Using Pleo - Cooltra
How Cooltra cut lost receipts by 80% with Pleo
The challenge
Can you imagine keeping your finances running smoothly—literally on wheels? At Cooltra, they know a thing or two about both. As Europe’s leader in sustainable two-wheel mobility, they’ve made a name for themselves by pairing efficiency on the road with streamlined financial operations.
Founded in Barcelona, Cooltra operates across eight countries with two main business lines: B2B, offering electric motorbike and bicycle fleets to companies and public institutions via rental solutions; and B2C, providing shared motorbike services in over 24 European cities. With more than 500 employees across Europe, their operations are centrally managed from their Barcelona headquarters.
Before adopting Pleo, Cooltra’s finance team faced several significant hurdles in managing company spending:
Manual processes and inefficiency
Employees used credit cards and submitted receipts at the end of the month. Transaction data was downloaded from the bank into Excel and sent back to employees, who had to fill in cost centres and account codes. This information was then returned to the finance team, along with scanned or physical receipts.
Team friction
Lack of automation created an administrative burden for finance and frustration for operational teams, who had to divert time from their core roles to handle admin tasks.
Lost receipts and delays
Over half of receipts weren’t submitted on time—or never arrived at all. This disrupted monthly close and reporting, while also posing tax risks.
The solution
Cooltra implemented Pleo as an all-in-one solution for expense management, allowing them to automate processes and establish centralized control over spending.
According to Francesc Madurell, CFO of Cooltra:
"With very little time investment, we’ve achieved great results. Pleo has helped us reduce friction between teams, improve reporting quality, and gain much clearer visibility over our expenses. From day one, Pleo's support team was excellent, and the tool has been easy for all employees to implement and use."
With virtual and temporary cards, their teams can cover travel and one-off needs without worrying about reimbursements. Approval flows ensure complete control at every stage, while automated reporting — directly integrated into their ERP — eliminates errors and frees up time for what really matters.
The results
Pleo has revolutionised how Cooltra handles spending:
80% drop in lost receipts
Automation means fewer than 10% of receipts are pending at month-end.
Significant time savings
The finance team now spends far less time chasing receipts or manually verifying data—freeing them up to focus on strategic work.
Greater transparency and control
Approval flows and custom cards have brought tighter budget oversight and curbed unauthorised spending.
Improved team dynamics
By removing friction between finance and operational teams, internal collaboration has strengthened.
Quick implementation, immediate impact
Setup took less than three weeks, with ongoing support from Pleo to tailor the tool to Cooltra’s needs.
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