“Have I paid that vendor yet?” you ask yourself as you sort through the dozens of invoices you’ve received this month. Definitely not the way you wanted to spend your Friday afternoon.
As your small business grows, manually managing accounts payable (AP) processes becomes more challenging, time-consuming and error-prone.
Enter accounts payable software. These platforms can automate processes like invoice management and payment processing while syncing to your accounting software to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
This article offers an overview of the six best accounts payable software solutions for small businesses so you can find just the right platform for your needs. We’ll also give you a list of the features you should look for when choosing a platform, plus tips for how to make your decision.*
Financial admin eating up too much of your time? We can take it off your plate
Automate your accounts payable processes with Juni and free up your day for more impactful work.
*The information about all the platforms discussed in this article was collected between 9 January 2024 and 11 January 2024. This article was written and approved by Juni and is intended as marketing material.
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Whenever you’re researching software, whether that be an accounts payable solution or inventory management platform, you need to be clear on what functionalities your business needs. So before we get into our list, here are some features you should prioritise when selecting accounts payable software:
Let’s take an in-depth look at our list of software. For each platform, we’ll list its features (as well as its limitations), explain how pricing works and point out what kind of business it’s best fit for.
Juni’s platform for ecommerce entrepreneurs comes with automated accounts payable features that can help you run simpler, tighter and more accurate financial admin. With Juni, it takes just seconds to auto-collect, pay and even finance your invoices.
By collecting and scanning your invoices automatically, then pre-filling all the important payment details, Juni saves you time and reduces the risk of human error. You can also automatically import your receipts and invoices with your dedicated Juni inbox for effortless spend management, plus match receipts to transactions.
What’s more, if you need to reduce pressure on your cash flow cycles, Juni offers financing options for certain types of payments, giving you up to 120 days to pay.*
The platform goes beyond accounts payable features, also offering business accounts and cards, features to optimise cash flow management, powerful accounting automations, fast transfers and storefront integrations.
Most suitable for: Ecommerce entrepreneurs and small businesses
Juni has two plan options:
You can try our Scale plan for free for the first 30 days.
Based in Copenhagen, Pleo is a business spending solution with built-in AP automation software. Pleo’s invoice management features make it easy to capture, process, approve, pay and bookkeep invoices in a central location. With over 50 supported currencies, Pleo users can seamlessly pay vendors across the world.
Most suitable for: Companies that need to pay invoices in several currencies
Pleo has three plan options:
Spendesk is a spend management platform with accounts payable features like invoice automation and approval workflows, giving you greater control over the invoicing lifecycle and your AP processes. By using Spendesk, you can minimise (or eliminate) manual data entry for your invoicing processes, plus get real-time insights into your spending patterns.
Most suitable for: SaaS, tech and fintech companies
Spendesk doesn’t list its pricing options, so you’ll have to reach out to sales to get a quote
Sage Intacct’s cloud-based invoicing software helps small business owners and finance teams automate invoice management with the power of AI. For example, simply upload or email an invoice, and the software will automatically extract details and populate fields for your approval. The platform can also detect duplicate invoices, helping you stay in control of your expenses and avoid costly errors.
Most suitable for: Businesses that need powerful analytics tools
Sage Intacct has three plans for its accounts payable software. All plans come with three months free:
While SAP Concur isn’t specifically designed for small businesses, it’s still a good fit for solopreneurs and SMBs looking to automate their AP processes. The platform automates invoicing processes, meaning you can pay suppliers quickly without constantly having to double-check invoices and complete transactions yourself.
Most suitable for: Businesses with immediate plans to scale
SAP Concur doesn’t list its pricing options, so you’ll have to reach out to sales to get a quote.
Visma is the parent organisation for a number of accounting and invoicing solutions across Europe. It has designated products for 15 different EU countries, such as Visma eKonomi, its designated Swedish accounting platform. Visma eKonomi has basic AP features for paying vendors, but it has a range of other accounting features that can help you streamline your financial admin as a whole.
Most suitable for: Small businesses in Sweden
Visma platform prices range depending on which country you operate in and the Visma product you select. Visma eEkonomi has three plans that come with supplier invoicing features:
You can have all the software comparison guides in the world available to you, but if you aren’t intentional about your decision, you may end up choosing software that falls short for your needs. Here are a few steps you can take to help you make the right decision when selecting an accounts payable platform for your small business.
By digitising the traditionally paper-intensive process of handling invoices and payments, AP software is not only more efficient than manual processes, but also minimises the possibility of errors, like a missed or incorrect payment. Having more visibility over invoices, due dates and your general spending patterns can help you maintain tighter control over your financial operations.
But to get the most out of a platform, you need to make sure you’re choosing the right one for your needs. For example, if you run an online storefront, you’ll want to choose a solution like Juni that has the specific needs of ecommerce entrepreneurs in mind.
By choosing a software solution that’s a good fit for you, you’ll make your business more agile, resilient and competitive. Meanwhile, you’ll get back more time in the day to focus on what you most love about running your company, whether that’s marketing your product, interacting with customers or finding ways to scale.
Financial admin eating up too much of your time? We can take it off your plate
Automate your accounts payable processes with Juni and free up your day for more impactful work.
*Juni Invoices is available for EU-based companies only. Media financing is available for companies registered in NL, SE, DE, FR, ES, IT, FI and NO, upon eligibility. Fees and terms and conditions apply. Click here for more details.
Accounts payable automation software helps businesses manage and track the money they owe to suppliers, vendors and other parties. Essentially, this type of software helps business owners and finance departments handle their payment processes by recording invoices, tracking due dates and organising information.
While you can manually manage your accounts payable process, this approach can be time-consuming and error-prone. A better way to keep track of accounts payable is by using specialised accounts payable software that tracks and pays your invoices for you.
You can automate accounts payable processes by using specialised software. These platforms handle a number of tasks, including:
"Only six more to go," you tell yourself as you upload yet another receipt to your accounting software. We all know the pain of searching for receipts across emails and platforms and trying to match them to expenses.
This becomes even more challenging the larger your business becomes and the more vendors you have to pay. You can avoid most of that frustration and wasted time with the right spend management software.
But not all spend management platforms will be a good fit for your business. For example, digital commerce companies need solutions that take into account sector-specific expenses like ad receipts and multiple platform payments, while small businesses need tools that simplify their financial admin, not complicate it.
This article takes a look at the six best spend management software solutions so you can find just the right platform for your needs. We’ll also give you a list of the features you should look for when choosing a platform, plus tips for how to make your decision.*
Spend less time on spend management
With real-time spend overviews, receipt matching automation and powerful integrations, Juni will make you forget what a hassle managing your expenses used to be.
*The information about all the platforms discussed in this article was collected between 17 January 2024 and 19 January 2024. This article was written and approved by Juni and is intended as marketing material.
Before taking a closer look at the tools on our list, here are six features your spend management software (also known as expense management software) should come with:
Bonus: Look out for spend management platforms that come with built-in accounts payable and invoice automation features, which will help you centralise your financial admin and save time.
Now, let's explore the solutions on our list in depth. For each platform, we’ll list its key features (as well as its limitations), explain how pricing works and point out what kind of business it’s best fit for.
Juni helps businesses in digital commerce manage their cash flow, track their expenses and optimise their profits with features that are specifically designed with ecommerce companies in mind.
While it’s not specifically expense management software, you can use the platform for your spend management needs. Juni's goal is to give everyone in digital commerce, from the CFO to the accounting team to marketing managers, everything they need to focus on business growth.
Juni’s expense management features are especially valuable for users who have multiple receipts coming from different media buying channels and online transactions. With Meta and Google Ads integrations, plus powerful receipt matching, expense management suddenly becomes easy. On top of that, you can also manage your unpaid invoices and accounts payable processes within Juni, bringing your financial admin under one roof.
All of this comes with easy access to media and inventory financing for up to 2 million EUR, helping you free up your cash flow and grow your business.*
*Juni Invoices is available for EU-based companies only. Media financing is available for companies registered in NL, SE, DE, FR, ES, IT, FI and NO, upon eligibility. Fees and terms and conditions apply. Click here for more details.
Most suitable for: SMBs and mid-market companies in digital commerce
Juni has two plan options:
SAP Concur helps you streamline processes to deliver efficiency savings, with a focus on eliminating manual data entry, lost receipts and unclaimed VAT refunds. As such, it’s best suited to larger organisations. The platform helps you reduce the risk of human error and compliance issues with automations, plus the software can identify potential mistakes and discrepancies in real-time.
Most suitable for: Larger and enterprise organisations
SAP Concur doesn’t list its pricing options, so you’ll have to reach out to sales to get a quote.
Zoho Expense is the business expense tracking app from the Zoho suite of business tools, which means it integrates with Zoho’s other financial management apps. It’s a reasonably priced platform suited to handling all aspects of expense management and reporting for SMBs. Zoho Expense automatically records expenses from receipts, simplifying and automating the expense reporting process.
Most suitable for: People already using other Zoho products (namely Zoho Books)
Zoho Expense has three plans for its spend management software:
Expensify is a spend management solution for keeping track of business expenses on the go. Most of the expense management functionality can be done on your phone, while a series of handy integrations help to automate and streamline processes around uploading and allocating receipts. Plus, it’s easy for employees to create and submit expense reports for quick reimbursement.
Most suitable for: Small businesses with lots of employee expenses
Expensify has two plans:
One of the many features of smart accounting software QuickBooks is its built-in expense management tool. There are obvious advantages to expenses being handled via your accounting platform, like how easy it is to claim business expenses for tax purposes. And when you connect your bank to the platform, QuickBooks automatically matches and organises your receipts to transactions.
Most suitable for: Businesses who want more comprehensive accounting tools built into their spend management software
Quickbooks has five plans:
Fortnox is a cloud-based accounting software platform based in Sweden that helps businesses manage their accounting and bookkeeping processes, as well as other financial admin like spend management. Users can take photos of receipts and instantly upload them via a mobile app, and the platform automatically fills in date, amount and VAT.
Most suitable for: Businesses that operate in Sweden
Fortnox has three plans:
The information in this guide can help you make your decision, but ultimately, you need to factor in considerations about your business and its needs when choosing a platform. Here are three things you can do to ensure you’re choosing an ideal solution.
As you’ll notice from the list above, different software solutions are more suitable for different business industries and sizes. For example, Juni is spend management software built with the needs of ecommerce companies in mind. So when researching a platform, pay close attention to what type of business (big or small, ecommerce or SaaS) it’s best suited for.
While it shouldn’t be the only factor that guides your decision, you can’t ignore pricing when choosing a solution. You need to find a healthy balance between a platform you can afford (and doesn't go over budget) that still gives you all the key features and functionalities you need to run smarter, more efficient financial admin.
You may be a small business now, but if you have plans of scaling in the future, you want to make sure your expense management solution can scale with you. Juni, for example, caters to both SMBs as well as mid-market companies, meaning we can provide the solutions you need from the time your business is founder-led to when it has 100+ employees.
While you can never remove expense management from your to-do list, you can find a platform that does most of the work for you. The best spend management software is one that not only simplifies financial operations but also contributes to strategic decision-making and the long-term financial health of your organisation.
To find a platform that does all that, you need to make sure you’re making your selection with the unique needs of your business in mind. For example, if you operate in digital commerce, you want to choose a solution like Juni that comes with ecommerce-specific capabilities, like features designed specifically for media buying and online transactions.
So take your time finding the right platform—doing so can lead to significant time savings and valuable insights into spending patterns, helping you improve the overall financial health and success of your business.
Spend less time on spend management
With real-time spend overviews, receipt matching automation and powerful integrations, Juni will make you forget what a hassle managing your expenses used to be.
Spend management software is a platform or tool that helps businesses manage and control their expenses. This type of solution usually includes features for receipt management, expense reporting and approval workflows. Plus, these platforms often integrate with accounting software, as well as sync with banks and credit cards.
There are a number of benefits to using spend management software to control your expenses, including:
The price of expense management software varies depending on the size of your business and what industry you operate in, as this will impact which platform you choose. Prices range from as low as £7 per month to almost £100, and some spend management systems also offer free plans to certain users.
High FX fees for payouts in multiple currencies, difficulties accessing financing, poor customer support. If you’ve tried to operate your ecommerce business with a traditional bank account, you may have experienced some of these challenges.
But ecommerce business bank accounts are designed to help companies who operate in digital commerce run their business smoothly, all while protecting their bottom line and avoiding costly fees.
We’ve rounded up six options for ecommerce business accounts that can help you protect your profits and simplify your financial operations. This article covers:
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The information about all the tools discussed in this article was collected between 14 March 2024 and 18 March 2024. This article was written and approved by Juni and is intended as marketing material.
Ever walk into a traditional bank to request financing for your upcoming Instagram ad campaign? Probably not. But if you have, how did that go?
Traditional business bank accounts have their benefits, but they often lack features and offerings custom-fit for ecommerce companies. We’re talking:
Ultimately, you want to work with a financial services provider that understands ecommerce—they should understand your most pressing needs and common pains, offering solutions and remedies to them.
For example, ecommerce business accounts often integrate seamlessly with major online sales platforms and payment processors, streamlining transaction management and financial oversight.
Plus, these accounts cater to the international nature of ecommerce, supporting multiple currencies and providing competitive exchange rates. This is vital for businesses selling across borders, ensuring they can manage foreign transactions efficiently without high fees.
Lastly, ecommerce bank accounts may offer advanced fraud protection features, recognizing the higher risk of online financial transactions. Enhanced security measures, such as real-time transaction monitoring and customised alert systems, help you protect your business.
Juni isn’t a bank, but rather a financial services provider custom-built for ecommerce businesses. In fact, co-founders Samir El-Sabini and Anders Orsedal both used to work in digital commerce. After becoming frustrated by the lack of financial services tailored to the needs of ecommerce businesses, they went on to create Juni.
Because of this, every single one of Juni’s offerings and features is designed specifically for companies that operate in digital commerce. Take the financial platform’s multi-currency accounts, for example. You can create up to ten IBAN accounts in your preferred currencies (SEK, GBP, EUR, USD or NOK), which you can manage on a centralised dashboard—perfect for if you sell your products across the globe.
You can also create virtual Juni Mastercard® Corporate cards in USD, SEK, EUR and GBP and designate which employees can use them or which suppliers they’re authorised for, giving you greater control over your company’s spend.
With Juni, you can create multiple virtual cards in a few clicks, meaning you can replace cards that might get blocked by an ad platform. What’s more, you get cashback on eligible debit spend—up to 1%—helping you boost your bottom line.
Additionally, you can set up your payouts from sales platforms like Shopify and Amazon so you’re paid directly into your Juni account. From there, you can make payments in different currencies with transparent and capped FX fees.
When you have a Juni account, you can also get access to capital on cards and invoices upon eligibility.* This means flexible credit lines for running ad campaigns, paying invoices and more, helping you optimise cash flow and grow your business.
Plus, you can use the platform to run your accounts payable processes, manage expenses and automate accounting for less manual work and fewer human errors.
And let’s not forget about protecting your profits—Juni’s advanced security measures protect your accounts, cards and business with features like encryption and strong authentication, as well as penetration tests and vulnerability scans.
Tide is an online banking solution that partners with ClearBank to offer accounts for small and growing businesses. With the Tide Cashback Account, you get unlimited free transfers, three free expense cards for employees and features like automated payments.
What’s more, you earn 0.5% cashback on card purchases, which can help to offset the card’s monthly fee of £49.99 + VAT per month. You also get access to a dedicated team of account managers, a 24/7 legal helpline and priority in-app support.
Airwallex offers a multi-currency business account that comes with high speed international transfers and borderless cards. With Airwallex, you can open local currency accounts in over 60 countries, accept payments from 180 countries and make transfers to over 150 countries.
The account also comes with time-saving accounts payable automations, as well as the ability to create custom approval workflows. Plus, Airwallex offers end-to-end expense management features that give you greater visibility and control over spend.
SumUp offers a free Business Account (no monthly fee and free Mastercard) for UK businesses with features like payment scheduling, cash flow management and a mobile app.
SumUp also comes with online store capabilities—it’s free to create an ecommerce website with the platform, which comes with transaction fees of 2.5%. You also get access to support seven days a week, in case you need expert guidance.
The HSBC Business Banking Account is a good option for companies that operate in digital commerce. This account is fit for both small and medium-sized businesses and comes with a designated Relationship Manager to provide personalised support.
With this account, you get access to a Visa Business Debit Card, as well as commercial and corporate business credit cards. And for visibility over your spending, you can always access account and transaction details, plus make payments, via a mobile banking app.
The SEB Business Account is available to European businesses and is in particular targeted towards small businesses and startups. There’s no monthly fee for the first six months with this account, after which you’re looking at a monthly fee of 130 SEK.
SEB offers customers personal 24/7 phone support, startup insurance options and a convenient mobile app. You also get access to a regular debit card, plus the option to apply for a free credit card with 45 days of a 0% interest rate. Plus, the account integrates with popular accounting software like Fortnox and Visma.
When selecting banking services for your ecommerce business, consider the following factors to ensure they align with your operational needs and growth ambitions.
Choose a bank that offers seamless integrations with ecommerce platforms and accounting software for simplified transaction tracking and financial reporting.
Understand the fee structure of the account, and look for transparent pricing without hidden charges. Along those lines, consider accounts with low transaction fees.
If your ecommerce business operates internationally, select an account that supports multiple currencies and offers competitive rates for currency exchange and international transactions.
Given the online nature of ecommerce, prioritise banks that offer robust security features. This includes fraud detection and secure online banking.
As your business grows, your needs will evolve. Choose an account that can scale with you, offering additional services and support as your operations get larger and more complicated.
Reliable customer support is a must. Find a provider that guarantees quick, dedicated support, ensuring you can get timely assistance and advice when needed.
As a digital commerce company, a generic bank account may not give you all the functionalities a business account designed for ecommerce brands would. By selecting a business account designed specifically for digital commerce brands, you get access to features that help you run your business better while scaling, lending to better ecommerce financial management.
So prioritise accounts that help you simplify your financial management and reduce costs in your business while offering options to free up your cash flow with flexible financing.
Juni business accounts, for example, simplify the way you spend and move money. With low FX fees, corporate cards and financing for ad spend and invoices, Juni provides ecommerce businesses with the resources they need to manage their finances wisely, ease cash flow and invest in growth.
The best business bank account for an ecommerce brand is one that considers the unique needs of ecommerce companies. Ideally, these accounts should include features tailored to online businesses, such as integrated ecommerce platform functionalities, foreign currency handling and advanced cash flow analytics.
Having a business bank account for your ecommerce operations is definitely a good idea. It helps you keep personal and business finances separate and simplifies tax reporting. Plus, a business account often comes with specialised services and tools designed to support ecommerce activities, such as online payment processing and financial management integrations.
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