How Weel makes expense management easy for animal welfare charities. Mary's story...

January 20, 2022

By Adriana Amato

Dog Sitting in an office chair

A solution for employees and volunteers

Weel works with a variety of Australian charities. The all-in-one spend management platform’s digital cards are a convenient solution for busy employees and volunteers who need to make payments quickly, and for their finance teams who need to stay in control of charity spending.

While Weel customers champion many causes, they all have one thing in common: they work hard to help those in need, and they don’t have time to waste on admin.

Derek Knox from ARC recently said:

'We are very happy with Weel. It does exactly what we need, and we wish we had it 3 years ago. It’s pretty much too good to be true!'

So, what might a day in the life of a charity worker who uses Weel look like?

Meet Mary

Mary’s day starts at 4am. She has a secret weapon to manage the early mornings: a double macchiato! Mary has worked as an employee at her local dog rescue centre, Four Legs are for Life (FLafL) for longer than she can remember, and she’s been getting her coffee from her local café for years. 

What’s changed recently is how she pays for it.

Starting the day with Weel

Mary’s charity, FLafL, recently signed up to Weel and has given their early starters a small coffee budget. Mary’s not in her job for the money, she does it for the love of it, but little perks like a coffee to help with a 4am start do make her feel appreciated.

One Monday morning, not long after Mary has arrived at work, she realises they’re running very low on food for one of their senior dogs on a special diet. In the past, Mary would have had to request permission to buy the food, use her own funds for the purchase, and then wait weeks to be reimbursed.

Making important payments quickly

Since adopting Weel, FLafL has given Mary a budget for miscellaneous food for the dogs, for exactly this type of unexpected purchase. And if an expense comes up that goes above her budget allowance, she can easily request extra money via the Weel smartphone app.

So, Mary quickly jumps online and orders an express delivery with her Weel virtual card (conveniently stored in her smartphone’s wallet - Weel works with Apple or Google Wallet). Ralph now won’t miss a single meal of his medicated diet.

It’s edging towards 9.30am and Mary notices that the office manager, Jo, hasn’t made it in today. She’s been unwell, but today is the day Jo usually organises their weekly supply order.

Mary checks in with the finance team to find out what she can do to help.

Weel subscriptions to the rescue

Finance reassures Mary that everything is fine. Jo has actually set up a subscription payment via Weel for their weekly order, so everything will go through just fine in her absence. Mary is relieved because now she can keep working in the kennels with the dogs, rather than covering for Jo in the office.

It’s 2pm and it’s nearing time for Mary to clock off, but she’s remembered that her colleague Sam needs to use their van for a pick-up from another rescue centre tomorrow. Office manager, Jo, would normally check the van has enough fuel for the trip, but it’ll be too late if it’s left to tomorrow. 

Fuel budgets on Weel virtual cards

Mary remembers that she’s been given access to a fuel budget on her Weel card. She drives the van up to their local petrol station and fills it up, using her Weel budget to cover the cost of the fuel. She’s also able to upload the receipt for the fuel in Weel at the same time. 

Now Sam won’t need to rush out for fuel before his pick-up in the morning, and Jo doesn’t have to catch up on expense admin when she comes back to work!

Weel virtual card

As Mary leaves FLafL for the day, she thinks to herself how much easier her day has been because she has a digital company card, with pre-loaded funds to cover perks like her morning coffee and unexpected expenses. And while Mary is fictional, how Weel helps people like Mary isn't.

Do you work for a not-for-profit organisation? Would you like an easier way to manage expenses so you can put your energy into the things that matter - the cause you serve? Find out how Weel can help.

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