Managing and tracking expenses can be a challenging task, especially for a growing business. After all, you must ensure that your employees get reimbursed on time while not overburdening your finance team.
To tackle this issue, more companies are using automation software to streamline their expense management processes. However, with the growing market for financial solutions, deciding which option is the best fit for your company can take a lot of time and research.
This blog will assist you by providing a list of some of the best expense management software on the market in 2024. Further, we will summarize each application’s key functionalities, helping you find the top match for your business.
What is Expense Management Software?
Expense management software is a digital pre-accounting solution that automates the receipt-to-reimbursement process by eliminating many mundane manual tasks like data entry and document sorting.
Expense software allows companies to free employee time by automatically handling expense submissions, processing, approvals and data booking, ultimately liberating employees to tackle more meaningful jobs.
Moreover, various features of digital spend management software provide users with many benefits, improving the overall workflow of handling all company expenses.
Benefits of Expense Management Software
Expense management software offers numerous benefits for businesses of all sizes. Depending on the specific technology that powers each solution and its features, your company can simplify and speed up expense claim processing.
The majority of expense management applications offer the following benefits of expense automation:
- Faster reimbursements: Expense management automation ensures that employees are reimbursed quickly and accurately, eliminating the need for manual processing and reducing delays.
- Reduced administrative costs: Automation of expense systems reduces the administrative burden associated with managing expenses, allowing finance teams to focus on more strategic tasks.
- Enhanced compliance: Automated expense management tools ensure that submissions comply with corporate expense policies and regulations, reducing the risk of violations and penalties.
- Improved accuracy: Companies reduce the risk of errors with expense automation, ensuring that expense reports are accurate and compliant with company policies.
- Real-time overview: Expense automation provides a real-time overview of company spending, allowing finance teams and executives to monitor expenses and identify areas for cost savings.
As you can see, by automating your expense management, you not only improve the accuracy and speed of reimbursements but also protect your company from penalties and gain a thorough overview of its financial health.
In the next section of our blog, we will outline some of the best expense management programs on the market that can level up your financial management.
Best Expense Management Software: Comparison
Please note that some of the solutions listed in our blog are offered in currencies other than the US dollar ($). To make it easier for you to compare prices in our table, we have converted them based on the latest exchange rate of March 2024. We recommend you contact the solution providers directly for the accurate pricing information.
Here is an overview of some of the best software for tracking business expenses:
|
Name
|
OFFERING
|
MARKET
|
PRICING
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Klippa
|
✔︎ Expense Management
✔︎
Invoice Processing
✔︎ Business Credit Cards
|
Small to Medium businesses
|
From $5 per user/mo
|
|
Chrome River
|
•
Expense Management
•
Invoice Processing
•
Business Credit Cards
|
Small to Medium businesses
|
Contact for pricing
|
|
Soldo
|
✔︎
Expense Management
✔︎ Prepaid Company Cards
|
Small to Large businesses
|
From $21/mo
+$7 per user
|
|
Expensify
|
•
Expense Management
• Invoice Processing
• Business Credit Cards
|
Small businesses
& freelancers
|
From $5 per user/mo
|
|
Freshbooks
|
✔︎
Expense Management
✔︎ Invoicing Module
|
Small businesses
|
From $7.50/mo
|
|
Basecone
|
•
Expense Management
• Invoice Processing
|
SMEs & Large businesses
|
From $8.50/mo
|
|
Tipalti
|
✔︎
Expense Management
✔︎ Invoice Processing
✔︎ Business Credit Cards
|
Small to Large businesses
|
From $149/mo
|
|
Airbase
|
•
Expense Management
• Invoice Processing
• Business Credit Cards
|
Small businesses
|
Contact for pricing
|
|
Payhawk
|
✔︎
Expense Management
✔︎ Invoice Processing
✔︎ Business Credit Cards
|
Medium to Large businesses
|
From $149/mo
+$9/mo per card
|
9 Best Expense Management Software in 2024
Expense management systems can bring countless benefits to your organization’s financial management. However it is important to study and match functionalities of the software with your company’s needs.
Here is a list of some of the 9 best expense management software available in 2024:
Klippa SpendControl
Klippa SpendControl is a powerful pre-accounting suite that combines expense management software, invoice processing software and corporate credit card modules in one solution. Perfect for automating submissions, processing and approval of all transactional documents, SpendControl helps your finance team save precious time and money on manual document processing.
Pros
- Expense management and invoice processing automation in one software
- Intuitive expense dashboard for centralized financial control
- Fully customizable approval management with smart business rules
- Excellent customer support with quick reaction time
- Integration possibilities with accounting and ERP software, like Xero, NetSuite, SAP and many more
- Expense submission, processing and approval via email, web or mobile app
- Compliance with tax and data privacy regulations
- Multi-currency support for international transactions
- Built-in duplicate and fraud detection
- Mileage tracking through Google Maps integration for travel reimbursement
- Complete cost control fraud prevention with business expense cards
Cons
- No integration options for travel or productivity systems
- Currently no 3-way matching (coming soon)
Pricing
- Free online demonstration is available
- Effective plan: Expense management module with automated submissions, approvals and reporting features as well as a credit card module. €5 per user/month
- Premium plan: Expense management module with additional comprehensive customization and financial regulation compliance features. €6 per user/month
- Custom plan: A customizable solution tailored to your company’s needs. Contact us to learn more about pricing
- White Label: Market our fully customized White Label expense management solution as your own product offering
For the most up-to-date pricing plan and a full list of features, please refer to our pricing page.
Klippa SpendControl is best for: Small to medium-sized companies seeking a scalable expense management solution.
Chrome River
Chrome River is an expense management application that helps simplify and streamline financial processes, such as accounts payable. It can be customized at any step in the workflow for enhanced business efficiency.
Pros
- Developed business rules to support reconfigurability in approval processes
- User-friendly on a multitude of devices
- Supports more than 100 currencies
- Compliant with local tax regulations
- Customer support for implementation
Cons
- Limited customization features for company and region compliance policies
- User reviews often mention poor customer support
Pricing
- No free trial available
- No pricing available
For the most up-to-date pricing plan, please refer to Chrome River’s official website.
Chrome River is best for: Small to medium organizations, freelancers, or self-employed professionals.
Soldo
Soldo is a digital expense management system that is designed to cover card spendings and business expenses. Soldo allows companies to automate their finance processes from decision to spend to reconciliation.
Pros
- Data access through web console and mobile app
- Corporate expense cards powered by Mastercard
- Fuel cards assigned to employees or vehicles
- Custom approval workflows
- Mobile app for continuous expense tracking and monitoring
Cons
- No automated user management with Okta & Azure AD
- No invoice processing module is available
- Expense cards incur a foreign exchange fee for international transactions
Pricing
- Free 30 day trial of the solution
- Standard plan: A card solution that tracks expenses in real-time. 21€/month (excl. 20% VAT) with 3 users + 7€ per additional user
- Plus plan: A comprehensive solution for full control and visibility of spend. 33€/month (excl. 20% VAT) with 3 users + 11€ per additional user
- Enterprise plan: A customizable solution for large organizations. No pricing available
For the most up-to-date pricing plan, please refer to Soldo’s official website.
Soldo is best for: Small to medium companies, and larger enterprises.
Expensify
Expensify is an expense management tool that helps companies manage all corporate expenses from receipt scanning and expense management to paying bills and booking travel.
Pros
- Multi-level approval workflows
- Creation of mileage expenses in app and web
- Business credit cards for expense tracking
- Smart expense limits for company cardholders
- Travel system integrations for business trip expenses
Cons
- Business credit cards are only available to companies with a US bank account and US documentation
- User reviews highlight poor digital-only, chatbot-based customer service
Pricing
- Individuals can use Expensify for free with up to 25 SmartScans monthly
- Collect plan: For 1-10 employees. Starting at $5 per user/month on an annual subscription
- Control plan: For 10-1000 employees. Starting at $9 per user/month on an annual subscription
For the most up-to-date pricing plan, please refer to Expensify’s official website.
Expensify is best for: Small business and self-employed professionals.
Freshbooks
FreshBooks is a bookkeeping system that automates all expense processes within an organization. From balance sheets to accounts payable, FreshBooks keeps track of all financial processes.
Pros
- Consolidated and user-friendly dashboard
- Customizable chart of accounts and expense categories
- Clear expense tracking
- Automated bank reconciliation with general ledger
- Expense and asset tracking
Cons
- Limited customization options
- Limitation on the number of users and clients with additional costs for scaling up beyond a small team
Pricing
- Free 30 day trial of the solution
- Lite plan: Unlimited invoices to up to 5 clients. €7.50/month or €139.50/year
- Plus plan: Unlimited invoices to up to 50 clients. €12.50/month or €232.50/year
- Premium plan: Unlimited invoices to an unlimited number of clients. €23.50/month or €437.10/year
- Select plan: A customizable solution for large organizations. No pricing available
For the most up-to-date pricing plan, please refer to Freshbook’s official website.
Freshbooks is best for: Small organizations, freelancers, and self-employed professionals.
Basecone
Basecone is a cloud-based software solution that helps digitize and automate expense management and invoice processing. With the Basecone app, it is possible to swiftly upload, authorize and submit expense claims.
Pros
- Document submission through the web, app or email
- Custom authorization flows for expense approval
- Secure data storage for 10 years
- Linking to purchase order matching software
- Addition of up to 10 custom booking rules
Cons
- Available only for users in Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK
- No mileage tracking feature
- No business expense cards available
Pricing
- Free 14 day trial of the solution
- Accountants plan: £8.50/month for 1 company (minimum of 10 companies) + £4.50 per user authoriser per month. Unlimited number of transactions and documents
- SMEs plan: £29.00/month for 1 company + £4.50 per user authoriser per month. Maximum of 2,000 transactions/year
For the most up-to-date pricing plan, please refer to Basecone’s official website.
Basecone is best for: Small to medium companies, and larger enterprises.
Tipalti
Tipalti is an automated expense management software, specialized in automating accounts payable. It accurately processes invoices and other financial documents, helping streamline invoice management and inventory management processes.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Both expense management and invoice processing options
- Two-way matching and three-way matching
- Currency management
- Integrations with multiple accounting and ERP software
Cons
- Based on user reviews, this solution can be complex to set up and navigate without an in-depth product knowledge
- Users report limited customer service and support
- Potentially costly for businesses with limited transaction volumes
Pricing
- No free trial available
- Pricing starts at $149/month for the application fee
For the most up-to-date pricing plan, please refer to Tipalti’s official website.
Tipalti is best for: Small to medium companies, and larger enterprises.
Airbase
Airbase is an expense management program that simplifies the manual tasks of finance teams. This software enables you to manage financials in a single dashboard and offers a corporate card program with simplified employee reimbursement functions.
Pros
- Comprehensive program with a clear user interface
- Real-time visibility into financial data
- Flexible software for managing finances
- Approval workflows
- A diverse variety of integration possibilities
Cons
- The software does not currently support international payments
- Based on user reviews, there is no customer support for a free version
- Inability to group and submit project or trip expenses in bulk
Pricing
- No free trial available
- Standard plan: Up to 200 employees. No pricing available
- Premium plan: Up to 500 employees. No pricing available
- Enterprise plan: Up to 5,000 employees. No pricing available
For the most up-to-date pricing plan, please refer to the official website of Airbase.
Airbase is best for: Small organizations with local operations, freelancers, and self-employed professionals.
Payhawk
Payhawk is a solution for managing business expenses, vendor invoices and corporate cards. Among many advantages, Payhawk allows its users to integrate with ERP, finance, travel, security & productivity systems.
Pros
- All payments in one system
- Multi-entity management
- Mileage tracking
- Separate module for business subscription monitoring
- Integrations with business travel tools
Cons
- No direct integration with SAP
- Customer onboarding through third party services
- Limited features in the mobile application
- Users report error prone OCR with complex manual data correction process
Pricing
- No free trial available
- Premium Cards plan: Manage and control corporate card spend. €149/month + €9/month per card
- All-In-One Spend plan: Combine cards, expense management, and accounts payable in a single program. €299/month + €9/month per card
- Enterprise plan: A customizable solution for large organizations. No pricing available
For the most up-to-date pricing plan, please refer to Payhawk’s official website.
Payhawk is best for: Medium companies and larger enterprises.
What to Look for in Expense Management Software
When considering an expense management software provider, it is essential to research all potential options thoroughly. To ensure that your expense management application has all the necessary features, let’s discuss some of the most important functionalities that good expense software should offer.
Accurate Data Processing
AI and machine learning-powered technology like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) enhances expense processing software by utilizing precise data extraction and drastically reducing turnaround time.
Built-in Fraud Detection
Detection of fraudulent and duplicate receipts by scanning for Photoshop activity and Exif data anomalies of submitted expenses, further detecting whether any elements, like total amount, have been altered.
Approval Workflows and Business Rules
Multilevel approval workflows and custom business rules allow companies to streamline expense approvals by involving solely authorized employees based on spending limits, department or other set criteria.
Expense Dashboards
An expense dashboard allows the finance team to monitor all transactions in real time, quickly identifying trends and spending patterns through a detailed overview. Moreover, a dashboard helps accurately and efficiently manage expense accounts, such as accrued expenses.
Safe and Accessible Data Storage
A secure system, such as cloud-based data storage, allows companies to have accessible financial data through the web or mobile application, simplifying the preparation of financial reports and audits and allowing organizations to comply with financial regulations successfully.
The Right Accounting Software Integrations
The possibility of integrating expense management software with other accounting and ERP systems provides financial visibility, synchronizes payment processes, and reduces operational costs.
It is a common practice to identify your company’s wishes and deal breakers and match them with features offered by software providers. For example, you will save time researching expense management tools that don’t support your language or synchronize with your company’s accounting system.
Conclusion
Finding the right software for your organization depends on which factors you deem the most important. While we presented a summary of some of the best expense management software on the market, we believe that Klippa SpendControl has it all to help your organization save precious time and money, while having even more control over your expenses.
Are you ready to level up your expense management? Book a free demo to see our product in action, or contact our SpendControl specialists for more information. Start investing your time into things that really matter!