The trade is cash flow, not speed
PuraFi reimburses your team the moment an expense is approved, so employees are never out of pocket waiting on a cycle. That instant reimbursement has to be funded somehow, and you have two ways to do it: keep a prepaid balance it draws from, or let PuraFi front every reimbursement and settle up on a weekly statement. That’s the whole of “net terms vs prepay” for travel and expense, and it comes down to the time value of your cash versus a small, known premium.
Either can be the right answer. The point is to choose deliberately, not by default.
Prepay: $4 per person, zero financing fee
On the prepay plan you keep a balance topped up, and approved reimbursements draw straight from it. Because nobody is fronting the money, there’s no financing fee, and it’s the lowest seat price at $4 per person per month. The only cost is opportunity cost: that balance sits funded instead of earning or working elsewhere.
Prepay is the right call when you’re comfortable holding a working balance and want the simplest, lowest per-person price.
Net terms: $7 per person, settle weekly
On net terms, PuraFi fronts every reimbursement so your team is paid back within the minute, and you settle up on a simple weekly statement, with nothing to pre-fund. The seat price is $7 per person per month, and the difference over prepay buys you the flexibility of keeping your cash until that weekly settle.
This is not a loan and not a credit line. There’s no revolving balance, no interest accruing, and nothing landing as debt on your balance sheet, just instant reimbursement now and one clean statement each week.
Side by side
| Prepay | Net terms | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4 / person / mo | $7 / person / mo |
| Financing fee | None | None, built into the seat price |
| Your cash | Held in a prepaid balance | Stays working until the weekly settle |
| Settlement | Draws as you go | One weekly statement |
| Best when | You want the lowest price | Cash is worth more kept than the $3 premium |
The honest rule of thumb
Compare two numbers: the $3 per-person difference, and what a dollar of working capital is worth to you. If keeping your cash until the weekly settle is worth more than $3 per person a month, take net terms. If not, prepay and pocket the lower price. For most teams it’s a small, clear-eyed call, not a policy debate.
How PuraFi handles it
Whichever you choose, the employee experience is identical: they pay on their own card, keep their points, and get reimbursed the instant an expense clears. Expenses still code themselves and finance still gets clean books. The only thing that changes is how you fund it, prepay for the lowest price, or net terms to keep your cash and settle weekly.
The takeaway: “net terms vs prepay” isn’t about whether your team gets paid back fast, they always do. It’s simply how you’d rather fund it: a lower per-person price, or your cash kept working until one weekly statement.