What is expense management software?

Expense management software is a digital tool that empowers businesses to effortlessly track, manage, and optimize employee expenses while staying aligned with corporate policies and tax regulations.

It automates and simplifies key aspects of expense management, including reporting, approval workflows, receipt tracking and powerful analytics.

Why do businesses need expense management software?

Expense management is vital for financial transparency, policy compliance, and optimizing company spending. It helps identify unnecessary costs, prevent fraud, and streamline administrative processes for improved efficiency and profitability. Today, most companies rely on expense automation solutions for smarter expense handling to:

Reduce errors

Save time

Make wiser financial decisions

Get real-time insights

Reduce manual work

Speed up approvals

Gain a clear view of spending patterns

Identify savings opportunities

And more!

What is the role of automation in expense management?

Automation streamlines various aspects of expense management, from capturing digital receipts to generating reports. It reduces manual data entry, minimizes errors, speeds up the approval process, and ensures timely reimbursements, increasing efficiency and employee satisfaction.

Expense management software for small businesses vs. enterprise software

Automating expense management benefits businesses of all sizes. Small business expense management systems are generally more straightforward and offer fewer features than large enterprise systems, and therefore are best suited for less-complex expense management needs. However, they often still include functionality such as accounting and payroll services integration, custom reporting capabilities and automated approval processes.

How do expense management solutions work?

Expense management tools capture all expense data – from travel expenses to employee purchases – and organize it in a centralized platform. Companies can establish approval rules based on department, role, or amount spent to ensure that the right people approve or reject expense requests. Real-time reports help managers and executives visualize spending, streamline processes, reduce administrative costs, and improve compliance with internal policies.

The workflow typically involves the employee incurring an expense, recording it in the expense reporting application along with a receipt and submitting the expense claim or report. The approver reviews and approves or rejects the report. Then, the finance team validates and reimburses the approved claims through the application immediately or at the end of the month.

Expensya revolutionizes expense management for Kerry Logistics, saving time with OCR technology. Quick data extraction from invoices and simplified processes bring efficiency to business spend.

Features and functionalities

While expense management solutions have common features and functionalities, some expense software solutions include more advanced artificial intelligence driven features. Some key features to look for:

  • Automated expense tracking
  • Receipt capture with OCR technology
  • Easy-to-use mobile applications
  • Automated mileage tracking
  • Policy enforcement
  • Integration with accounting and ERP systems
  • Customizable setup for users and permissions
  • Advanced security features
  • Multiple currency and language support
  • Real-time dashboards, reporting and analytics
  • Cloud-based scalability
  • User-friendly interface and tools

Benefits of expense management solutions

Everyone in your business will benefit from automating expense reporting, from finance teams to IT teams to employees and leaders.

  • Automates expense reporting and approval workflows
  • Less manual data entry and paperwork
  • Faster employee reimbursement
  • Saves employees, administrative and processing time
  • Reduces the likelihood of errors
  • Helps mitigate fraudulent activities
  • Increases policy compliance
  • Provides a clear audit trail
  • Identifies overspending
  • Enforces spending policies
  • Reduced administrative costs
  • Provides real-time insights
  • Increases data-driven decision-making
  • Helps with budget planning and forecasting
  • Reduces risk of non-compliance
  • Facilitates adherence to tax regulations and reporting standards
  • Integrates with ERP and accounting software, streamlining the transfer of expense data into financial records
  • Reduces reconciliation issues
  • Improves convenience for employees on-the-go
  • Enables remote work
  • Allows employees to manage expenses from anywhere
  • Provides accurate spending trends and patterns
  • Offers leadership real-time data and insight
  • Reduces employee frustration
  • Improves employee morale
  • Reduces paper receipts and manual record-keeping
  • Contributes to a more eco-friendly and sustainable business practice

What to consider when buying expense management software

When you are evaluating a new or replacement expense management solution, use the following steps:

1
Understand your needs

Consider the size of your business and the level of functionality required.

2
Evaluate your current process

Assess what works and what doesn't in your expense management system to identify the specific features your company needs.

3
Conduct thorough research

It’s important to explore various vendors and their software offerings. Consider your broader needs, such as a comprehensive suite of integrated spend management capabilities and reliable customer support.

4
Determine your requirements

Conduct internal research to determine the requirements within business areas– finance, IT, users, AP, executives and more. Think through locations, language support, integrations, user experience and all factors important to your business.

5
Refine your list for review and decision

Once you identify the features necessary, refine the list and create an evaluation matrix. This will help evaluate potential vendors fairly and quickly to make a confident decision for your company.

How Expensya can help.

Expensya, now part of Medius, redefines the way you manage expenses. From its advanced OCR+ technology to its user-friendly mobile app, Expensya provides businesses with the tools they need to manage their expenses efficiently.

Whether you're a small business looking for basic expense management tools or a large enterprise needing a comprehensive expense management system, Expensya has got you covered. With its robust features and intuitive interface, it's no wonder that over 6,000 companies worldwide trust Expensya for their expense management needs.

Benefit from intelligent OCR technology

Effortlessly extract all relevant data from receipts – including amount, multiple VAT, tourist tax, expense category, date, means of payment, currency, and merchant name – in dozens of languages and formats.

Experience seamless expense management on the go

The native mobile application for Android and iOS lets you snap receipts anywhere, even in flight mode, and manage expenses in real-time.

Simplify mileage capturing and documentation

Employees can simply enter the start and end points, and Expensya will calculate distances using Google Maps.

Streamline payment cards with ease

Set payment limits, define pre-approved budgets, and automatically reconcile transactions. Gain real-time visibility into your cash flow with virtual or physical direct debit Mastercard.

Explore more features

Manage expenses on the go.

 

Expensya is a native mobile application on Android or iOS. You can work online or offline. Manage your expenses in real time by snapping receipts from anywhere, even in flight mode. For travel abroad, add your expenses in the currency of your choice. Currency conversion is automatic based upon your account settings.

See mobile app features

Ready for a better way to manage your expenses?

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