12 Best Expense Management Software & Platforms

Expense management software makes things a lot easier for both small business owners and their staff.

It simplifies the reimbursement process for employees and helps you keep track of day-to-day business expenses.

In this article, I have reviewed some of the top expenses management software products available in the market. All are excellent options for small businesses and allow integrations to sync data with your accounting system.

What is an Expense Management System and What are the Best Apps for Small Businesses

Expense management system is a SaaS software that automates the data entry and expedites the expense claim process.

Via this app, small business owners can set up daily/monthly allowances for ad hoc expenses and monitor employee spending.

Top Features to Look for In an Expense Management Software;

• Receipt scanning.
• Auto-reconciliation.
• Corporate cards or credit card integration.
• Reporting.

Some apps offer AP automation with expense management to help businesses centralize employee spending and vendor payments.

It’s an ideal system for entrepreneurs who typically handle a low volume and don’t want to invest in separate software for purchases.

Let’s explore the 12 best expense management software products for small businesses.

1. ZOHO Expense

ZOHO Expense is user-friendly and rich in features.

You can auto-scan receipts, import card transactions, calculate mileage expenses, and set daily allowances. You can also collect some receipts by email, like tickets, and automatically feed them into the system.

If your employees use company credit cards, you can connect them with ZOHO to reconcile transactions.

For budget management, you can create business spending policies and automate the audit to detect unauthorized transactions. You can also build a multi-level approval system to supervise expense reports.

ZOHO can be integrated with popular accounting and ERP platforms.

Core Feature

• Auto-scanning.
• Offline and online receipt upload.
• Credit card expense reconciliation.
• Allowance automation.
• Reimbursement.
• Policy implementation.
• Budget management.
• Approval workflows and collaboration.
• Multi-currency.
• Audit and compliance.
• Reporting.
• Third-party integration.
• Mobile app.

Price

ZOHO sells four subscription packages, charging $3 and $9 per user. Its starter plan is free.

You can also take a free trial to explore premium features.

2. Bill

Bill is an automation platform that sells a variety of finance operation tools. One of its products includes a spend management platform that allows you to oversee your expenses and spending from your smartphone.

The software is easy to use and comes with both physical and virtual card features. You can get a credit line for corporate expenses and buy separate cards for vendors and employees.

You’ll also receive a reimbursement module to pay employees and budget controls to manage your funds.

Via Bill’s tracking and automation, you can simplify your workflows and keep an eye on each transaction.

Overall, Bill is suitable for small to mid-size companies.

Core Features

• Corporate cards.
• Receipt matching.
• Expense and spend management software.
• Workflow automation.
• Budget controls.
• Reimbursement.
• Tracking.
• Mobile app.
• Third-party integrations.

Price

You can use Bill’s expense management app for free.

3. Ramp

Ramp provides corporate cards and expense management tools. With this app, you can issue global cards to remote staff and automatically track business expenses.

The software comes with built-in budget controls and custom workflows to simplify the processes. You can automatically set a limit on per-employee spending and set up approvals to manage your expense account.

To eliminate data entry, you can scan receipts on your mobile phone and automatically reconcile transactions.

Vendor management is also available on Ramp. You can record bills, track outstanding payments, and manage contracts. Through third-party integrations, you can sync your data and keep your books updated.

Core Features

• Virtual corporate cards.
• Auto-receipt collection.
• Policy enforcement.
• Mileage tracking.
• Approval workflows.
• Cash and account payable recording.
• Vendor management.
• Multi-currency.
• Built-in controls.
• Reporting.
• Third-party integration.
• Mobile app.

Price

Ramp charges $12 per user. You can sign up for free and try its premium features before purchasing the subscription.

4. Brex

Brex also offers corporate cards with expense management software. You can buy global cards for traveling, employee allowance, office supplies, and vendor payments.

With Brex auto-controls, you can limit business spending and keep a record of all transactions. You can assign budgets to each department and monitor their expenses in real time.

You can also manage multi-currency transactions to oversee local and overseas business expenses. To make tracking easier, you can connect your Slack account with Brex and get message alerts.

One of Brex’s best features is its AI assistant. It responds to queries, approves reports, provides budgets, and alerts anomalies. Business owners can save a lot of time with this tool.

Core Features

• Global corporate cards.
• Expense management.
• Policy enforcement.
• Travel expenses.
• Auto-payments.
• Multi-currency.
• Reimbursements.
• Approval workflows.
• Live monitoring.
• Reporting.
• AI-assistant.
• Third-party integration.
• Mobile app.

Price

Brex per-user price is $12. You can try it for free.

5. Pleo

Pleo covers expense reports, account payables, and reimbursements.

It’s an intuitive app via which you can create your monthly budget, process vendor bills, and track small business expenses like traveling or entertainment.

You can issue virtual or physical cards to your staff and set a spending limit to manage your budget. With multi-step approval and real-time reporting, you can easily keep an eye on expenses and optimize monthly spending.

To streamline your workflows, you can integrate Pleo with your accounting software. Pleo supports all the popular accounting apps, including Netsuite, Xero, and Sage.

Core Features

• Corporate cards.
• Receipt capture.
• Vendor payment.
• Automatic data entry.
• Expense tracking.
• Approval system.
• Reimbursement.
• Real-time reporting.
• Third-party integration.
• Multi-currency.
• Mobile app.

Price

Pleo’s basic plan is free, and the premium packages range between £45 and £89.

6. Expense On Demand

Expense On Demand is a reporting app that helps you gain more visibility into your employee expenses and manage business spending effectively.

You can use it for several categories such as mileage, off-site expenses like meals, and other daily purchases. You can place a limit on business expenses and set the approval process on autopilot. EOD automatically detects duplicate entries, allowing you to control your budget with ease.

There’s also an option for advanced management. You can issue cash advances to your employees and track them in real time. Expense On Demand supports 96 countries and allows payments in multiple currencies.

Core Features

• Credit card integration.
• Auto-receipt capture.
• Mileage tracking.
• AP automation and tax management.
• Analytics dashboard.
• Audit trail.
• Approval system.
• Spending limit.
• Multi-currency.
• Mobile app.

Price

Expense On Demand prices start from £4.34. You can take a 30-day free trial to test the software.

7. ExpensePoint

ExpensePoint automates the expense reporting workflows. Via this app, your staff can scan receipts and generate reports for approval.

Some of the things you can track through ExpensePoint include credit card transactions, mileage, and entertainment. The software provides 30 types of reports and around 60 filters to help you categorize and manage business expenses.

With the policy manager, you can automate your workflows and detect irregularities.

You can operate ExpensePoint on desktop and mobile phones and use it online and offline. You can also export the data and integrate ExpensePoint with your accounting system to streamline your workflows.

Core Features

• Receipt data capture.
• Reimbursement.
• Expense reports.
• Analysis dashboard.
• Policy manager.
• Approval system.
• Multi-currency.
• Data export.
• Desktop and mobile app.
• Offline access.
• Third-party integration.

Price

ExpensePoint shares prices on request.

8. Expensify

Expensify is a popular choice for expense management. Over 12 million entrepreneurs use it to control their business spending.

Here, you can create invoices, approve vendor payments, upload travel bills, and issue corporate cards. Your employees can scan receipts from their mobile phones to automate data entry and submit expense claims for reimbursements.

With 40+ integrations and global reimbursements, you can centralize your expense records and process claims with ease.

If you want, you can manage your personal spending from Expensify as well.

Independent contractors can also use it to generate expense reports and send them to their employers.

Core Features

• Receipt capture.
• Invoice generation.
• Bill payments.
• Reports.
• Travel expense.
• Mileage tracking.
• Corporate cards.
• Personal spending.
• Global reimbursements.
• Approval system.
• Third-party integration.
• Mobile app.

Price

Expensify’s basic plan is free. It charges for its add-on features.

The prices start from $5.

9. Spendesk

Spendesk offers a wide range of expense management tools.

You can set up policies to control your finances, evaluate department-wise budgets before approving outstanding bills, and make transactions from Spendesk’s desk wallet.

Via invoice management, you can keep a paper trail of your purchases, approvals, and payments.

For small expenses, you can issue single-use or recurring virtual cards to your staff. They are assigned to individual team members, allowing you to see the average spending of each employee. You can also issue debit cards with pre-defined limits to manage the budget.

With Spendesk’s control tools, you can create an approval system for each department and let the team leads manage their own budgets.

Core Features

• Budgeting.
• Spending limit.
• Bill payments.
• Expense reimbursement.
• Approval system.
• Virtual and physical cards.
• Auto-reconciliation.
• Reports.
• Subscription management.
• Third-party integration.
• Mobile app.

Price

Spendesk shares prices on request. You can sign up for free.

10. Fyle

Fyle enables you to track credit card transactions and reimburse employees. Via its mobile app, you can scan receipts and match them with your debit amounts.

You can set conditions to automatically approve your employees’ expense reports. To reduce manual supervision further, you can set up budgets and enforce policies, so your employees don’t exceed their limits.

With third-party integrations, you can send data to your main accounting software and update your records.

The amazing thing about Fyle is that your employees don’t have to use Fyle’s mobile app to submit receipts. They get alerts on Slack when they make any purchase and can attach the receipt picture in response to generate the report.

Core Features

• Receipt scanning.
• Expense reports.
• Credit card transaction tracking.
• Auto-reconciliation.
• Approval system.
• Fraud detection.
• Reimbursements.
• Budgeting.
• Analytics.
• Third-party integration.
• Mobile app.

Price

Fyle’s standard plan costs $9, and the Business plan costs $15.

You can ask for a demo before purchasing any package.

11. Emburse Certify

Emburse Certify is ideal for entrepreneurs who frequently travel for business purposes. Its core products are travel booking and expense management, allowing you to handle travel arrangements and business expenses from one platform.

The expense software covers auto-scanning, expense reporting, mileage tracking, and reimbursements.

You can integrate both personal and business credit cards and implement policies to detect unauthorized entries. You can also create departments and categories to make tracking easier.

With the travel app, you can get domestic and international travel services, set up trip approvals, and book hotel rooms.

Core Features

• Receipt scanning.
• Expense report.
• Policy enforcement.
• Approval system.
• Corporate cards.
• Travel booking.
• Analytics.
• Global coverage.
• Integrations.
• Mobile app.

Price

Emburse Certify prices start from $12. You can take a free to test the features.

12. Navan

Navan is also a good travel expense software. You can use it to make travel arrangements, issue corporate cards, and reconcile transactions.

The app has built-in controls to place spending limits and third-party integrations to synchronize records. Via the dashboard, you can monitor the business expenses and see how much individual members spend on business trips.

In case you or your team member pay from their own pocket, they can get reimbursements. You can also connect your credit card with Navan to automatically extract the transactions.

Navan supports 45 countries and multiple currencies.

Core Features

• Official trip booking.
• Corporate cards.
• Travel services.
• Automatic expense reporting.
• Spending controls.
• Reimbursement.
• Real-time monitoring.
• Personal credit card integration.
• Global coverage.
• Mobile app.

Price

Navan shares prices on request. Book a demo to know more.

Conclusion

Most expense management applications provide basic reporting and tracking tools. If your priority is automation and reporting, you can choose any of them for your business.

But some of the above-listed software products also offer additional features you might find interesting. For instance, Navan focuses on travel expenses, and Ramp allows vendor management.

Explore their core features and shortlist apps that fit your requirements. Good luck!