Float vs Ramp Canada: Best Corporate Card (2026)

If your team is still expensing purchases on personal credit cards and chasing receipts at month-end, you are leaving money on the table and creating unnecessary reconciliation work. Corporate spending cards give you real-time visibility into every dollar going out the door, with per-employee limits, virtual cards for subscriptions, automated receipt capture, and direct integration with your accounting software. The question for Canadian businesses is which platform to choose. This guide compares Float and Ramp — two of the most capable corporate card solutions on the market — from a Canadian CPA's perspective, with a clear recommendation based on where your business operates and what you actually need.

At LedgerLogic, we help Canadian businesses set up and optimize their spend management tools as part of our bookkeeping services. We have implemented Float for multiple clients and evaluated Ramp's Canadian compatibility firsthand.

Affiliate Disclosure: LedgerLogic is a Float and Ramp partner. We may earn a commission if you sign up through our links at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we use with our own clients.

Why Corporate Cards Matter for Expense Management

The shift from personal credit cards to dedicated corporate spending cards is one of the highest-impact operational changes a growing Canadian business can make. Personal cards create a cascade of bookkeeping problems: employees forget to submit receipts, expense reports arrive weeks late, categorization is inconsistent, and your bookkeeper spends hours reconciling statements that mix personal and business spending. Corporate cards eliminate these problems at the source.

Real-time spend visibility. Corporate card platforms show you exactly who is spending what, the moment a transaction occurs. There is no waiting until the credit card statement arrives. As the business owner or controller, you can see live dashboards of spend by employee, department, vendor, and category. This alone transforms how you manage cash flow.

Per-employee spending limits. You set exactly how much each team member can spend, on what categories, and for how long. A marketing manager might have a $2,000 monthly limit for software subscriptions. A sales representative might have a $500 per-trip limit for client dinners. If someone tries to exceed their limit, the transaction is declined automatically — no awkward conversations after the fact.

Virtual cards for subscriptions. Every SaaS subscription, recurring vendor payment, and online purchase can get its own virtual card number. When you cancel a service, you simply deactivate the virtual card. No more chasing vendors to stop charging a shared company card. This also contains the blast radius of fraud — if one virtual card number is compromised, your other spending is unaffected.

Automated receipt capture. Both Float and Ramp include mobile apps that prompt employees to photograph receipts immediately after a purchase. The receipt is matched to the transaction automatically, eliminating the shoebox-of-receipts problem that plagues most small businesses. For an even more robust receipt workflow, pair your corporate card with a dedicated expense management app such as Dext.

Direct accounting software integration. Corporate card transactions sync directly to Xero or QuickBooks Online, pre-categorized based on rules you set. Your bookkeeper reconciles card spending in minutes rather than hours. This is the foundation of the automated accounting workflow we build for every client at LedgerLogic.

Float — Built for Canadian Businesses

Float is a Toronto-based corporate card and spend management platform built specifically for the Canadian market. That distinction matters more than most businesses realize. A Canadian-first platform means CAD-denominated accounts, integration with Canadian banks, compliance with Canadian tax requirements, and a support team that understands Canadian business operations.

CAD-native accounts. Float issues Visa cards denominated in Canadian dollars. Your spending, limits, and reporting are all in CAD by default. When you make a USD purchase, Float handles the currency conversion transparently. There is no need to maintain a separate USD account or deal with foreign currency reconciliation headaches in your accounting software.

Virtual and physical cards. Float provides both physical Visa cards for in-person purchases and unlimited virtual cards for online spending. Virtual cards can be created in seconds, assigned to specific employees or purposes, and deactivated instantly. This gives you granular control over every spending channel in your business.

Team spending controls. Float's spending controls operate at multiple levels. You can set overall company budgets, department-level budgets, individual card limits, per-transaction limits, and category restrictions. Approval workflows let you require manager sign-off for purchases above a certain threshold. These controls are configurable in real time — no waiting for the next billing cycle to adjust limits.

Budget categories and coding. Every transaction can be tagged with budget categories, project codes, and custom fields that map directly to your chart of accounts. When transactions sync to Xero or QBO, they arrive pre-coded, reducing manual categorization work significantly.

Receipt capture via mobile. Float's mobile app sends push notifications when a card is used, prompting the cardholder to snap a photo of the receipt immediately. The receipt attaches to the transaction record and syncs to your accounting software. For businesses that also use Dext for receipt management, Float transactions can flow through Dext for additional data extraction before reaching Xero.

Xero and QuickBooks integration. Float integrates natively with both Xero and QuickBooks Online. Card transactions sync automatically with your mapped categories, reducing reconciliation time. The integration handles both posted transactions and pending authorizations, giving your bookkeeper near-real-time visibility into card spending.

Cashback rewards. Float offers cashback on card spending. The current rate and any conditions should be verified directly on floatfinancial.com, as reward structures can change. Even modest cashback on business spending adds up quickly — a company spending $20,000 per month on cards at 1% cashback earns $2,400 per year in rebates.

Pricing. Float does not charge annual card fees. Revenue is generated through interchange fees on card transactions. Verify the current fee structure on their website, as pricing models evolve. For most Canadian SMEs, the effective cost of using Float is zero or negative (after cashback).

Float Strengths

• Canadian-built platform with Toronto-based support team
• CAD-native — no foreign currency complexity for domestic spending
• Clean Xero integration that reduces reconciliation time
• Unlimited virtual cards at no extra cost
• Simple, transparent pricing with no annual fees
• Strong spending controls and approval workflows

Float Limitations

• Fewer accounts payable (AP) automation features compared to Ramp
• Smaller overall feature set — focused on cards and spend management rather than full procurement
• No bill pay or vendor management module (you would need a separate tool like Plooto for AP)
• Newer platform with a smaller user base than US-based competitors

For a detailed review of Float's features, pricing, and setup process, see our full Float corporate card review.

Ramp — The US Powerhouse

Ramp is a US-based corporate card and financial operations platform that has rapidly become one of the most comprehensive spend management tools available. Where Float focuses on corporate cards and spending controls, Ramp has expanded into a full financial operations suite that includes corporate cards, bill pay, accounting automation, procurement, and vendor management.

Corporate cards with built-in intelligence. Ramp's corporate Visa cards come with spending intelligence features that automatically identify duplicate subscriptions, negotiate vendor pricing, and flag unusual spending patterns. The platform's price intelligence engine compares your vendor costs against benchmarks from other Ramp customers, surfacing opportunities to renegotiate contracts.

Bill pay and AP automation. Ramp includes a full accounts payable module that lets you receive invoices via email, route them through approval workflows, and pay vendors via ACH, cheque, or card. This is a significant differentiator from Float, which focuses on card-based spending and does not include bill pay functionality.

Accounting automation. Ramp's accounting integrations go beyond simple transaction syncing. The platform can auto-categorize transactions based on historical patterns, suggest GL coding, match receipts to transactions using OCR, and close your books faster by automating the reconciliation process. These features are particularly powerful for companies with high transaction volumes.

Procurement workflows. For larger companies, Ramp offers procurement features including purchase order creation, vendor approval workflows, and budget tracking against approved purchase orders. This transforms Ramp from a card platform into a full procure-to-pay system.

Important: Ramp's Canadian Availability

Ramp was built for the US market, and Canadian businesses should carefully evaluate compatibility before committing. As of early 2026, Ramp has been expanding internationally, but several factors may affect Canadian users.

Currency considerations. Ramp cards are USD-denominated. Canadian businesses will deal with foreign exchange on every domestic CAD transaction. This adds complexity to your accounting and may result in less favourable exchange rates compared to a CAD-native platform like Float.

Banking connections. Ramp's bank integrations and funding mechanisms were designed for US banks. Canadian businesses may need a US bank account or face limitations on how they fund their Ramp account. Verify the current requirements directly on ramp.com before starting the signup process.

Tax compliance. Ramp's reporting and categorization features are built around US tax categories and IRS requirements. Canadian businesses need CRA-compliant reporting, GST/HST tracking, and Canadian chart-of-accounts structures. While Ramp integrates with Xero (which handles Canadian tax), the native reporting within Ramp itself may not align with Canadian requirements.

Verify before you commit. Ramp's international expansion is ongoing, and capabilities may have changed since this article was published. Contact Ramp directly to confirm Canadian eligibility, CAD support, and any limitations that apply to non-US businesses. Do not assume full feature parity with the US product.

Ramp Strengths

• Comprehensive financial operations platform (cards, AP, procurement, vendor management)
• Strong AP automation and bill pay features
• Price intelligence that identifies savings opportunities
• Advanced accounting automation and auto-categorization
• Large user base with robust vendor benchmarking data

Ramp Limitations

• US-centric platform — Canadian availability and feature parity may be limited
• USD-denominated cards create foreign exchange complexity for Canadian businesses
• May require a US bank account for funding
• Native reporting aligned with IRS requirements, not CRA
• Canadian support and onboarding experience may lag behind the US offering

Feature Comparison Table

The following table compares Float and Ramp across the features that matter most for Canadian businesses. Where a feature depends on Canadian availability, we have noted that explicitly.

Feature	Float	Ramp
Cashback Rate	Cashback offered (verify current rate)	1.5% cashback (USD)
CAD Native	Yes — CAD-denominated cards and accounts	No — USD-denominated
Virtual Cards	Unlimited, free	Unlimited, free
Team Spending Controls	Per-employee limits, budgets, approvals	Per-employee limits, budgets, approvals
Xero Integration	Yes — native	Yes — native
QuickBooks Online Integration	Yes — native	Yes — native
AP Automation / Bill Pay	No	Yes — full AP suite
Receipt Capture	Yes — mobile app with push notifications	Yes — mobile app with OCR
Mobile App	Yes (iOS and Android)	Yes (iOS and Android)
Pricing	No annual fees	No annual fees
Canadian Availability	Full — Canadian-built	Limited — verify current status
Canadian Bank Integration	Yes	May require US bank account

Our Recommendation for Canadian Businesses

For most Canadian SMEs, Float is the clear choice. It is built for the Canadian market, denominated in CAD, integrates with Canadian banks, and works seamlessly with the Xero + Dext accounting stack that we recommend for our clients. You do not need to worry about currency conversion, US banking requirements, or whether Canadian features are fully supported. Float does what it does well — corporate cards, spending controls, virtual cards, and accounting integration — and it does it in a Canadian context.

Float is particularly strong for businesses that are building their first corporate spending program. The controls and approval workflows help establish financial discipline without overwhelming your team with features they do not need. For companies that want to automate their accounting workflows, Float is one of the key building blocks alongside Xero and Dext.

Consider Ramp only if you have significant US operations. If your business has a US entity, US bank accounts, and substantial USD spending, Ramp's comprehensive feature set — including AP automation, procurement, and vendor management — may justify the added complexity. Ramp is genuinely excellent software. The issue is not quality; it is compatibility with purely Canadian operations. If you operate primarily in Canada, the friction of using a USD-denominated, US-first platform outweighs the additional features.

For AP automation specifically, consider Plooto. The most common reason Canadian businesses look at Ramp is the AP automation feature. If you need automated bill pay and vendor payments but want to stay in the Canadian ecosystem, Plooto is a Canadian-native accounts payable platform that integrates with Xero and handles EFT payments to Canadian vendors. Pair Float (for card spending) with Plooto (for bill pay) and you have comprehensive spend management without leaving the Canadian fintech ecosystem.

If your business is growing beyond what Float can handle and you need strategic financial guidance on spend management, vendor negotiations, and cash flow optimization, our virtual CFO service can help you design and implement a spending management framework that scales with your team.

Frequently Asked Questions