“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.
Managing your financial operations becomes increasingly complex as your business grows, especially if you rely on manual processes and tools that aren’t tailored to the demands of digital commerce.
You depend on timely, accurate invoice processing to ensure internal efficiency and maintain healthy relationships with your suppliers. However, human error in invoice processing disrupts your workflows, leading to bottlenecks, delayed payments and strained vendor relationships.
These can quickly erode your profit margins and damage your reputation, which is why it’s crucial to implement a robust invoicing system. AI-driven invoice processing offers a solution that is accurate, efficient, and scalable.
In this article, we discuss:
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Juni CEO, Samir El-Sabini, says, "AI can give businesses better financial tools. It will continue to automate the different elements businesses need to get a complete financial overview, including benchmarking insights, costs, financial processes, treasury, accounting, cards and controls."
This is equally true of invoice management. AI-powered solutions like Juni automatically extract and validate data from invoices, match invoices with purchase orders, and flag discrepancies for review.
Here's how AI can impact your systems and business performance:
Improved invoice approval workflows:
Automated systems streamline the approval process, minimising issues and ensuring invoices are reviewed and approved promptly. This leads to faster payments and improved relationships with your vendors.
Increased efficiency:
Automation reduces the need for manual data entry and eliminates human error, saving time and resources. Your team can focus on more strategic tasks rather than getting bogged down by repetitive, manual responsibilities.
Streamlined administration, centralised data and processes:
Automated invoice processing consolidates all your invoicing data into a single, easily accessible platform. This simplifies record-keeping, enhances data accuracy, and improves overall invoice payment efficiency.
Better cash flow management:
By automating your invoice processing, you gain real-time visibility into your financial status, allowing you to make informed decisions about your cash flow. This helps you avoid late fees and take advantage of early payment discounts.
Accounts payable automation makes your invoice processing efficient and accurate. Here’s an overview of the key components of an AI solution to invoice management:
AI improves invoice processing through automated data extraction using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Natural Language Processing (NLP). These technologies can accurately capture data from various invoice formats, like supplier invoices or vendor invoices, significantly reducing manual data entry errors and speeding up the data entry process.
For example, a finance team at a retail company receives hundreds of supplier invoices in different formats every month. Accounts payable automation uses OCR and NLP to accurately capture data from these invoices, minimising manual data entry errors and speeding up the process.
AI enhances data validation by cross-referencing invoice data with payment details. This ensures consistency and accuracy, automatically flagging discrepancies for further review and reducing the risk of errors.
For instance, a digital commerce platform might use AI to automatically verify that the product quantities and prices on customer orders match those on payment receipts and shipping confirmations. This ensures consistency and accuracy, automatically flagging discrepancies for your team to review and reducing the risk of costly errors.
AI-driven workflow automation streamlines the invoice approval process by routing invoices to your designated approvers based on predefined rules. This reduces manual intervention, accelerates the approval cycle, and ensures timely processing.
Consider a large business with multiple departments. The team sets up tailored approval flows, and AI requests approval based on these criteria—removing manual work and saving time.
AI-powered analytics and reporting provide real-time insights into invoice processing trends, bottlenecks, and overall efficiency. This helps organisations make informed decisions, optimise their processes and improve financial management.
For example, a finance team at a tech startup might use AI analytics to identify slow points in their invoice processing workflow. These insights can help them optimise their processes, leading to faster payment cycles and better financial management.
AI analyses historical invoice data to identify patterns and detect anomalies that may indicate fraudulent activity. This helps protect organisations from financial losses and ensures the integrity of their transactions.
For example, if your AI solution detects an unusually high invoice amount from a vendor that typically charges much less, it can flag this transaction for your review, potentially preventing a fraudulent payment.
AI solutions seamlessly integrate with existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting systems, ensuring smooth data flow and accurate record-keeping.
This can eliminate data silos and enhance the overall efficiency of invoice processing by, for example, updating invoice statuses in real-time so your financial records are always up-to-date without manual input.
By automating data extraction, validation, and workflow processes, AI reduces the need for manual intervention, lowering labour costs and minimising errors. This can bring about significant cost savings for your business.
AI can automatically process and validate hundreds of invoices in a fraction of the time it would take a human, allowing you to optimise your team by reallocating resources and reducing the need for overtime or additional staffing during busy periods.
Efficient and accurate invoice processing is crucial for maintaining healthy business operations.
With advanced tools that are tailored to the needs of digital commerce, such as handling multi-currency operations, managing large volumes of transactions, and implementing custom controls forspend, you can reduce errors and streamline your invoice processing workflows.
Juni simplifies the invoice settlement process by automating data entry and validation. By leveraging AI and machine learning, Juni can automatically capture invoice details, match them with corresponding purchase orders, and flag discrepancies.
This reduces manual errors and ensures your invoices are processed accurately and promptly.
With Juni accounts payable, you can:
Automating invoice processing with Juni can reduce errors and boost your team’s productivity. By eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing the time spent on invoice verification, your team can focus on more strategic tasks like scaling your business or better managing cash flow.
Juni's centralised platform allows for easier tracking and management of invoices. Plus, you can automate team reminders so you don't have to chase down receipts. This means you can pull and match your receipts and paid invoices at the click of a button and reconcile them two times faster. For example, with Juni Receipt Matching you can:
Before partnering with Juni, Savvy Moves faced challenges with manual expense management, which led to significant time losses and increased risk of accounting errors.
“We spent hours manually matching receipts to transactions, as we didn't have a good way to manage our spend," said Rémon de Muijnck, Co-Founder of Savvy Moves.
Automation has played a key role in simplifying financial admin at Savvy Moves. Juni Receipt Matching automatically pulls and matches paid invoices and receipts from their Gmail account, saving valuable time.
"Before getting Juni, we invested considerable time in this task. Now, our accounts are accurately reconciled and closed each month with remarkable efficiency.” - Rémon de Muijnck, Co-Founder of Savvy Moves.
After Juni, Savvy Moves has:
Read more about how Savvy Moves streamlined their spend management with Juni.
By automating the invoicing process, AI minimises human error, accelerates approval workflows and provides real-time financial insights.
This saves you time on administrative tasks and helps you make data-informed decisions, maintain healthy vendor relationships, and improve overall efficiency. Furthermore, your team can focus less on repetitive tasks and more on other key areas of your business operations.
With Juni, AI-driven invoice management is just one component of a larger solution that gives you greater visibility and flexibility across all your financial operations, so you can manage your margins and gain control over your cash flow.
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