What Is Grab for Business, And How Businesses And Employees Can Benefit From It? | DollarsAndSense Business

Grab for Business provides four main services – Business Transport, Express (delivery service), Food and Gifts for businesses that sign up for a corporate account. For many businesses, these four categories of spending make up common businesses expenses that we typically submit (as employees) and have to process (as employers).

This is why Grab for Business can make a lot of sense for both employers and employees.

Grab Business Transport

Many businesses reimburse employees for their transportation expenses due to work requirements or if they work OT. By using Grab for Business, employees can simply tag business travel expenses on their app to differentiate it from personal transportation usage.

There is also a second function under Grab’s Business Transport service which enables concierge service. Logically, this could be for hotels to provide a perk to their guests or arrange for it as tourists may not always have access to Grab and can be charged back to them. While useful, this scenario may not play out too well in onboarding hotels because of COVID-19 border restrictions.

GrabFood

Another common business expense is food. Many companies provide meals for employees if they work OT. Certain companies also provide meals for employees at the workplace or to reduce an additional stress while working from home.

Similar to booking transport, Grab for Business allows Individual Orders for employees to order their own food deliveries by tagging corporate account.

Moreover, businesses can also take advantage of this service to book Bulk Orders for employees working in the office or during events, Bento Set for employees working late or having work lunches with business contacts and Group Orders for smaller team meetings.

Read Also: Why Some Companies Choose To Give Allowance, And Others Pay Reimbursements

GrabExpress (Delivery Service)

For certain companies, delivering packages is a requirement on a daily basis. This can include service-based businesses such as law firms or home businesses as well as e-commerce and retail businesses.

For other companies who don’t use delivery services, you will eventually find yourself looking for delivery services to send a package at some point running your business.

Grab Express helps you manage your deliveries hassle-free. You can make single or multiple deliveries, use one app to manage and track deliveries, send packages across regions in Southeast Asia and be automatically insured when you send through Grab Express.

Read Also: Lalamove; GOGOX; RydeSEND; GrabExpress – Which Courier Delivery Service Should Home-Based Businesses Use

GrabGifts

This really feels like an add-on. The “Gifts” portion of Grab for Business is simply a corporate giftcard – nice-to-have but not really the main pillar of the service.

Businesses can gift employees, customers and business partners a giftcard providing Grab discounts.

Read Also: Back To Work Care Packages: 5 Gift Ideas (At Different Price Points) That Businesses Can Buy For Employees

Advantages Of Using Grab for Business

After better understanding each of the four components of Grab for Business, these are really why businesses should consider onboarding.

#1 Presence Across Southeast Asia

For businesses with a footprint across Southeast Asia, Grab for Business can provide a one-stop platform to manage transportation, food and delivery requirements for all your offices and employees.

When travel re-opens, businesses may also have employees travelling across Southeast Asia for work. Grab for Business allows employers to keep closer tabs on spending habits as well as provide employees international support.

For e-commerce stores, being able to tap on Grab’s Southeast Asian presence for sending packages is also another draw. 

#2 Reducing Administrative Hassle For Both Employees And Employers

There’s a ritual for many businesses at the end of each month – for employees to religiously document and submit their claims for business expenses, and for businesses to process and reimburse them for it.

At the same time, employees have to safeguard their receipts for up to one month in order to be able to convert them into cash. Losing or forgetting about the receipt means they directly lose cash that would have gone into their wallets. For businesses, their finance departments have to process them.

Some of the most common business expenses tend to include the four services offer by Grab for Business. Of course, other types of business expenses still need to go through the usual “old school” processing method – at least until Grab decides to add it to its super app!

In the digital age we live in, there really should be an easier way to manage these claims – and Grab for Business is one solution. Grab provides a Corporate Account for businesses to:

  • To receive real time administrative and tracking functions
  • Consolidated report for company/department/personnel
  • Assign different limits to different department/personnel
  • Set monthly cap
  • Create a corporate billing account or allow employees to pay using their own means

Grab for Business can be linked with SAP Concur, Chrome River and Expensify, and claims that it will be syncing with more expense systems in future.

#3 Highly Customisable

As expected of a tech solution, Grab for Business is highly customisable. Businesses get an administrator account where they retain the ability to decide which employees to onboard, as well as set spend limits on individual employees, teams or on the organisation.

Businesses may set up a corporate billing payment function, or enable employees to continue paying in their preferred methods.

Businesses can also customise spending to the point of giving out voucher codes per trips taken by employees that can be claimed.

Businesses can also pre-set the i) day/time that employees can utilise the functions ii) the pick-up and drop-off locations, and iii) service types employees can use.

#4 Employees Don’t Have To Pay First

Depending on the volume of certain business expenses, employees are not required to fork out a large amount first and claim it back at the end of each month. For example, if an employee has to send out many parcels to customers or business partners or if they book the F&B for a company-wide event, it can easily cost several thousand dollars – which may cause them cashflow constraints.

On the other end of the spectrum, businesses and employees may recognise that it makes sense for an employee to pay first, especially if they have better credit card deals than business credit cards. Nevertheless, Grab for Business still does its primary function of tracking and documenting.

How To Sign Up For A Grab for Business Account?

According to Grab, there’s 3 easy steps to sign up for a Grab for Business account.

Step 1: Fill in your particulars in the sign-up form. 

Step 2: Get the verification email in your inbox. Verify your email within 7 days or the link will expire.

Step 3: Create password for your Grab for Business account. Use your registered email address and password to log in, and start adding employees, managing payment options and setting policies.

If have more detailed questions about how Grab for Business works, you can refer to this comprehensive FAQ on the Grab website. 

Freelancers And Employees (From Businesses That Don’t Sign Up) Can Use Grab for Business As Well

Even as a freelancer, you can use grab for Business without setting up a corporate account. You just have to create a business profile.

This function also enables employees to keep track of their business expenses even if their employers have not signed up for a corporate account.

Read Also: How Employees Can Claim Working-From-Home (WFH) Expenses In Their Income Tax Returns This Year

Power your business with Digital Business Banking Solutions

OCBC Velocity helps you view all your accounts details, comes integrated with E-Invoicing and cash management capabilities as well as access to our award-winning trade financing solutions. Use OCBC Velocity, your business in your hand.

Join The DollarsAndSense Business Community

For more content that helps entrepreneurs, freelancers, and self-employed individuals and learn to build better businesses, join the DollarsAndSense Business Community on Facebook.