“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.
Is an inefficient cash conversion cycle (CCC) getting in the way of growth plans for your commerce business? Suppose you tie up capital in inventory only to have it sit in the warehouse for months before it sells – and then struggle to repay your suppliers in the meantime. Maybe you lack the flexibility to schedule payments to your suppliers. Or you struggle with slow, inefficient accounts payable processes, or high FX fees for your international business.
These are just a few common obstacles facing modern commerce businesses every day. So, it’s really important to optimise your CCC. An optimised CCC helps you maintain liquidity while avoiding inventory issues. It also enables you to derive value from your investments sooner, hold onto cash for longer and settle accounts payable at the right time. Below, we’ll explore what an effective CCC strategy looks like – and what you can do to make it happen.
Let’s start by brushing up on the basics. Your cash conversion cycle (CCC) is the time it takes for your company to convert its investments in inventory into cash flows from sales. It’s a key indicator of your company's efficiency in managing its working capital and consists of three main components:
This metric measures the average number of days your inventory remains in stock before it’s sold. A shorter DIO means you’re selling your inventory faster, which generally improves your cash flow. In other words, your cash is tied up for a shorter time in inventory.
DSO calculates the average number of days it takes for you to receive payment after selling a product. If you only sell products on a prepay basis (for example, credit card payment only), then your DSO will be zero. However, if you sell via marketplaces, which may hold onto your cash for up to 60 days, or if you accept payment on invoice, your DSO depends on how long it takes you to actually receive payment. A low DSO is beneficial, because it improves your cash flow and helps you operate more efficiently. For example, with a faster DSO, you can pay your suppliers faster, reducing the need for credit and improving supplier relations.
DPO is the average number of days your company takes to pay its suppliers and other accounts payable. With optimal cash management, your business can increase DPO, enabling it to retain cash longer.
Based on the components described above, you can calculate your ecommerce business’s CCC using this simple formula:
DIO + DSO − DPO = CCC
For example, if your DIO is 60 days, DSO is 45 days, and DPO is 30 days, your CCC would be 75 days. This means it takes 75 days to turn your investments into cash.
Optimising your CCC helps your business to grow because it directly impacts key factors for success, especially your liquidity and vendor relations. Reducing your CCC requires managing your inventory more effectively and converting it into cash faster. As a result, your business is in a better position to meet its financial obligations, avoid expensive credit and late payment fees and secure better conditions from your suppliers.
The shorter your cash conversion cycle, the better. Fortunately, there are many strategies that can help you improve your CCC, no matter which business model or industry your commerce business operates in. Here are 7 best practices that can make a positive impact.
Step 1 is to optimise cash flow and hold onto working capital for longer. Ideally, this can result in a negative cash conversion, which means you’re selling your inventory before your vendors’ invoices become due. With more working capital on hand, you can invest in additional inventory or run ads before having to settle your debts.
To achieve this, look for opportunities to reduce supply chain costs, delay payments to your suppliers for as long as possible without risking your relationship or negotiate longer payment terms. Increase the margin on your products to bring in more cash, and ensure you are receiving payment on your orders as quickly as possible. Lastly, invest in technologies, such as inventory management systems and analytics tools that can help you optimise profits and keep better track of your CCC.
Efficient accounts payable management can help optimise your cash flow. Tools like Juni offer virtual cards to manage subscriptions and marketing expenses, automate invoice processing and facilitate quick and secure international payments. For example, Juni's automated invoice processing collects and scans your invoices, pre-filling payment details and scheduling payments, which simplifies managing your accounts payable, saving time and reducing the risk of errors.
If your company is struggling with a high DIO, then you can benefit from implementing more effective inventory management. That means taking a smarter, tech-driven approach to handling inventory invoices, optimising stock level management and reordering at the right times to avoid overstocking and stockouts. Juni's accounts payable solution, for example, helps you automate your inventory invoice process to avoid late payments and additional fees, which directly impacts your cash flow.
Simplifying your payment process can help reduce your DSO. Effective strategies include offering multiple payment methods and ensuring a customer-friendly checkout process to encourage faster payments.
It’s also important to keep a clearer view of incoming payments. For example, Juni offers seamless integrations with your payment gateways, bank accounts, accounting software and storefronts such as Amazon and Shopify, so you can monitor all your cash flows in one place. This simplifies reporting and gives you an up-to-date view of your finances.
Managing cash flow during peak and low seasons is vital. Planning for seasonal fluctuations and securing financing options like inventory financing can help bridge the gap and maintain a more consistent CCC. Ecomm-friendly inventory financing can provide the liquidity that you need during slower business periods, so you have the cash flow to pay vendors and keep on top of your expenses while waiting for your stock to sell.
Slow, inefficient financial admin has a negative impact on your CCC. To speed up your process and reduce the risk of manual errors, you can leverage AP automation. Juni’s AP solution, for example, collects and scans your invoices automatically, pre-fills all the important payment details, and lets you schedule automatic payments. It also includes a receipt matching feature which saves time by automating the process of pulling and matching receipts and invoices. In addition, it offers a two-way integration with Fortnox, which eliminates manual input and makes it fast and easy for you to pull dimensions, set up custom rules, apply tax codes and sync transactions.
Efficiently managing and moving your money also contributes to an optimal CCC. With Juni, you can easily set up IBAN accounts in multiple currencies and take advantage of low FX fees and fast SEPA and SWIFT transfers within the EEA. It also offers fast, secure and affordable options for paying suppliers in Europe, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and the US.
Short-term financing can also help you keep on top of your operating expenses. If you need to leverage credit solutions, look for a lender that caters specifically to the needs of modern commerce businesses. This includes flexible financing options like capital for invoices, which allows you to extend repayment terms and boost cash flow.
Juni’s capital solutions, for example, are designed to help ecommerce retailers maintain a healthier CCC and help bridge the gap between outlay and sales. As a result, you are better positioned to negotiate more favourable terms with suppliers, access early payment discounts and ultimately improve profitability.
Optimising your CCC is a key step towards improving your ecommerce business’s cash flow and driving growth. By reducing DIO and DSO and optimising DPO, you can enhance your company’s financial health and operational efficiency. By implementing the best practices we presented above, you can streamline your AP process, monitor cash flows more effectively and improve liquidity. As a result, you set your business on a path for greater financial stability and growth.
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