Matching expenses with card transactions: why finance teams are rethinking reconciliation

You’re closing the month. There’s a backlog of unmatched credit card transactions, a pile of receipts waiting for review, and a few familiar names in your inbox asking if they really need to upload that receipt from three weeks ago. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Credit cards have become a staple for business expenses worldwide, with 79% of small businesses choosing this payment method. These numbers are expected to rise, with projections pointing to global credit card transactions exceeding 1.1 trillion dollars annually.

Corporate credit cards are a great solution for speeding up payment processes and avoiding out-of-pocket spending for employees. But more cards mean more complexity, and nowhere is that more obvious than during reconciliation.

Corporate card reconciliation is the process of matching transactions from a credit card statement with reported business expenses. It ensures every charge is legitimate, documented, and policy-compliant.

But while the benefits are clear, the execution often isn’t. Take a common scenario: an employee takes a client out for lunch and submits the receipt immediately. But the card transaction won’t show for a while. When finance goes to reconcile, they see the receipt but no corresponding transaction, or vice versa.

79% of small businesses worldwide use credit cards for business expenses.

Now imagine this happening across multiple teams, with receipts missing, duplicated, or amounts slightly misaligned due to tips or currency rounding. What should be a straightforward process becomes a manual, time-consuming effort to piece everything together.

Simple in theory. Messy in practice.

Even with digital tools, many companies still rely on manual workflows for credit card reconciliation. Statements often arrive weeks after the original purchase, making it harder to verify details while they’re still fresh. Missing receipts or mismatched amounts slow down the process, and discrepancies in foreign exchange rates complicate international spend.

Split payments, where one transaction covers multiple business purposes, add another layer of complexity, especially when matching logic isn’t built to handle them. And of course, manual entry always carries the risk of human error.

The result? By the end of each month, Finance teams have to spend hours chasing down information and reconciling transactions line by line.

Credit card reconciliation plays a direct role in how quickly companies can close their books, detect fraud and enforce policy. That’s why more finance teams are moving from manual matching to real-time processes.

Instead of waiting for monthly statements, many now connect their existing platforms directly with card providers or banks. Transactions appear automatically in the expense management software, giving finance teams more visibility into who’s spending, on what, and where it may fall outside their expense policy.

Rydoo uses smart matching logic, which means receipts are automatically linked to transactions when they come in, reducing the need for constant manual checks. For growing teams or businesses with international spend, this saves hours every month.

Finance teams are moving from manual matching to real-time processes.

And the best part? Companies don’t need to change their card provider. Whether you’re using Visa, Mastercard, Amex, or another card provider, Rydoo’s software allows you to bring your existing corporate credit card setup and modernise without disruption.

Finance leaders used to assume that simplifying credit card reconciliation meant switching card providers or overhauling expense policies. But today, modern expense tools are making it easier than ever to bring automation into the reconciliation process without changing how they issue or manage corporate cards.

Once a card provider is connected to Rydoo, transactions are imported automatically. An expense can be created instantly for each one, pulling in key details like date, amount, and merchant. Smart matching logic suggests which receipts correspond to each charge, and users can review and submit in just a few taps.

The system can also identify missing documents, highlight discrepancies, and support complex cases like currency variations or split expenses, which is ideal for transactions that cover multiple business purposes. To make reconciliation even more reliable, Rydoo’s AI expense monitor, Smart Audit, can automatically flag unmatched transactions and potential duplicates, so finance teams can resolve issues before they escalate.

All this happens in a single platform and within a central dashboard, giving finance teams clear visibility and actionable insights without juggling multiple systems or changing a system that already works.

Expense tools make it easier to automate the reconciliation process without changing how businesses issue or manage corporate cards.

For companies looking for an even more integrated experience, Rydoo Cards are also available. The smart virtual and physical credit cards are built directly into the platform, offering instant transaction syncing, automated matching, and built-in controls for spend limits and categories.

Whether you want to keep your current cards or start fresh, the goal is the same: less time spent chasing receipts, fewer errors, and more visibility into company spend. Reconciliation doesn’t need to slow you down and, with the right setup, it won’t.

Corporate cards aren’t going away, but that doesn’t mean you have to continue manually reconciling all your corporate card expenses.

With the right tools, finance teams can save hours of admin, improve visibility, and close the books with confidence. And the best part? You can do it without changing card providers or reinventing your processes.