Be Smart About Corporate Credit Card Use

If you have a company credit card for the first time, you may be feeling excited about your newfound spending power. But before you go swiping your card everywhere, you need to make sure you understand your company's policy regarding business credit card use. Although corporate credit cards are given to employees for business expenses, most companies have their own specific accounting and finance rules. So it's important to understand your company's expense approval policy before using your card.

For one, there may be a fine line between company expenses and personal expenses. Know what the company will pay for before you accidentally rack up a lot of charges that could be deemed personal expenditures. In addition, some companies will make their employees jointly liable for the charges. In these cases, the company foots the bill, but the employee is responsible for making monthly payments. Not keeping up with these bills will directly affect your personal credit score. And even if the company is paying your bills directly, a late payment from the accounting department could show up on your personal credit report, easily hurting your score.

In conclusion, be smart about using your corporate card. Know what your employer and your credit card provider expect, and you should have a great corporate card experience.