How I built it: Ramp's 'Coffee with a Colleague' spend program
It turns out that a Grande Iced Caramel Macchiato with oat milk, extra caramel drizzle, two pumps vanilla, one pump hazelnut, light ice, double-blended, topped with sweet cream, cold foam, and a sprinkle of cinnamon costs… a lot.
Thanks to this venti-sized inflation, we recently set up a $10 “Coffee with a Colleague” spend program. The idea is simple: give every employee a budget to grab a coffee or a small snack with another Rampling.
But this isn’t just about caffeine. We give new hires at Ramp a challenge: try to break Ramp. Push the limits, test different flows, and report anything that seems off. The best way to improve the product is to use it exactly as our customers might.
These moments allow us to actively use our own product to uncover bugs, test new features, and improve the experience for cardholders and admins.
How the spend program works
1. Set an amount and frequency
Each employee gets $10 per week, and the balance automatically resets every Sunday.
2. Decide how funds are issued
Funds are auto-issued to every employee and appear instantly upon onboarding, so new hires can start using Ramp right away.
3. Set restrictions
The fund isn’t shareable, but otherwise, there are no restrictions. Employees can use their Ramp card in person, order ahead with a virtual card, or reimburse themselves for out-of-pocket purchases.
4. Set accounting rules
Every transaction is automatically booked to the “company meals” general ledger account in NetSuite. Since we’ve already mapped these transactions to the appropriate accounting category, we mark them “ready to sync” to the GL. This helps us close the books faster.
5. Enable auto-approval and post-purchase requirements
After the purchase, employees submit receipts and memos. The system auto-approves card transactions, and reimbursements go to managers for approval. If someone loses a receipt, employees can submit a missing receipt affidavit.
Spend programs that scale
Ramp’s Spend Programs feature is one of the most versatile features in our product. It makes it easy to issue and manage company money at scale, whether for coffee, wellness, remote work, travel, or company events.
We use Ramp every day—not just to manage spend, but to strengthen the product from the inside out.
“We're accountable to our funders, our partners, and the families we serve. That accountability starts with how we manage every dollar. Ramp makes it easy for our team to spend wisely, track in real time, and keep overhead low so more resources reach the families navigating infertility.”
Rachel Fruchtman
CFO, Jewish Fertility Foundation
“Each member of our team has an outsized impact due to our focus on using high-leverage tools like Ramp.”
Lauren Feeney
Controller, Perplexity
“With Ramp, we haven’t had to add accounting headcount to keep up with growth. The biggest takeaway is that instead of hiring our way through it, we fixed the workflow so we can keep supporting the organization as we scale.”
Melissa M.
VP of Accounting at Brandt Information Services
“In the public sector, every hour and every dollar belongs to the taxpayer. We can't afford to waste either. Ramp ensures we don't.”
Carly Ching
Finance Specialist, City of Ketchum
“Compared to our previous vendor, Ramp gave us true transaction-level granularity, making it possible for me to audit thousands of transactions in record time.”
Lisa Norris
Director of Compliance & Privacy Officer, ABB Optical
“We chose Ramp because it replaced several disparate tools with one platform our teams actually use—if it’s not in Ramp, it’s not getting paid.”
Michael Bohn
Head of Business Operations, Foursquare
“Ramp gives us one structured intake, one set of guardrails, and clean data end‑to‑end— that’s how we save 20 hours/month and buy back days at close.”
David Eckstein
CFO, Vanta
“Ramp is the only vendor that can service all of our employees across the globe in one unified system. They handle multiple currencies seamlessly, integrate with all of our accounting systems, and thanks to their customizable card and policy controls, we're compliant worldwide. ”
Brandon Zell
Chief Accounting Officer, Notion
