Cocktail hour at an expensive pub: two-hundred bucks. Front-row tickets to a playoff game: over a grand. Having an employee explain what these charges have to do with company business: priceless.

Odds are good your employees don’t push their luck with T&E reimbursements to this level, but controlling expenses is a priority for most CFOs. The go-to option for many companies: Implement a company-wide p-card. It makes it easier for managers to track and approve any purchases while reducing processing costs.

But there’s still an opportunity for employees to abuse the card — an errant purchase might slip under a manager’s radar or be mistakenly approved.

A new system from MasterCard will make keeping tabs on spending habits a problem of the past. The inControl credit card system allows businesses to set stricter parameters on the restaurants, hotels, airlines, etc. their employees can use.

There are a few options you can work with: Charges can be automatically declined after a certain hour (in case a road-warrior feels the urge to try a pub crawl at 1 a.m.) or at blacklisted establishments. If you’d rather leave things more open, the system can allow managers to be e-mailed or text messaged whenever an employee uses the card.

But the real benefit is it helps nab savings. To trim travel and expense budgets, you’ve probably chosen a preferred vendor for airline service, hotels, etc. By using this card to accept purchases from only certain chains or airlines, you can make sure employees — and your company — are earning every penny of earned discounts.

The other benefit? It can boost controls by issuing staff or outside contractors cards that are only good for a single purchase or for a few days. Even if people aren’t entirely familiar with your company’s T&E policy, you can stop wayward charges and the hassle of correcting them before they’re made.

Tags: Expenses, P-cards, T&E, Travelers