“For us, OFX has been a revelation. It’s given us flexibility, control, and efficiency that we never thought possible, having come from using High Street banks.”
– Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive Operations, Stone & Chalk.
Meet our client: Stone & Chalk
Stone & Chalk supports startups and scale-ups in technology-driven industries. With locations in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, Stone & Chalk facilitates connections between startups, corporates, investors, and government bodies.
They provide the tools, resources and connections startups need to grow, commercialize and succeed — helping Australia lead in emerging technologies.
The challenge: current systems needed improved visibility and simpler management and control of spending
Stone & Chalk were looking for expense management that would simplify processes, minimize roadblocks and automate manual tasks. The current system was creating significant additional workload for the finance team — prompting them to outsource expense management. As a Not-for-Profit organization, every dollar counts. They needed a solution that was cost-effective and offered tangible value.
When Sarah Mitchell joined as Group Executive of Operations, Stone & Chalk was looking for ways to improve efficiency, minimize challenges and have better visibility of their financial systems and processes.
“We had physical cards that were limited around the organization, so the cards that we had were shared”- Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive Operations, Stone & Chalk.
Stone & Chalk needed a comprehensive expense management solution that would overcome their specific issues.
Hosting industry-leading networking events for startups is a cornerstone of Stone & Chalk’s business model. However, a core challenge for the company was the lack of streamlined financial management for each event or project.
Shared cards
Hosting industry-leading networking events for startups is a cornerstone of Stone & Chalk’s business model. However, a core challenge for the company was the lack of streamlined financial management for each event or project.
They needed an expense management method that would simplify attributing transactions to budgets, make receipt capture easier, and ensure real-time cash flow visibility.
“It was hard to determine who made each transaction, whether it was valid, and who had the receipt. It was time-consuming and frustratingly unclear and just made it harder than it needed to be.” Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive, Operations.
Time-consuming processes
With traditional banks, obtaining new cards or adjusting limits required lengthy approval processes, often involving non-executive directors and manual paperwork. Stone & Chalk loved the flexibility of having credit cards, but needed a way to get all the benefits, without the long wait times.
“It would take so long to actually get a card from the bank, and then to change the limit on that card would take so long. Plus, we needed the directors to sign for us and non-executive directors volunteer their time and are not involved in day-to-day operations.” Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive, Operations.
Improving visibility and risk prevention
Risk management and mitigation is important to Stone & Chalk. They were looking for a way to improve spend control and transparency. Some of their credit cards had higher limits than was required because the process to adjust limits was so time-consuming.
“Some cards had limits as high as AU$10,000 because they were shared across the team. The risk was, if something went wrong – like a fraudulent charge, it could hit that significant amount.” Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive, Operations.
Given the sheer number of networking opportunities and events Stone & Chalk provide, limited visibility of team and department expenses created challenges for budgeting and reconciliation. It meant tracking of expenditure and managing budgets was often a manual process.
“…you want to be able to keep an eye on the transactions of a team, especially for a big event…” Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive, Operations.
“The flexibility and control we now have is unparalleled. OFX empowered our teams to do their jobs without friction”
– Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive Operations, Stone & Chalk.
The solution: Cards and a seamless platform to make expense management easy and secure.
OFX offered Stone & Chalk the flexibility they needed and an expense management system that provided visibility, simplicity and most importantly, control over spend.
OFX Corporate Cards proved to be a real ‘game-changer’.
“So we actually increased our users. When we started, it was around 15 users and now we have 26 people using OFX cards. That’s almost everybody in the organization.” Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive, Operations.
The key benefits for Stone & Chalk are:
- Fast card issuance: Virtual cards can be issued within minutes, ensuring team members are ready for tasks or travel without delays.
“One of our team members needed a card before a Monday work trip, and we were able to issue a digital card within 30 minutes,” shared Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive, Operations. “This kind of speed is a game-changer for any business, but especially a not-for-profit with lean resources.” - Budget visibility: Team leaders now have real-time insights and control of their budgets and spending.
“They can track expenditures for events or operational supplies without having to dig through Xero or bother the finance team.” - Customized limits: Each team member is issued with a card that has a limit reflective of their specific role, reducing risk and improving financial control.
“We can now set individual limits at AU$5,000 or as low as AU$500, which minimizes potential losses from fraudulent transactions.” - Improved accountability: Individual cards for each team member ensures every transaction is traceable.
“It’s so much easier to manage receipts now. Each person uploads their own receipts through the app, and our finance team only needs to review them.” - Reduced administrative burden: Employees can easily upload receipts through the app, reducing the administrative workload on the finance team. This shift allowed Stone & Chalk to manage expenses in-house again, with workflows now easily handled by the two-person finance team.
“It would be thousands of hours saved annually across the organization. Previously, we had to chase missing receipts. Now, you just snap a photo at the time, it attaches and they can easily select the account that they need to assign it to through Xero. Then it’s done.”
“I think the solution you have provided, pretty much solved the problem that we needed to be solved. And you couldn’t have it any better than that.”
– Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive Operations, Stone & Chalk.
Why OFX was the clear choice
Stone & Chalk evaluated several providers, before choosing OFX for the combination of excellent service, competitive pricing, and user-friendly features.
“What stood out to us was how responsive the OFX team was and how quickly they addressed our needs,” Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive, Operations. “And the flexibility and control offered by the platform were unmatched.”
“The flexibility and control we now have is unparalleled. OFX empowered our teams to do their jobs without friction”
– Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive Operations, Stone & Chalk.
The change has been empowering for Stone & Chalk
Stone & Chalk’s partnership with OFX has been transformational. By addressing operational inefficiencies, improving accountability, and empowering team members, OFX has become an indispensable part of their financial ecosystem.
“For us, OFX has been a revelation,” concludes Sarah Mitchell, Group Executive, Operations. “It’s given us flexibility, control, and efficiency that we never thought possible having come from using High Street banks.”
Their success in the 4 years (and counting) of being an OFX client, demonstrates the impact of modern financial tools in enabling their innovation hubs to stay focused on their core mission: helping startups to go further, faster.
Stone & Chalk had this advice for businesses considering OFX:
“Don’t wait. Do it today. You’ll thank yourself later.”
See how an OFX Global Business Account can transform expense management for your business
We can help you with virtual cards for easy expenses and better reconciliations via our Xero integration.