. With a company credit card you can set up automatic payments for all of your main bills, and the little ones that you do not need to stress about anymore. This alleviates the need for reminders on your calendar. They will be paid every month without every having to think about them again.
Having a business credit card is just as beneficial to you as your personal one that has a well-used place in your wallet. It keeps things neat and tidy for the tax person, and it will make running a business easier in many ways. You have enough on your plate, separating purchases and watching over the monthly amounts of cash going out needs to be as streamlined as possible. A business credit card will give you that ability.
There really is no point in making things harder when a simple step is so easily available to you and your business. Step up and get your business moving ahead by getting yourself a card, or two.