How are funds different from spend programs?

On Ramp, spend programs streamline the process of issuing funds by saving your most common settings—like limits, merchant restrictions, approval workflows, and accounting codes—so you can issue funds in one click.

What a spend program does

A spend program focuses on defining the rules and settings for spending:

• Creates reusable templates for common fund types (travel, stipends, events, etc.)
• Sets default limits, controls, and approval requirements
• Defines who can spend and what they can spend on
• Applies merchant restrictions and accounting codes automatically

Spend programs answer the question: "What are the rules for this type of spending?"

What a fund does

A fund focuses on the actual money being spent:

• Represents a specific amount of money available for spending
• Tracks cumulative usage across cards and reimbursements
• Sets a hard limit that spending draws from until exhausted
• Can be issued from a spend program or created individually

Funds answer the question: "How much money is available to spend?"

Key difference in practice

• Spend programs are templates you create once and reuse
• Funds are individual spending allocations issued to people or teams

For example, a company creates a "Travel Expenses" spend program with a $2,000 monthly limit, hotel and airline merchant restrictions, and manager approval requirements. When an employee needs to travel, the admin issues them funds from this program. The employee receives $2,000 to spend according to the program's rules. Each transaction reduces their fund balance until it's depleted.

Tip: Utilize spend programs to standardize and expedite the process of issuing funds. Instead of manually configuring settings every time, create programs for your most common spending scenarios and issue funds in one click.