What to decide before a new hire's first day, from which budgets they can use to who approves their requests.
Your new starter will remember their first week. Ideally, they will not remember paying for the team lunch on their own card and waiting weeks to get the money back. We have heard that story from enough small teams to know how it feels on both sides: the new person too polite to chase, and the owner quietly embarrassed when it finally comes up.
A card that is ready on day one changes the mood of that first Monday. It tells someone they are trusted, and it tells them what that trust looks like in practice.
Getting the card ready before they arrive
Do this the week before, not on the morning itself. In Business Online Banking you add the person as a team member, choose what they can see, and set the limits that suit their role. A virtual card can be live straight away for online orders, while the physical card makes its way through the post. If they are starting just after the January return, allow a little extra time for that envelope.
- Add them as a team member and pick a role that only shows the spending they need to see.
- Set a spending limit and choose which kinds of merchant the card can be used with.
- Issue a virtual card first so they can buy software or travel on day one.
- Order the physical card and tell them roughly when to expect it.
Then sit down with them for five minutes. Show them how the notification arrives the moment they tap the card, and how to snap the receipt from that same alert. Explain who approves anything above their limit. Keep it friendly. Nobody wants a lecture about expenses in their first hour.
One owner of a small design studio near the Northern Quarter told us she used to dread new starters because the paperwork landed on her. Now she treats card setup like leaving a key and a welcome note on the desk. It is a small thing, done properly, and it makes a new person feel like part of the team before they have even found the kettle.
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