Mercury

## What are the advantages of using Mercury for a startup's cash management, including multi-user access and sub-accounts?

## Overview Mercury provides significant cash management advantages for startups through a sophisticated suite of tools centered on multi-user access, role-based permissions, and the extensive use of sub-accounts. These features are designed to enhance financial governance, improve operational efficiency, and ensure audit readiness as a company scales. The platform's architecture allows for precise control over how team members interact with company funds, moving beyond the capabilities of a basic business checking account. This granular control is a key advantage for growing startups that need to delegate financial responsibilities without compromising security or oversight. ## Key Features The multi-user access system is built on a foundation of predefined and customizable roles. Standard roles include Admins, who have full, unrestricted access to the account, including the ability to move money, manage team members, and change account settings. For enhanced security, Mercury supports controls that can require approval from multiple administrators for sensitive transactions, such as payments exceeding a specified dollar threshold. The Bookkeeper role provides view-only access to all accounts and transactions, which is ideal for external accountants or internal finance personnel who need to perform reconciliation and financial oversight without having the ability to execute payments. The Employee role is the most restricted, typically granting access only to an individual's own corporate card and transaction history, preventing them from viewing main account balances or other team members' data. Beyond these presets, Mercury offers highly flexible custom roles, allowing founders to create specific permission sets tailored to their operational needs. For example, a marketing manager could be given permission to view balances and draft payments only from the designated marketing sub-account. ## Technical Specifications A cornerstone of Mercury's cash management offering is its sub-account functionality. Startups can create up to 100 checking accounts and 100 savings accounts, all under a single dashboard and at no additional cost. Each of these sub-accounts is a distinct account with its own unique account number. This is a critical feature that enables true fund segregation and dramatically simplifies accounting reconciliation, as transactions can be cleanly mapped to specific business purposes. ## How It Works These features are further enhanced by automation and integration capabilities. Users can set up automated transfer rules to programmatically move funds between accounts, such as sweeping 10% of all incoming revenue into the tax sub-account. Corporate cards, both debit and credit, can be directly linked, or 'scoped,' to a specific sub-account, with spending limits that draw only from that account's balance. This ensures that a department's spending cannot exceed its allocated budget. The platform also integrates with essential business software like QuickBooks and Stripe. For more advanced needs, a paid 'Pro' plan, starting at $35 per month, unlocks features like deep integration with NetSuite accounting software. ## Use Cases Companies can leverage these sub-accounts for a variety of practical use cases. For instance, a startup can create a dedicated sub-account for payroll to ensure funds for employee compensation are always ring-fenced. Another common use is creating a tax account to set aside a percentage of revenue for quarterly income, sales, or payroll tax liabilities. Other sub-accounts can be established for specific operational expense (OPEX) categories like marketing, software subscriptions, or R&D, providing clear visibility into departmental spending. ## Limitations and Requirements While these tools are powerful, their effectiveness depends on disciplined management. Treating a tax or payroll sub-account as a flexible spending pool negates its purpose and can lead to compliance or liquidity problems. ## Comparison to Alternatives ## Summary In conclusion, Mercury's cash management advantages lie in its integrated system of granular user controls and versatile sub-accounts. This combination allows startups to implement robust internal financial controls, delegate responsibilities securely, and maintain a clear, auditable record of fund allocation and spending. By enabling the creation of numerous, distinct accounts for specific purposes like payroll and taxes, and pairing them with role-based permissions and automations, Mercury provides a scalable financial infrastructure that supports a startup's growth from its earliest stages.