Paying your invoices on time is critical to maintaining good relationships with suppliers, avoiding late payment fees and penalties, and preserving your company’s credit rating. However, managing accounts payable can be a complex and time-consuming task, particularly for growing businesses.
If you are responsible for these tasks for your company, you know how time-consuming and dreadful they can be. Entering the data from piles of documents is a daunting process. And we didn’t even speak about the stress that comes along with finding data entry mistakes after manually processing these piles of documents yet!
Fortunately, there are many software systems that can help you automate and streamline your accounts payable processes.
If you’re not using any accounts payable software yet, you’re missing out on a lot. Goldman Sachs, for example, stated in one of their recent studies that automating your accounts payable process with software can save you up to $16 for each invoice and about 80% of processing time! Wouldn’t you want to strive for similar outcomes?
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at some of the best accounts payable software systems on the market. We do that by giving you a short summary of each accounts payable software platform, highlighting their main features, and for which organizations they are best suited.
Whether you’re a small business owner or a finance professional working for a large corporation, you’ll find valuable information to help you choose the best system for your needs.
The best accounts payable software platforms
- Klippa SpendControl AP Software
- Rydoo Expense management
- Freshbooks
- Airbase
- Tipalti
- DocuWare
- Lightyear
- Sage Intacct
What is Accounts Payable Software?
First of all, accounts payable is a liability account that tracks the money a company owes to its creditors for goods or services it has received but not yet paid for.
Accounts payable software is a type of software that automates the process of tracking and managing accounts payable. The software helps companies streamline their financial processes by automating manual tasks such as data entry, invoice approval, and payment processing. This not only saves time but also reduces the risk of manual errors and improves the accuracy of financial reporting.
Now you know what accounts payable software is, let’s have a look at how to set up an accounts payable system and what the software can do for you.
Setting up an Accounts Payable System
Using an accounts payable (AP) software solution can help you set up a streamlined and efficient system to handle your accounts payable. With the software, you can:
- Set up authorization flows: Define the approval process for invoices and payments, including who should approve invoices, what conditions need to be met, and what happens when an invoice is rejected. This helps ensure that invoices and other payments are approved in a timely and consistent manner.
- Define responsibilities: Assign tasks and responsibilities to specific team members, such as who is responsible for data entry, approval, and payment processing. This helps ensure that everyone knows their responsibilities and reduces the risk of manual errors and late payment fees.
- Establish payment terms: Define payment terms for each supplier, including payment due dates, discounts, and late fees. This helps ensure that payments are made on time and helps you take advantage of early-payment discounts.
- Monitor and track payments: Monitor and track payments to ensure that payments are made on time and that suppliers are paid according to the agreed-upon terms. This helps improve cash flow and reduces the risk of late payments.
By setting up a system to handle your accounts payables, you will not only improve the efficiency and reduce manual effort but also get more control over your accounts payable process and increase insight into the financial health of your company.
In the next section, we highlight the best automation features that a good accounts payable automation software should have.
Best AP automation features
When you consider investing in accounts payable automation software, you are probably wondering which features the software should have. With all the options available on the market, all with their own capabilities, it is difficult to decide what is important and what is not.
There is no standard of functionalities that accounts payable software consists of. On the other hand, there are a few common functionalities that are important to look for when considering investing in AP software. We summed up 10 of the best features below.
- OCR for invoices and expenses: Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology can be used to automatically capture data from invoices and expenses, reducing the need for manual data entry.
- Fraud prevention: Advanced fraud detection and prevention features can help protect against fraudulent invoices and payments, reducing the risk of financial loss.
- Authorization flows/rules: Defining the approval process and establishing authorization rules can help ensure that invoices are approved in a timely and consistent manner and that payments are made according to the agreed-upon terms.
- Automated approvals: Automating the approval process can help streamline the approval of invoices and payments, reducing the time it takes to get invoices approved.
- Tax rate recognition: Automated tax rate recognition can help ensure that the correct tax rate is applied to each invoice, reducing the risk of errors and improving accuracy.
- Options to assign responsibilities: Assign tasks and responsibilities to specific team members, such as who is responsible for data entry, approval, and payment processing. This helps ensure that everyone knows what they are responsible for which creates a more structured workflow within teams.
- Secure data storage: A dedicated data storage, for instance in a cloud environment, allows you to retrieve files when necessary. Thereby adhering to legal compliance regulations and accessing your data for possible audits.
- Mobile access: Ability to access the AP system from a mobile device, allowing you to approve invoices and make payments from anywhere, at any time.
- Multi-currency support: Ability to handle invoices and payments in multiple currencies, especially for businesses with a global presence.
- Integration with other systems: Integration with other financial systems, such as accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, provides a complete view of a company’s financial position and synchronizes your software for payment processes.
Some of these features might be redundant for your business, such as multi-currency support if you only operate within one country. However, this list can give you a clear view of what to take into consideration when you are in search of a suitable accounts payable software solution.
In the next section, we will provide you with a list of the best accounts payable software that are out there at the moment. We will shortly explain each option, sum up their main features, and mention for which type of organization this option is best suited.
The 8 best AP software platforms explained
We know that as a company you want to bear fruits from AP solutions rather today than tomorrow. To help you find the best way to automate your accounts payable process, we summed up 8 of the best AP software solutions from different organizations below.
1. Klippa SpendControl AP Software
Klippa SpendControl is an all-in-one accounts payable software platform that helps you manage your expenses and invoice processing from one dedicated environment. It includes two modules for both expenses and invoices that can be used together or individually.
The solution also allows you to seamlessly process your accounts payables in a few clicks, automatically extract your accounts payable data with artificial intelligence and automate approval processes for a sophisticated workflow.
The key features of Klippa SpendControl are:
- Sophisticated expense management and invoice processing in one platform
- User-friendly mobile application and web environment
- Built-in data extraction capabilities driven by Klippa’s proprietary OCR technology
- Fully customizable approval workflows with smart business rules
- Options to assign responsibilities and certain tasks to specific members for approval and payment processing
- Multi-currency support
- 2-way matching (3-way matching available soon)
- Over 20 integration options with accounting and ERP software, such as Xero, NetSuite, SAP, and many other integrations
- Built-in document fraud detection analysis
- Dedicated cloud storage to access files for up to 10 years for possible audits
- White Label option for a premium solution in your corporate identity
Klippa SpendControl is best for: All-size companies and organizations that are looking for growth by improving the efficiency of various accounts payable processes.
2. Rydoo Expense management
Rydoo offers an expense management solution designed to process expenses from the submission of claims to their reimbursement. Rydoo is a solution with various built-in controls for compliance and gives insight into your current financial status. For a direct comparison between Klippa & Rydoo check out this comparison page.
Rydoo offers the following features:
- Consolidated dashboard
- Extensive expense management module
- Built-in policy settings to adhere to financial policies
- Real-time expense views
- Insights overview
- Various integrations with a diverse range of use cases, such as mobility and productivity
Rydoo Expense management is best for: Small- to medium-sized organizations in search of a solution specifically for expense management to improve their workflows.
3. Freshbooks
Freshbooks is an accounting solution that allows small business owners or freelancers to organize their accounts payable and stay compliant with financial policies and regulations in their country. It is an easy-to-use solution with a consolidated dashboard and multiple templates ready to be customized.
Freshbooks offers the following features:
- Consolidated dashboard
- Customizable chart of accounts and expense categories
- Cloud storage for data
- Insight reports
- Automated bank reconciliation
- Tracking options for various credit types
Freshbooks is best for: Small organizations, freelancers, self-employed professionals, or individual accountants.
4. Airbase
Airbase is an accounts payable software designed to ease the tasks of financial teams by automating the process of accounts payables. The software provides clear visibility and control of its customer’s payment processes and is easy to handle via its unified dashboard. Also, a corporate card program and employee reimbursement functionalities are included.
Airbase offers the following features:
- Approval workflows
- Accounting automation
- Real-time reporting
- Multi-subsidiary support
- Corporate card program
- Employee reimbursement functionalities
- Multiple integrations options
Airbase is best for: Small organizations, freelancers, and self-employed professionals.
5. Tipalti
Tipalti provides an end-to-end, invoice-based payment solution that helps businesses automate and streamline their accounts payable process. The solution includes OCR technology for automatic data extraction to extract various data from invoices.
Tipalti offers the following features:
- Fraud detection and prevention
- Financial controls
- Multi-currency support
- Integrations options for different types of accounting and ERP systems
- Payment reconciliation
- 2- and 3-way matching
- Cloud storage for data
Tipalti is best for: Small- to medium-sized businesses focussing on accounts payable optimization.
6. DocuWare
DocuWare is an invoice-based AP solution that can capture and store invoices both digitally and physically. You can easily submit invoices via scans, email, and mobile captures in a searchable file structure. A non-cloud version is available as well. The software integrates with over 500 different accounting software which gives you the ability to synchronize your data with various platforms.
DocuWare offers the following features:
- Customizable approval processes
- Automated import and indexing for data capture
- Safe cloud storage for invoice documents and files
- Easy accessibility and collaboration with editing and comment options in workflows
- Integrates with more than 500 different accounting software
DocuWare is best for: Medium to large organizations focused on improving invoice efficiency and workflow automation.
7. Lightyear
Lightyear is an ideal solution for larger corporations to consolidate purchasing, bookkeeping, and bill approval into one platform. Furthermore, it is both a purchasing and accounts payable software that provides automated accounting and inventory synchronization possibilities.
It makes tracking resources easy across teams and different locations. Sharing and syncing accounts payable data is made easy with Lightyear.
Lightyear offers the following features:
- Purchase order options for creating, approving, and sending
- Intelligent data extraction
- Automated bookkeeping with automation rules
- Multi-level approval system
- 3-way matching
- Auto reconciliation for supplier statements
- Integrations with accounting, ERP, and inventory software
Lightyear is best for: Large companies and enterprises dealing with multiple teams or product lines in different locations.
8. Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct is a financial management platform with built-in accounts payable software for a streamlined workflow. Their dashboard and reporting functionalities allow their customers to gain visibility for better decision-making.
Sage Intacct is easy to combine with other proprietary software or third-party automation apps to increase its functionalities.
Sage Intacct offers the following features:
- Centralized and electronic access to accounts payable
- Streamlined accounts payable workflow automation
- Real-time tracking of payments, approvals, and reporting
- Flexible controls for workflows and approval thresholds
- Integrations with other proprietary software or existing accounts payable solutions
Sage Intacct is best for: Small businesses, foundations, and non-profit organizations.
We hope that you now have a better overview of which options are on the market to make a proper decision that fits your needs. After discussing the various options, there is one solution that stands out the most.
In the next section, we will tell you more about the number one accounts payable software and why it would suit your company.
Try Klippa SpendControl AP Software now
As you now know, accounts payable automation can significantly streamline your financial processes and save you a significant amount of time and effort on tedious manual tasks. Klippa SpendControl is an all-in-one financial management software that can make your accounts payable processes feel like a breeze.
Its built-in OCR technology makes manual data entry redundant and allows you to extract your accounts payable data in seconds. Besides the built-in OCR technology, the software includes a wide range of other functionalities such as expense management, invoice processing, matching credit card statements with payments, fraud detection, expense reports, accounting system synchronization, 2-way matching, and more.
The benefits of using Klippa SpendControl include:
- Saves time: By automating financial management tasks you eliminate the need for employees to manually enter expense data into spreadsheets or other systems. The time saved can be invested in tasks that really matter to the growth of the company.
- Reduces errors: Manual data entry can be prone to errors, especially when dealing with large volumes of data. Klippa SpendControl automates data entry by extracting data from receipts and invoices with high accuracy, reducing the risk of errors caused by human mistakes.
- Organized and accessible data: Klippa SpendControl can help keep financial records organized and easily accessible, which can be helpful for tax purposes or for gaining insights into spending patterns.
- Reduces risk of fraud: Potential fraud that can jeopardize your company can quickly be identified by its built-in fraud detection analysis which identifies unusual registrations or fraudulent documents. This helps detect and prevent fraudulent activity before it becomes a major problem.
- Streamlines approvals: With Klippa’s digital approval workflows, managers can quickly review and approve both expenses and invoices. Also, custom approval workflows can be created which ensures that financial transactions are approved quickly and efficiently.
- Enhances compliance: Klippa ensures compliance with tax regulations and other financial reporting requirements by providing accurate and detailed records. This is essential when tax authorities execute audits.
We believe that the extensive functionalities and the added value of Klippa SpendControl make it the best software to automate your accounts payable processes. Are you ready to give it a go? Please contact us or book a free demo below. We would love to show you how our solution can benefit your business.