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“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.
ERP software is the centrepiece of your finance tech stack, so it’s important you make the right choice for your business. We spoke to Konstantinos Andreou, Director of Financial Control at Juni about what makes a good ERP and when it’s time to scale up your solution.
ERP stands for enterprise resource planning. An ERP stool is used to manage all the information and resources in the company’s operations.
Business operations are managed with tools like Xero, Quickbooks or Fortnox, which are accounting software with add ons to give extra capabilities, or ERPs which are a comprehensive tool like Netsuite with all the applications they need to run the business efficiently, with tasks like sending and receiving invoices, receiving money and managing KPIs.
You may not need to use the full suite of features if your operations are on the simple side. However, if you’re running a listed business, you’ll definitely need a more comprehensive tool like Netsuite.
With an ERP, you can do:
- Accounting
- Bank reconciliation
- Invoicing customers
- Tracking metrics and KPIs
- Paying invoices (accounts payable)
An ERP solution is a one-stop shop for a finance team! Managing as much information as possible in one place makes it really simple to get your accounting done, manage large amounts of financial data and turn it into useable insights.
The main difference between low-cost solutions like Xero, Fortnox or QuickBooks and enterprise tools like Netsuite is how they work and which functionalities they can offer.
Xero, for example, is classed as a cloud based accounting software, but it integrates with many other solutions that can do a wide range of functions, making it suitable for a lot of businesses. The big consideration for solutions like this is whether your business is operating in multiple countries, locations and currencies with multiple cost centres – and as a result, how much you’re willing to spend on a solution to save time.
Low-cost solutions, priced from €10 a month, have one thing in common – they support very few currencies. They also often focus on local markets, which has implications for VAT. Using a solution like this could fit a smaller business that only operates within one or two countries that would be willing to use a different solution for each market, for example, Xero or Quickbooks for the UK and Fortnox in Sweden. Choosing to use a low-cost solution to handle transactions in multiple currencies could mean a lot of work. To prepare consolidated financial statements, you would need to convert everything into your main currency, which could take days to complete manually if you’re combining different templates from more than one accounting tool.
In comparison, Netsuite and other enterprise-level ERPs can operate in multiple markets, be customised for each market and use local exchange rates. It can also handle intercompany relationships and more complex operating structures, locations, business models and needs for deeper business insights. This makes it a good fit for international businesses with subsidiaries in several countries and handling multiple currencies.
When you’re choosing your ERP solution, there are several questions you should ask to find a good fit for your business needs.
There’s a big price difference between different tools. Starting at around the €10 a month mark for entry-level solutions, moving on to mid-level tools which can come in at around €3k a month for a standard package and increase to between €5-10k a month depending on your business, like subsidiaries, users and additional functions. There are high-level options too which reach into the hundreds of thousands, but these are used by complex, multinational corporations.
If you’re selling a physical product, look for an ERP solution that offers inventory management. You can get monthly reports on items in and out and do inventory reconciliation. This saves time, can help generate valuable insights and consolidate sales KPIs with other information.
Which countries you operate in and if you have subsidiaries in other countries will have a big impact on which solution you choose. Check which countries you operate in and if the software you choose can operate there, for example, using the right currencies and VAT tax to integrate with local authorities like Making Tax Digital in the UK.
If you’re operating in several markets with multiple currencies, you have two options – save money or save time. For example, you could have a low-cost solution in each country to ensure you’re operating correctly. However, the trade-off is spending more time manually consolidating all that information. Instead, you could pay more for a mid-level solution which will handle multiple markets easily in one place.
Integrating your bank with your ERP solution means you’ll be able to import transactions and other important information to avoid the time-consuming manual work of adding this manually. Juni integrates with Xero, and soon we’ll offer SIE file exports to easily handle your accounting in compatible software, like Fortnox.
However you handle your invoicing, it needs to work with your ERP tool. For example, if you’re using Stripe or Salesforce, see how your sales invoices and contracts can be transferred to your ERP solution and match these invoices with payments.
Also, decide how you want to manage accounts payable for vendor invoices. You could choose to integrate with another tool, but it will depend on how you run your approval system.
If you have multiple cost centres, locations and warehouses in specific countries, you want to have the correct tax for transactions, so make sure your ERP can handle that. Look out for a solution that offers tags for the transactions, so you can have the right codes in your accounting.
If you produce the product you’re selling, then fixed assets, like machinery, are an important consideration. You need software that can manage fixed assets and handle depreciation for you.
You might want to have your employee expenses in a separate tool from your ERP, to get more control of approvals or to distributing ownership of employee expenses with multicurrency virtual cards from Juni.
You can save lots of time handling receipts by distributing budget ownership across the organisation. When you give each employee their own card, the employee will become a budget owner and be responsible for the expenses that go through their card – including the receipts. With Juni, you can create as many virtual cards as you need! You can then set controls to monitor, limit or block spend at card level and approve transactions.
Juni fits into your tech stack and helps finance teams boost visibility, improving productivity with more control. Juni can help you save time managing payment flows and streamline the accounts payable process. It’s also a useful way of getting cash flow analytics, media metrics and storefront data from Amazon and Shopify in one place to access consolidated insights.
If you choose Xero as an accounting tool, Juni already integrates with that. Automatically sync your bank feed from Juni directly into Xero to speed up your accounting. If you’re using another solution like Netsuite or Fortnox, we’re launching an SIE file export soon to make it even easier to incorporate Juni into your finance tech stack and do your accounting.
Juni can also help you boost your cash flow with cashback on all your eligible spend and access flexible capital with extended terms*.
Look at your whole cycle for customer orders and billing and how you manage this within your existing tech stack. If you’re spending too much time on manual work, starting to operate in multiple countries, taking on more employees in different jurisdictions, or increasing business complexity, it might be time to scale up your solution.
Whether a mid-level solution is right for you will depend on how complicated your operations and revenue and expenses cycles are, where your vendors are based, and how much of the process you want to automate.
You need to make sure your business is in the right place to scale up. There’s a significant price difference, and mid-level software like Netsuite often requires several employees to get the most out of running it.
Whatever solution you choose needs to be right for the state of your business, so make sure you have a comprehensive overview of your financial needs before making a decision.
*Capital is currently only available for companies registered in the UK, Netherlands and Sweden. Eligibility, credit line, and credit line increase are subject to application, review, and financial circumstances. 37-day payment terms guaranteed, with up to 60 days available. Terms & Conditions apply.
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