💳 FIN-32 — Executive Assistant Spend Management (Guide + SOP)

🎯 Outcome: Give an EA the power to purchase what’s needed fast—with virtual cards, strict limits, FYI alerts, clean accounting syncs, and easy offboarding.

👥 Audience: Owners/Founders and Executive Assistants (EAs)

🧭 Applies to: Ramp • Brex • BILL Spend & Expense (Divvy) • Amex Business • Mercury • Stripe Issuing • Airbase • Expensify

📚 Accounting anchor: QuickBooks Online (primary), with notes for Xero

🔐 Security stance: Tight guardrails, FYI-only alerts on one‑time spend, and low default limits

Why this system works (owner’s lens)

• Virtual cards per vendor prevent blast radius—if a card is compromised, you only replace one vendor card, not the whole wallet. (This is now the default in Ramp, Brex, BILL, Airbase, Expensify, Stripe Issuing, Mercury.)
• Limits + notifications beat approvals for velocity: you keep purchases moving while lowering risk with low discretionary limits and instant freeze.
• Accounting-first design: card names match vendors; each transaction lands pre‑coded in QBO (or Xero) with bank rules doing the last mile.

TL;DR: Speed with control. A little upfront design (cards, limits, rules) creates long‑term leverage.

Design principles

1. Use vendor‑specific virtual cards for every recurring subscription (Google Workspace, Zoom, Canva, etc.). One vendor = one card = one limit.
   • Example naming: CARD — SaaS — Zoom — EA
2. Give the EA one low‑limit “general” card for ad‑hoc one‑time purchases (owner gets FYI alert).
3. Require one‑time owner approval for any recurring cost; after approval, the vendor card runs on autopilot.
4. Keep replacements cheap: if a vendor changes, kill the card and issue a new one—no ripple effects.
5. Code at the source: map vendor ↔ GL account/class/tag once; let rules do the work thereafter in your card platform and QBO.
6. Quarterly hygiene: sweep unused vendor cards; clamp limits to observed spend + 15%.

Suggested default limits (tune per business)

Use these to get moving; calibrate within the first month. (Limits will vary.)