It's 4:47 PM on a Thursday, and Sarah, a Finance Director at a fast-growing SaaS company, is drowning in a sea of crumpled receipts. Her marketing team just returned from a conference. Sales has submitted 47 reimbursement requests. And somewhere between her email inbox and Slack, there's an unexplained $3,200 charge on the company Amex that no one seems to own.

This isn't a spending problem. It's a visibility problem.

Traditional corporate cards give teams the freedom to spend, but give finance leaders sleepless nights. Meanwhile, the reimbursement dance—submit, approve, wait, follow up, finally get paid frustrates employees and creates administrative quicksand for accounting teams.

The good news? Modern expense cards have evolved far beyond the plastic in your wallet. They're intelligent financial tools that provide freedom and control. And getting one for your organisation is simpler than you might think.

This guide walks you through exactly how to get a Bujeti Corporate or Expense card, what you need to prepare, and how to configure your cards for maximum financial control from day one.

Why finance leaders are ditching traditional Corporate cards

Before we dive into the "how," let's address the "why."

Traditional corporate card programs were built for a different era, one where finance teams reconciled expenses monthly, not in real-time, and where "spend visibility" meant waiting for the statement to arrive.

Here's what that model costs you:

• Zero spend controls: Cards have limits, but no category restrictions, merchant blocks, or transaction-level policies

• Reconciliation nightmares: Matching transactions to receipts, projects, and budget lines takes hours of manual work

• Delayed visibility: You learn about overspending after it happens, not before

• Reimbursement hassle: Every coffee, cab, and client dinner requires an expense report, approval workflow, and reimbursement cycle

• Compliance anxiety: Without real-time oversight, policy violations slip through until audit time

According to a 2023 study by Forrester, finance teams spend an average of 8–12 hours per week on expense reconciliation and reimbursement processing. That's nearly 600 hours per year—time that could be spent on strategic financial planning, not chasing receipts.

Modern expense cards flip this equation.

Instead of controlling spending through bureaucracy and retroactive approvals, platforms like Bujeti give you intelligent controls upfront: spend limits per card, per merchant category, per time period. Real-time visibility into every transaction. Automated receipt capture and categorisation. And seamless integration with your accounting stack.

The result? Your team gets the autonomy to move fast. You get the control to sleep soundly.

What you need before applying for Bujeti cards

Getting corporate cards isn't like applying for a personal credit card. You're establishing a financial relationship on behalf of your company, so you'll need a few things in order.

1. Company requirements

Bujeti works with businesses of various sizes, but you'll typically need:

• Registered business entity: Incorporated company (Inc., LLC, Ltd., etc.)

• Active business operations: Not just newly registered; ideally with some transaction history

• Business bank account: A verified account in your company's name

• Basic revenue or funding: While specific thresholds vary, demonstrating financial activity helps streamline approval

2. Documentation checklist

Gather these documents before you start the application:

• Certificate of Incorporation or business registration documents

• Tax Identification Number (EIN, VAT number, or local equivalent)

• Business bank account details and recent statements (last 3 months)

• Proof of address for your business (utility bill, lease agreement)

• Identification for authorised signatories (passport, driver's license)

• Business ownership structure (if you have multiple stakeholders)

3. Internal stakeholder alignment

Before you apply, make sure you've got buy-in from:

• Finance leadership: Even if you're the decision-maker, document why you're making the switch

• Accounting team: They'll be setting up integrations and new workflows

• Department heads: They'll be receiving and managing cards for their teams

• IT/Security (if applicable): For larger organisations, they may need to review vendor security

How to get your Bujeti Corporate card

Now let's walk through the actual process. I'll break this into clear, actionable steps.

Step 1: Create your Bujeti account

Visit Bujeti's website and click the "Get started" or "Sign up" button.

You'll create an admin account with:

• Your business email (not personal—this establishes credibility)

• Company name

• Your role/title

• Basic contact information

Step 2: Complete your business profile

Once logged in, you'll be guided through a business verification process

• Company details: Legal name, registration number, business address

• Industry and size: What you do and how many employees

• Banking information: Connect your business bank account (usually via secure bank linking or by providing account details)

Bujeti uses bank-level security and encryption, so your data is protected throughout this process.

Step 3: Submit verification documents

Upload the documents from your checklist

• Incorporation papers

• Tax ID documentation

• ID for authorised signees

• Recent bank statements (if required)

Step 4: Wait for approval

Bujeti approval timeline: Virtual cards are issued instantly

You'll receive email updates on your application status. In many cases, especially for companies with clear documentation and established financials, approval is near-instant.

Step 5: Card issuance and delivery

Once approved, you can:

Option A: Issue virtual cards immediately

• Create virtual cards instantly—Multi-use cards or a single-use card for one time payment

• Assign them to team members with custom limits

• Start using them for SaaS subscriptions, ad spend, online purchases

Option B: Order physical cards

• Request physical cards for team members who need them

• Delivery typically takes 5 business days depending on location

• Cards arrive ready to activate

Step 6: Activate and configure

When your cards arrive (or virtual cards are issued), you'll:

1. Activate cards through the Bujeti dashboard or mobile app

2. Set spending controls

3. Assign cards to employees with appropriate permissions

4. Connect your accounting tools (QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, etc.)

Configuring your cards for maximum control

Getting cards is easy. Using them strategically is where you transform your expense management.

1. Establish card-level spending controls

For each card you issue, you can set:

• Overall spending limits: Daily, weekly, or monthly caps

• Merchant category restrictions: Allow only specific types of purchases (e.g., "this card works for software subscriptions only")

• Transaction limits: Maximum amount per single transaction

• Time restrictions: Cards that only work during business hours or specific date ranges

2. Create department or project-based card structures

Rather than issuing cards randomly, design your card architecture:

• Department cards: Separate cards for Marketing, Sales, Engineering, Operations

• Project cards: Dedicated cards for specific initiatives with their own budgets

• Team cards: Shared virtual cards for recurring subscriptions

• Individual cards: Personal cards for employees with regular expenses

  This structure gives you spending visibility by category, automatically. Your monthly reporting becomes: "How much did Marketing spend?" not "What was that N1M charge from three weeks ago?

3. Automate receipt collection and categorization

Enable automatic receipt capture:

• Employees photograph receipts via mobile app

• Receipts are automatically matched to transactions

• AI categorises expenses based on merchant and amount

• Everything syncs to your accounting system

4. Set up real-time alerts and approvals

Configure notifications for:

• Transactions above certain thresholds

• Spending approaching card limits

• Unusual merchant categories

• Duplicate charges

• International transactions

5. Integrate with your financial stack

Connect Bujeti to:

• Accounting software: QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Sage

• ERPs: For enterprise organisations with complex financial systems

• Expense management tools: If you're using Bujeti alongside existing platforms

• Communication platforms: For real-time notifications

Common practices from finance leaders who've made the switch

From finance leaders who've transitioned from traditional corporate cards to modern expense cards. Here's what separates successful implementations from mediocre ones.

• Start small, scale fast

Don't: Issue cards to your entire company on day one

Do: Start with one department or use case (e.g., marketing ad spend), prove the value, then expand

Why it works: You'll learn what controls work for your culture, identify edge cases, and build internal champions who evangelise the system.

• Involve team members in setting limits

Don't: Impose spending limits top-down without context

Do: Talk to department heads about realistic budget needs, then set limits 10-15% higher to avoid friction

Why it works: People support what they help create. When limits feel reasonable, compliance soars.

• Make receipt submission mandatory from day one

Don't: Let the first month be a "transition period" with loose rules

Do: Require receipt uploads for every transaction, no exceptions, from the very first swipe

Why it works: Habits form fast. If you're lax initially, you'll fight an uphill battle forever.

• Use virtual cards for recurring subscriptions

Don't: Use a single company card for all your SaaS tools

Do: Issue separate virtual cards for each major subscription or category

Why it works: When it's time to cancel or renegotiate, you can simply deactivate that card. No more hunting for which card is tied to which service.

• Run monthly card audits

Don't: Set it and forget it

Do: Review active cards, spending patterns, and unused cards monthly

Why it works: Cards accumulate. That contractor who left three months ago? Their card might still be active. Regular audits maintain security and efficiency.

The bottom line: From expense chaos to financial clarity

Let's return to Sarah, our Finance Director from the opening.

Six weeks after implementing Bujeti cards:

• Her marketing team has virtual cards for ad platforms with preset monthly budgets—no more surprise overages

• Sales reps have individual physical cards with category restrictions and daily limits—no more reimbursement requests

• Subscriptions are on dedicated virtual cards that automatically feed into her accounting system

• She gets real-time alerts on her phone for anything unusual

• Monthly close went from 4 days to 1.5 days

She's not chasing receipts. She's analysing spending trends and optimizing budgets.

That's the difference between managing expenses and strategically controlling spend.

Ready to transform your expense management?

Getting Bujeti Corporate cards takes less time than your last budget meeting. The setup is in minutes, not weeks. And the impact? real-time visibility, automated reconciliation, intelligent controls starts from the first transaction.

Here's what to do next:

1. Ensure your documents are complete using the checklist above

2. Sign up for Bujeti and start your application

3. Complete verification and wait for approval

4. Issue your first virtual cards and start experiencing the difference

The best time to fix your expense management was six months ago. The second best time is right now.

Explore Bujeti cards

If you'll like to see the Bujeti in action first, book a demo. We'll show you exactly how Bujeti works for companies like yours and answer any questions specific to your situation.

P.S. Already using Bujeti? Share this guide with a finance leader who's still stuck in expense report hell. They'll thank you.