Have you been searching for the best way to use Xero while controlling spending across your group? In this article, we explore how to implement effective spend controls so that you can ensure good processes are in place, even as you scale.

Meet the experts:

• Asif Ahmed, Partner and Head of Early Stage, Tech and High Growth at Cooper Parry
• Chloe Murray, Customer Success Lead for UK/IE at Pleo
• Becky Cawley-Hassall, Finance Director at Saragossa, in-house finance leader growing their 3-entity group on Xero

Scaling up without melting down

When your business is growing fast and you're juggling multiple entities, managing spend across those entities can be a real headache.

You know how it goes. Your finance team is drowning in spreadsheets, jumping between different systems, and spending way too much time chasing approvals and processing payments.

The old way of doing things just doesn't cut it anymore.

You've got different systems that don't talk to each other, processes that change depending on who you ask, and a mountain of manual tasks that eat up valuable time.

Do any of these challenges sound familiar?

1. 🫣 Lack of visibility: Disparate systems across entities don't communicate effectively, leading to delayed reporting and difficulty in obtaining a unified view of spending across the entire group.
2. 😰 Compliance risks: Varied regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions, inconsistent policy enforcement due to decentralised management and a limited ability to track transactions.
3. ⎋ Inefficient workflows: Multiple approval layers and redundant data entry across different systems slows down processes.
4. 🤷🏻 Fragmented data: Inconsistent data formats and categorisations across entities or challenges in data integration across systems, leading to difficulty in generating comprehensive, group-wide financial reports.
5. 💰 Cash flow management: Inefficient allocation of funds across entities can lead to challenges in forecasting group-wide cash needs or trapped liquidity in certain entities while others face shortages.

Whatever the driving force, having one clear view of multi-entity spending and one space where you control it is vital. In an era where agility and informed decision-making are paramount, robust spend management isn't just a convenience—it's a competitive necessity.

“Spend management tools aren’t just something that help with automation and efficiency, they also help with plugging a gap on resource” – Asif Ahmed, Cooper Parry

Multi-entity spend management

Once you’ve identified it’s time to switch to a spend management software, the next step is to select one.

A good starting point is to map out your priorities, whether it’s ditching disconnected processes, saving time with automation or visibility across entities using one centralised tool.

For instance, businesses using Pleo cite they have experienced a better overview of how company money is being spent (72%), a more productive company (75%) and over 138 hours saved by admins every year.

Here’s an example of what good looks like:

• Control your finances, not your employees: Empower your finance team to manage spending through one account, no matter how many entities you have.
• No more manual work: Automate spending so your business can run efficiently anywhere, anytime. From digital receipt capture and automatic expense categorisation to VAT reclaim and reconciliation.
• Automate onboarding and offboarding at scale: With HRIS and IdP integrations, you can securely add employees and deactivate them automatically when they leave.
• Make smarter business decisions: Unlock real-time insights and analytics on company spending to help you spot ways to save.
• Create a culture of accountability: Check top spenders by team and entity, from bill payments to subscriptions, without changing screens.

Becky Cawley-Hassall, Finance Director at Saragossa, explains:

“The changes in the spend management space have just brought a huge amount of flexibility to businesses like ours, where we have people that are travelling day-to-day across various office sites, buying travel, taking clients out for lunch, managing our software spend. Using a tool like Pleo gives us the opportunity to see all of that in one place. The visibility of it is really crucial to us.”

You can align individual spending with overarching budgets to better manage your cash flow and keep your business running smoothly. This transparency cultivates a sense of shared responsibility, ensuring that every dollar is used strategically.
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3 steps to spend management success

1. Lay the groundwork in Xero

Before diving into the world of spend management, it's crucial to ensure your financial foundation is rock-solid. This foundation starts with a well-structured chart of accounts in Xero.

This isn't just about keeping your books tidy—by keeping the chart of accounts clean and organised, a company can ensure that all financial data is accurately categorised and easily accessible.

This level of organisation is critical when implementing spend management solutions that need to work harmoniously across diverse business units and geographies.

Asif Ahmed at Cooper Parry recommends:

“Making sure that your chart of accounts is always exactly what it should be and is reflective of the business that you think you're building. That can then be quite a good framework from which to then understand what integrations you need, how far can you scale this tech stack, etc. I often find that a lot of people have confusion around those questions – that confusion is reflected in their chart of accounts.”

A robust chart of accounts provides a scalable foundation, allowing for the easy addition of new accounts and financial dimensions without disrupting existing setups. It also allows for the generation of reliable financial reports that provide insights into profitability, cash flow trends, and operational efficiency.

“We've seen a lot of organisations come in and pile it together and it can get quite messy. Always take that time initially to invest in cleansing, keeping your data very clean and centralised in Xero, that makes all these integrations super simple”. - Chloe Murray, Customer Success Manager at Pleo

2. Customisable spend limits and approval workflows

As your organisation expands across entities, geographies, and departments, how do you ensure that your financial policies aren't just guidelines, but guardrails that genuinely protect your bottom line?

Spend management systems can automatically enforce your spending policies across every corner of your organisation. From junior associates to C-suite executives, from marketing in Munich to R&D in Rio, every expense is instantly evaluated against role-specific, department-specific, and entity-specific criteria.

But the real magic happens when these granular controls meet approval workflows. Approval requests can now be intelligently routed based on amount, category, or even strategic importance—all without human intervention. This isn't just about saying "yes" or "no" to expenses; it's about creating a financial ecosystem that thinks for itself, freeing your team from the drudgery of manual checks.

"The thing that really sold me on Pleo was the ability for employees to self-reimburse. I didn't want people to have to wait for their expenses." – Becky Cawley-Hassall, Finance Director at Saragossa

3️. Training and policy reinforcement

Successfully rolling out a spend management system depends a lot on thorough training and regular updates on policies.

It's important to help employees understand why following expense policies matters, what the rules are for, and what could happen if they don't stick to them.

Training should include hands-on sessions on how to properly submit expenses, manage receipts and report costs accurately, making sure employees' actions are in line with company goals.

Making the spend management system work well with the tools and processes employees already use can make it easier for them to adopt the new system. Features like automatic reminders, real-time checks against policies, and smooth integration with travel and procurement systems can make the system more user-friendly, reduce resistance, and help everyone follow the rules consistently.

Ready to get started?

1. Watch ‘The App Advantage: Spend Management’ on-demand
2. Download the Xero For Groups Ebook

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