Expense Cards in Education – Money for the Brain or Money Down the Drain?

As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, schools and academies have taken advantage of numerous applications to improve student and teacher experiences in education. Programs like Show My Homework, No More Marking and Upskill Me, all aim to streamline the learning experience, improving student outcomes while taking the load off teachers so they can focus on maintaining quality in the classroom.

However, until recently, the expenses incurred by students and teachers on trips have remained difficult to control and record. Many schools still resort to a teacher carrying a money box, which is not only cumbersome but is also a clear target for thieves. The money contained within it requires constant attention to track and must be counted out after the trip has concluded. Add student money into this mix and you create a logistical nightmare.

How dedicated expense cards can enhance student and teacher experiences

The primary source of stress caused by tracking and moderating trip expenses is precipitated by lack of oversight and inefficient fund allocation methods.

1. Expense cards go some way to solving the issue of oversight, as each transaction is recorded electronically. This meaning every spend made by a teacher on a trip is easily verified in the card’s transaction history, preventing any dispute surrounding the validity of a transaction.
2. For teachers, the ease of paying through chip and pin or contactless cannot be understated. Using cash boxes and counting out substantial amounts of physical cash presents a prime target for thieves, while also taking attention away from students. Contactless or chip and pin payments ensure teachers can maintain awareness of their students, ensuring they are always safe.
3. While some teachers may use their own credit cards and claim back the funds retrospectively, this is another process which teachers can do without. Tracking and claiming back expenses in their own time adds an unnecessary and time-consuming task to overworked teachers’ schedules.
   
   

Further functionality through a centralised platform

1. The addition of acentralised platform offers a school’s finance department further control and oversight over cards and the efficient allocation of funds. Alone, expense cards provide concrete electronic records of trip expenses. However, a dedicated platform, such as Caxton’s CXTN software, allows for further functionality, as funds are not only able to be allocated efficiently, but spending can be tracked centrally along with blocking and deactivation functions to prevent theft and subsequent fraudulent spending.
2. The scalability of a centralised platform means multiple cards and wallets can be managed from the platform by the school finance department. Once administrators understand how to navigate the platform, teachers can be empowered to lead trips effectively, without worry of misplacing a large and unmanageable box of physical cash.
   
   

For schools that field multiple school trips per year, the use of expense cards and a compatible platform is one of the primary ways to improve the efficient running of school trips. The use of a centralised, modular platform also means schools can remain adaptable and make use of further centralised financial services provided by the platform. Streamlining processes for finance departments and teachers does inevitably improve student experiences, which should be the goal for all schools when adopting modern technologies.