What is the Best Expense Management Software in 2024?
Managing expenses can be time-consuming and prone to errors – but using an expense management tool can make the whole process much easier and slicker, not only for the Finance team processing the claims, but also for the employees submitting them. There are lots of options to consider, so to help you make an informed decision, read on and be introduced to the best expense management software available at the moment.
5 minutes
Written by Steve Thomas, Finance Software and Systems Specialist
What is Expense Management Software and how can it help your business?
The best expense management software leverages automation, easy-to-use functionality and data management to streamline the process end-to-end and create an auditable trail of every transaction. All of that means that the administrative burden is significantly reduced; managers can avoid getting bogged down in paper forms and receipts that need authorising; and employees are reimbursed quicker. To read more on the specifics of what expense management software is, as well as its key features, take a look at this article.
The impact of not using an expense management system
A technology-led approach to expense management alleviates most (if not all) of the common issues arising from reliance on paper forms and cumbersome spreadsheets. Problems such as inaccuracies or incorrect claims, delays in payments, too much time spent on unwieldy administrative processes and difficulties with reporting and compliance with the company policy or HMRC rules are all common in businesses that don’t use a robust expense management system.
When you add up all the hours taken up with sorting out these issues, it’s soon clear that this is one key area where businesses can immediately improve their internal performance and free up staff for far more productive tasks.
Take a look now at some of the excellent options available today.
Best expense management software 2024
The Access Group
A core part of the Access Finance integrated offering for businesses of all sizes, Access Expense is the leading online expense management system. This cloud-based expense management system accommodates all types of expense including travel, mileage and credit card payments, covers paper and e-receipts and features an app for ease of use. Access Expense automates core elements to ensure business expenses can be claimed and processed quickly and managers can monitor and report expenses easily.
Sage Intacct
Part of the Sage Intacct finance package, Sage provides comprehensive time and expense management software designed to streamline processes, reduce revenue leakage and simplify revenue recognition. It’s aimed at more complex businesses who are working on behalf of clients who need to keep accurate records of time and expenses on a project-by-project basis.
The expenses management software is one of a number of optional add-ons to the core Sage Intacct finance package.
Xero
Designed for small business users and non-accounting experts, the Xero expenses management solution facilitates monthly payments to employees and includes the option to process expenses from customers too. Use it to scan or photograph receipts, submit mileage claims and track expenses centrally.
Xero offers a mobile app for submitting expenses as well as approving them, helping to ensure that employee expenditure is still processed whilst out of the office.
Quickbooks
Quickbooks accounting software is primarily aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. Various packages with some expenses management features included are offered – however the ‘Advanced’ plan includes more detailed expenses management functionality for employees.
If you opt to upgrade to the Advanced plan, employees can submit their expenses directly into Quickbooks which can then be reviewed and tracked centrally.
How to choose the best expense management system for your business
There are various key considerations to take into account before deciding which expense management tool to introduce to your business. Some of the most important points are detailed below.
- The size of your business
This will impact the volume of expenses your business needs to process. You will need to choose a solution that makes it easy to match your preferred approval routes; giving your employees the ability to scan receipts and submit expenses via an app whilst out an about might also prove particularly useful if you have a large workforce.
- Core requirements
If you operate in multiple geographies, then do your staff submit expenses in multiple currencies for example? Some expense management software packages can deal with this easily.
- Functionality needed
Consider the specifics of how you already process expenses and whether the expense management tools you are considering reflect how you want to do things. Including project based workflows for expenses might be an important function for example. Or the variety of expense types and configurations required.
- Budget available
As with any software purchase, some solutions are more complex and offer more flexibility and functionality than others. A cheaper solution may not offer the full gamut of features you need, so take time to check. Not all expenses management software is created equal!
Is our expense management software best for you?
Access expense management software is already used effectively on a daily basis by hundreds of businesses just like yours. Designed specifically for ease of use by your employees, your Finance team and your managers, Access Expense takes the stress out of processing expenses and frees up everyone to spend their time on other more value-adding tasks.
Why not take a look now and see for yourself how Access Expense could streamline your expense management processes? Our free demo only takes a few minutes to view and shows you exactly what features could really benefit your business.
