How Mode tracks spend in real-time

While Mode was helping its customers move at warp-speed, its internal operations were hampered by a legacy corporate card that stifled business agility. The company was frustrated by its slow-moving, unwieldy end-to-end experience with their credit card program at the time.

First, they took too long to issue employees new cards. Once employees had cards in hand, difficulties continued, as neither employees nor finance team members had a centralized view of cardholder transactions.

Finance was forced to contact employees manually to capture and reconcile receipts, then manually upload transactions to Xero, Mode’s accounting software, to close the books at the end of each accounting period. Mode knew this inefficient system was unsustainable. 

“As you can imagine, we love analytics. The faster we can analyze and review data, the better. We were looking for a partner that moves as fast as we do.”

- Teo Evanick, Financial Controller at Mode

The team needed a corporate card that could enhance, rather than hinder, its agility. Mode sought a quick-to-deploy platform with real-time reporting and visibility, automated systems, and easy accounting integrations.

Mode considered multiple options as an alternative. Ultimately, though, the team found other options to be unresponsive and the application and onboarding processes prohibitively time-consuming. 

While evaluating all other options, Mode learned about Ramp. Right away, team members were blown away by how well Ramp could address their biggest pain points and by how quickly Ramp could move. 

Faster implementation

Unlike other options, which were characterized by sluggish rollouts, Ramp issued new cards and migrated spend instantaneously. Ramp also offered a personalized onboarding experience, so it could understand Mode’s exact pain points and goals to optimize the rollout. 

Faster decision-making

Ramp expanded Mode’s visibility into spending practices across the organization. With Ramp’s platform integrations, the finance team now has real-time insight into each transaction as it happens. For example, team members receive smart alerts via Slack for particularly large transactions, which keeps the department apprised of potentially budget-breaking purchases.

These types of insights--which occur at the merchant, department, and employee levels--enable faster decision-making and greater cost-savings. For example, the finance team was able to easily identify duplicate spend on Grammarly across multiple teams. This allowed the company to consolidate subscriptions and save material cash.

“With Ramp, people are no longer hiding behind their expenses. Everyone can log in and see every transaction the instant it happens, forecast spend, and correct wasteful behavior. What a relief.”

- Teo Evanick, Financial Controller at Mode

The finance team no longer needs to chase individual employees in order to track and reconcile transactions. Team members can now search and filter dynamically for new insights, which allows them to streamline processes and make better-informed decisions more quickly. 

Faster action

For a fast-moving organization like Mode, Ramp’s sheer speed has been a powerful differentiator. With Ramp, Mode can issue virtual cards instantly as needed. For a recent corporate event, for example, the finance department issued each employee a $60 virtual lunch card. That could not have happened with Mode’s legacy system. 

Importantly, Ramp allows Mode to lock cards just as quickly. If the finance team identifies a potential problem, it can easily lock individual cards and prevent risky transactions from occurring. This helps the company proactively control spend and mitigate risk.

One year later, Mode is a satisfied Ramp convert. The finance team now has full visibility into company spend at every level, down to each department and each individual employee. 

“Switching to Ramp was an immediate success. As far as ROI, we received over $10K in cashback last year with technically no upfront investment.”

- Teo Evanick, Financial Controller at Mode

Ramp has offered Mode benefits that transcend cash-savings. Thanks to the switch, the company has realized widespread organizational change. Employees no longer waste time on manual uploads and reconciliations, and they are more productive at work and more satisfied with an expense system that is fully transparent. With Ramp, Mode has finally found spend management software that adapts to the speed of the business.