As businesses expand, handling expenses becomes more complex, and managing them manually can result in errors. We've all been there before, trying to crunch numbers on our old calculator that we have to restart when we punch in a different value. Most people ditched that eventually and even started using a spreadsheet that you have to code manually to execute operations. But with the rise of intelligent software, handling your finances has become easier. Utilizing expense management software offers numerous benefits, such as smoother operations, improved accuracy, and valuable insights into financial data.
When you automate expense reporting, your company will gain more control over its finances, reduce operational costs, and position itself for sustainable growth and success. So, if you're looking for the best fit for you, TechTimes has compiled the Top 5 Best Expense Management Software in 2024.
No. 1 Payhawk
Overview
Payhawk is a top-notch spend management solution designed for businesses across the US, the UK, and Europe. The company makes business payments easier by combining company cards, reimbursable expenses, accounts payable including PO, and accounting software into one platform. Currently, their expense management software has helped customers in over 32 countries to be more efficient, control spending, and maximize their budgets.
With offices in New York, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Vilnius, and Sofia, Payhawk can serve a wide range of customers, including big names like Decathlon, Babbel, Vinted, Astrid & Miyu, and Flight Club. The company has been growing fast, too, with an 86% increase in global revenue compared to the previous year.
The intelligent spend management software has everything you need in one package, like corporate expense cards with built-in controls, reimbursable expenses, automated accounts payable, global payments, CO2 tracking with Payhawk Green, and connections with other apps. It works with ERPs like NetSuite and Xero, accounting software, HR platforms, and more. This means finance teams don't have to use a bunch of different systems because Payhawk gives them one simple interface.
Moreover, thanks to a direct integration with Wise, Payhawk handles all kinds of payment methods, such as ACH, SEPA Instant/Faster, FPS, and international bank payments. This way, businesses can work smoothly worldwide using the best payment methods.
Key Features
Corporate Cards and American Express Integration
Corporate expense cards or Payhawk-integrated American Express Cards offer businesses granular control over their spending through advanced card controls. These cards nurture an environment of trust and transparency with 100% spend policy compliance across all locations and entities. Companies can customize card controls to minimize the risk of fraudulent transactions, ensure company cards are used for company expenses only, and translate their policy into action. Cards can be managed individually or in bulk to apply the correct rules based on use-case. Beyond advanced controls, these cards also offer features like tracking payments, setting customized spending limits, getting instant approval notifications, handling regular payments and subscriptions, providing reminders for low funds, and supporting transactions in different currencies with minimal fees.
These cards are part of Payhawk's mobile app, with OCR and AI combined receipt capture technology, and allow approvals and real-time expense tracking. They also offer AI-powered suggestions to make financial management more accurate and efficient, making them an important part of Payhawk's spend management solution.
Global Standardization with Local Flexibility
Payhawk makes it easy for companies to set rules and guidelines for spending money. This helps businesses keep their financial practices consistent across different parts of the organization, no matter where they are in the world. Even though Payhawk works on a global scale, it gives companies the option to adjust the rules to fit with local laws and practices. This means businesses can fine-tune their experience without giving up on the important global standards.
Expense Management Outside Major Regions
An added feature of Payhawk allows users to manage and submit expenses outside the USA, UK, and Europe. This capability extends the software's utility to a global audience.
Local Language Support
Being a global brand, Payhawk provides local language support across its platform and help desk, ensuring users in different regions can operate the software in their preferred language. This enhances user experience and makes the software more accessible to a diverse workforce.
Group Dashboard and Personalized Reporting
The Group Dashboard offers a unified overview of group spending, tasks, funds, and action items for each entity within an organization. This centralized view enables businesses to effectively monitor and manage their finances at a macro level, providing valuable insights into overall financial health and performance. Additionally, you can generate customized reports by filtering transactions based on different criteria, such as card type, category, and employee.
Multi-Currency and Cross-Border Payments
Payhawk helps businesses that work internationally by allowing them to do transactions in different currencies. Many of these currencies offer 0 FX (foreign exchange) fees, reducing the cost of cross-border transactions. It also makes sending money to different countries easier, simplifying how businesses manage their money globally. Basically, it helps businesses save time and money by doing all their international money stuff in one place.
Cost-center Management
Payhawk enables businesses to establish and create ownership for cost centers while tracking payments and expenses. This grants budget owners real-time visibility into their project budgets, aiding them in evaluating actual spending and giving them complete and accurate spending visibility to support projections.
The software lets teams set up company hierarchies via approval workflows, too, meaning that all the right approvals go through all the right approvers, even across international teams. Payhawk also furnishes live cash flow data and comprehensive reports on the overall company expenditure by cost center, team, category, supplier, and employee. This can offer valuable insights into how funds are allocated across different functions, facilitating necessary budget adjustments to uphold financial discipline.
Payhawk also offers rapid reimbursements to employees in their local currency, covering over 50 currencies in 160+ countries. The platform provides transparent transfer costs, customizable approval workflows, and automatic reconciliation to your ERP, streamlining efficient and transparent reimbursement processes.
ERP and Master Data Transfers
Payhawk supports the two-way, real-time transfer of ERP and master data, including tax rates, suppliers, and employees, on a subsidiary-by-subsidiary basis. This means that all financial information is kept up to date throughout the organization, reducing mistakes and the need for manual work. Moreover, the software's ability to handle detailed data transfers makes it suitable for complex organizational structures with multiple subsidiaries, ensuring that all entities operate with consistent and accurate financial data.
No. 2 Expensify
Overview
Expensify has grown significantly since its inception, now serving millions of users across various industries and boasting a client list including small and large businesses. Expensify's mission is to "eliminate the frustrations of expense management," and it continues to innovate with new features and integrations to stay ahead in the competitive market.
This expense management software is designed to make the process of tracking and managing expenses easier for startups. It offers a comprehensive solution for businesses to handle everything from receipt scanning to reimbursement and accounting integration. The software is available as a web application and a mobile app, making it accessible and convenient for users.
Expensify integrates with popular accounting software such as QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite. This integration facilitates data transfer between platforms, reducing the need for manual entry and minimizing the risk of errors. It also supports the direct export of expense data into accounting systems, streamlining financial reconciliation and reporting.
Key Features
Multi-Currency and International Support
For businesses operating globally, Expensify offers multi-currency support, allowing users to submit expenses in various currencies. The software automatically converts foreign currency expenses to the base currency, making it easier to manage international spending. This feature is essential for companies with employees traveling or working in different countries.
Corporate Card Reconciliation
Expensify offers support for corporate card reconciliation. It automatically imports transactions from linked corporate cards, allowing users to match receipts to transactions effortlessly. With this, it ensures that all corporate spending is accounted for and reconciled accurately.
Receipt Scanning and OCR
One of Expensify's standout features is its receipt scanning capability. Users can snap a photo of their receipts using the mobile app, and Expensify's Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology automatically extracts and categorizes the relevant information. This significantly reduces the burden of manual data entry and ensures accuracy in expense reporting.
Expense Reports and Approvals
Users can compile expenses into a report, which can then be submitted for approval with just a few clicks. The software allows for customizable approval workflows, ensuring that reports are reviewed and approved by the appropriate parties. This feature is particularly useful for businesses with multi-tiered approval processes.
No. 3 Certify
Overview
Founded in 2008, Certify has grown significantly over the years, establishing itself as a leader in the industry. The company is headquartered in Portland, Maine, and is part of the Certify, Inc. family, including other prominent expense management solutions such as Nexonia, Tallie, and Abacus.
Certify's goal is to provide businesses of all sizes with easy-to-use and innovative tools to manage their expense reporting processes efficiently. The company is dedicated to putting its customers first and ensuring that its solutions exceed the expectations of its diverse clientele. By focusing on continuous improvement and innovation, Certify aims to simplify the often complex expense management process, making it more straightforward, faster, and more precise.
This expense management software is designed to automate and streamline the expense reporting process. The software operates in the cloud, allowing users to access it from anywhere, at any time, using any internet-connected device. This flexibility is especially beneficial for businesses with frequent travelers or remote workers.
Key Features
Smart Categorization and Policy Compliance
The software intelligently categorizes expenses based on predefined rules and company policies. It also flags any expenses that do not comply with company policies, ensuring that employees adhere to guidelines and reducing the risk of fraudulent claims.
Advanced Analytics and Automated Reporting
Certify provides powerful analytics and reporting features. Users can create detailed reports to gain insights into spending patterns, identify opportunities to save costs and ensure compliance with company policies. The dashboard offers a real-time overview of expenses, allowing managers to make well-informed decisions.
It can also automate the process of creating expense reports by collecting data from receipts and credit card transactions. Users can simply take a photo of their receipt using the mobile app, and the software will extract the relevant information, categorize the expense, and add it to the report.
Integration with Financial Systems
Certify integrates with popular accounting and ERP systems, such as QuickBooks, NetSuite, and SAP. This integration ensures that expense data is accurately recorded in the company's financial systems, reducing the need for manual data entry and minimizing errors.
Travel Booking Integration
Certify integrates with various travel booking platforms, allowing users to book flights, hotels, and rental cars directly through the software. This consolidates travel and expense data, providing a more comprehensive view of travel-related expenditures.
No. 4 ExpensePoint
Overview
ExpensePoint is a cloud-based expense management software designed to streamline and automate the process of tracking, submitting, and approving employee expenses. The software is known for its user-friendly interface and powerful features that cater to the needs of both small businesses and large enterprises. ExpensePoint integrates with various accounting systems and travel management platforms, providing a cohesive and efficient solution for managing expenses.
The software is accessible from any device with internet connectivity, making it convenient for users to manage expenses on the go. ExpensePoint supports multiple currencies and languages, making it a suitable choice for companies with international operations. The platform is designed to be highly configurable, allowing organizations to tailor the system to their specific expense policies and procedures.
Key Features
Security
Security is a top priority for ExpensePoint. The software employs advanced security measures, including data encryption, secure access controls, and regular security audits to protect sensitive financial information. Additionally, ExpensePoint is compliant with various industry standards and regulations, ensuring data privacy and protection.
Approval Workflow
The software offers a customizable approval workflow that allows organizations to define multiple approval levels based on their policies. Managers can review and approve expense reports electronically, ensuring compliance with company guidelines and speeding up the reimbursement process.
Expense Report Automation
ExpensePoint automates the creation of expense reports, significantly reducing the time employees spend on administrative tasks. Users can easily capture receipts using their mobile devices and the system automatically extracts relevant data using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology. This feature minimizes manual data entry and ensures accuracy
No. 5 Navan
Overview
Navan, formerly known as TripActions, is a leading provider of travel and expense management solutions. Navan's expense management software is designed to integrate seamlessly with its travel management solution, offering a unified platform for managing both travel and expenses. The software leverages AI and machine learning to automate expense reporting, reduce manual entry, and ensure compliance with company policies.
Navan's software is cloud-based, ensuring accessibility from anywhere and compatibility with various devices. It also integrates with popular accounting and ERP systems, facilitating smooth data flow and reducing the need for manual reconciliations.
Key Features
AI-Powered Compliance
The software uses AI to enforce compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements. It flags non-compliant expenses and provides suggestions for corrections, ensuring that all reports adhere to predefined guidelines. This feature helps companies maintain control over spending and avoid policy violations.
Integration with Travel Management
One of Navan's key strengths is its seamless integration with the company's travel management solution. This integration allows for the automatic import of travel bookings and expenses, creating a cohesive travel and expense management experience. Employees can book travel and manage expenses within a single platform, simplifying the process and improving efficiency.
Real-Time Analytics and Reporting
Navan provides robust analytics and reporting capabilities, offering insights into spending patterns and trends. Finance teams can generate detailed reports on various expense categories, departments, and time periods, aiding in financial planning and decision-making. The real-time data ensures that companies have up-to-date information for timely interventions.
Conclusion
Integrating expense management software into your company's financial strategy is more than just a passing trend. It's a strategic move that can significantly enhance your business operations. The benefits are tangible: increased efficiency, enhanced accuracy, improved financial visibility, a better employee experience, and the potential for scalable growth. These advantages make the investment in expense management software a smart and worthwhile decision. Choose from the Top 5 Best Expense Management Software of 2024 and make your business financials easier to manage.
