6 best expense approval system of 2024

Some expense approval systems can be linked directly to several payment methods, such as cards or bank transfers. Most, if not all businesses will be able to take advantage of this, as it helps automate the expense entry process. Expenses made can be automatically recorded and synced with an accounting system.

Manually tracking expenses and maintaining a high level of accuracy of where, when, and why company funds are being used can be a tedious task. Luckily, businesses don’t have to go through the hassle of it when they have expense approval software that has real-time expense tracking. All expenses will be logged automatically and immediately.

When making the switch from manual expense approval processes, consider getting a platform that helps the management team improve compliance within the organization. Many expense approval systems allow businesses to customize rules right onto the platform and add their existing policies. Expenses that don’t comply can be automatically flagged.

It’s rare that an expense approval system is not used in tandem with other systems, such as the company’s accounting software. Having third-party integrations ensures that the information flow between all systems remains smooth and accurate. Additional features like auto-sync will also help with reconciliation and save time.

Different businesses will have different ways of doing things, which is why customization is an important feature to have with any expense approval software provider. Rather than changing existing processes to fit the new system, businesses can instead customize the system they are using to reflect the appropriate approval workflows.

Look for an expense approval system that has built-in analytics features. These will be helpful in identifying patterns in the organization’s spending, which come in handy when budgeting and strategizing expenses.

Having the ability to automatically generate financial reports also saves businesses a lot of time and ensures that they are well-prepared for decision-making.

Optical character recognition, or OCR, is a key feature of any expense approval system. With OCR, employees will not have to go through the hassle of time-consuming manual data entry. It’s easy to get information off a receipt by simply scanning the receipt or snapping a picture of it. The system will do the rest of the work.

Make audits easy with an expense approval system. Rather than having to compile an audit trail manually and stress over it, many expense approval software providers offer digital audit trails. Businesses will be able to easily search through expenses and get a trail put together automatically, all on a single platform.

● Set-up process and requirements

It’s easy to start using Volopay to improve expense approval processes. Companies registered in India can apply for a Volopay account fully online. Onboarding will also be done online, guided by Volopay’s support team.

● Charges and pricing 

Reduce administrative overhead with Volopay, complete with a simple pricing plan that is tailored to the business needs. There are no hidden fees and charges involved when using Volopay’s expense approval features.

● Key features 

Get easily customizable multi-level approval workflows with Volopay’s expense approval system. Businesses can create approvals based on their company policies and tailor submission requirements, notifications, and approvers for each department. 

● Benefits 

Businesses get more than just automated expense approvals when using Volopay. The entire expense cycle can be managed through Volopay, with multiple steps—such as scheduling and processing payments—easily automated.

● Limitations

Although expense approval automation is mostly required by larger businesses and enterprises, it should be noted that Volopay is only available for registered companies.

● Set-up process and requirements

Knowing which part of the Zoho suite is its expensive approval software is important. Businesses wanting to use Zoho should look at its Zoho Expense module. Setting up should be easy for businesses already using other Zoho products.

● Charges and pricing

Small business owners and freelancers can start using Zoho Expense for free. However, more features are unlocked with its pricing plans, which start at INR 79 per user/month.

● Key features

Zoho Expense is an expense tracking, reporting, and approval tool that many businesses can take advantage of. It’s easy to use in tandem with other Zoho suite products, especially with its easy-to-use app and mobile-first approach.

● Benefits

Not only do businesses get a lot of external integration opportunities that are easy to set up with Zoho Expense, but Zoho Expense can also be used in tandem with other Zoho products for smoother workflows.

● Limitations

While most businesses should be able to find useful features with Zoho Expense, businesses need to keep in mind that employees are required to attach a report to every expense before they can be processed.

● Set-up process and requirements

Businesses can get started with Happay by signing up online. The Happay team will give a demo before the application process starts, which takes anywhere between a few days to a few weeks.

● Charges and pricing

Happay’s pricing plans are not readily available on its website. Pricing details will depend entirely on the size of the company and what the use cases are. To get a quote, contact the Happay team.

● Key features

Happay’s expense approval module provides businesses with a streamlined dashboard and real-time updates for anything related to approvals. Businesses can set up automatic approvals, soft and hard blocks, and approval reminders with this expense approval system.

● Benefits

Many users have claimed that Happay is easy to use, with a user-friendly interface that doesn’t require intense training. It is also relatively simple to set up, meaning that businesses can get started with it quickly.

● Limitations

Happay may be easy to use, but there are some features with only basic functions or are only semi-automated. Bigger businesses that want to automate more processes may prefer another expense approval system.

● Set-up process and requirements

SAP Concur has solution experts and a customer support team that will help with requirements and the best set-up for each company. Any business wishing to get a price quote needs to speak with a representative.

● Charges and pricing

Any business wanting to get a price quote needs to talk to a representative, as SAP Concur pricing plans depend from business to business. No upfront prices are provided through the site.

● Key features

SAP Concur helps businesses manage expenses, invoices, and even travel bookings. The software has easily trackable expense reports and built-in expense approval workflows that ensure every company expense has been verified accordingly. 

● Benefits

There is a lot that SAP Concur can do to help businesses manage their expenses. Employees can capture expense data and file reimbursement claims from anywhere to simplify the expense approval process.

● Limitations

As SAP Concur can do a lot of things at once, it can be a complex platform that has a steeper learning curve. Smaller business owners may prefer something simpler.

● Set-up process and requirements

Sign up for Expensify through its website, which is easy to do online. The platform can be used by businesses of all sizes, including freelancers, making it an accessible system for new business owners.

● Charges and pricing

Individuals can get started with Expensify for free, but organizations with more than one employee will want to look at the paid plans. It starts at USD 5 per user/month and offers expense approval and tracking features. 

● Key features

As an easy-to-use expense management solution, Expensify offers features like receipt scanning, automated expense tracking, and expense categorizations. It also has multi-currency support and accounting integrations to further streamline expense approvals. 

● Benefits

As Expensify can be used for free, businesses are able to explore the platform before committing. Organizations with fewer employees will also benefit from expense management and approval features for a cheaper price.

● Limitations 

Businesses with a large team of employees may find Expensify costly, as the provider charges businesses per user. If there are 50 employees using the expense approval features, the company will have to pay the fee for 50 users.

● Set-up process and requirements

Companies can get a demo with Fyle by registering through its website. Once the application for a Fyle account has been accepted, users will have to verify their login ID.

● Charges and pricing 

Fyle’s pricing plan depends on the company’s usage, starting at USD 6.99 per user/month. There is a minimum of five users with Fyle, so the lowest a business can pay each month is USD 34.95.

● Key features 

With automated data extraction and receipt scanning features, Fyle makes expense reporting easy for businesses. It also offers integration capabilities to track and report expenses via Gmail, Slack, Fyle’s mobile app, and more. 

● Benefits 

Businesses can enjoy a user-friendly interface with features that are simple to understand. Smaller businesses that only require single-level approvals may also find Fyle easier to use than some of its alternatives.

● Limitations 

Multi-level approvals are only unlocked at higher pricing tiers. There are also some features that only has basic functionalities, such as the inability to easily authorize expenses that are flagged by the system once they have been approved.

As the name of the process suggests, the first step of any expense approval is for the expense to first be incurred. This could be done with company funds, via a corporate card, cash advance, or another method that allows employees to access the funds.

An expense could also be an out-of-pocket expense on the employee’s end, which will later be reimbursed once it is approved.

After an expense is made, the employee who is the expense owner must submit the corresponding report and receipt. These will serve as proof and provide additional details, which help during the review and approval process.

Ideally, submitting expense reports and receipts should be done as soon as possible after the expense is incurred for full transparency and visibility.

There will be company policies that specify predefined criteria that an expense must meet before it is deemed as a valid company expense. If an expense is above a certain threshold, for example, it may be immediately flagged even before it goes through the appropriate approval workflow. The preliminary evaluation also verifies that the expense is valid and true.

The best approval workflows have multiple levels. While multi-level approvals can be done manually, they are much easier to do using an expense approval system. Each expense can be automatically routed for approval.

After one level has been approved, it will automatically move up to the next level until all the levels in the workflow have been cleared and the expense is fully approved.

● Manager

Typically, the manager is one of the first levels of approval. For example, a marketing expense made by an employee working in that department will have to be approved by the marketing manager first.

● Finance department

Once an expense has been approved by the departmental manager, the finance team must also review it. It is likely that every expense, regardless of the department, will be reviewed by the finance department.

● Other departments (if any, depending on the company) 

Each company will have its own tailored approval workflows, so which departments are involved depends on the company’s policies. However, expenses that are closely tied to more than one department may require approval from multiple departments.

Not only will managers and the finance team have to approve company expenses, but these expenses must also be double-checked and verified for compliance. This verification is not only done against company policies but also against legal and industrial regulations.

Expenses must comply with all regulations before they are fully approved and settled. This step ensures that the company is not subject to fraud attempts and misconduct.

A payment is not considered completed until the funds change hands. Once a payment request has been approved, businesses will have to process it. How that is done will depend on what the payment method is.

One of the most common methods of payment is through bank transfers. The bank will process the payment and transfer the funds from one bank account to another after a payment has been initiated.

It’s not enough to simply process expenses, approve them, and pay them off. Once an expense has been successfully paid, it needs to be documented. This ensures that the business has organized records that it can refer back to in the future.

When tax and audit seasons roll around, retrieving these documents will be necessary. The smoother the process is, the better.

There is a lot of paperwork involved in the traditional expense approval workflow. From going through expense reports and receipts to manually signing off each approval, it’s a time-consuming process.

Not to mention all the hassle that comes with manual data entry. These manual processes cost a lot of time and money and are often difficult to do accurately and thus call for more efficient and streamlined paperless expense reporting systems to take its place.

While it’s important to have well-designed approval workflows that ensure each expense is reviewed thoroughly before it is made, these approvals can take up too much time.

Many companies fall into the trap of inefficient approval workflows, which may lead to delays in other processes. Typically, this happens when approvals are done manually and without the help of automation tools.

With manual processes and stacks of paperwork, it’s difficult to get real-time insights into how company funds are being spent. Even with the right expense reports, it can take hours to comb through them.

By the time approvals are made, it could be much later compared to when the expense was made. In the meantime, other expenses would have also occurred, which could lead to overspending.

Due to the time-consuming nature of traditional expense approvals, this could lead to delayed reimbursements. Once an employee has submitted their expense report, it will take some time before it is reviewed and approved. It may also be difficult to maintain efficient communication if further details are needed.

By the time reimbursements are processed, employees may be disgruntled because of the long wait time. 

It’s natural for an organization to have more expenses to make and process the bigger it is. With a traditional expense approval process, however, scaling the business and managing hundreds of expenses will be challenging.

Without a way to manage expense approvals effectively, the business is limited in its ability to scale accordingly and maintain its processes without wasting too much time on them.

Enforcing compliance can be difficult even when a company only has a handful of expenses to make, let alone hundreds of them each month. One of the reasons why using expense approval software is invaluable is that it reduces the risk of non-compliant expenses. These risks include expenses that do not comply with either company policies or governmental regulations.

The problem with loose paperwork is that things can easily get misplaced, which may lead to security concerns. Sensitive information such as the company’s transactions can get into the wrong hands.

This is why many businesses are making the switch to an expense approval system. These have additional security measures and ensure that authorized personnel must first log into the system to access data.

Dealing with errors is a massive time-waster for any organization. However, traditional expense approval processes often end up being riddled with human errors such as missed expenses, duplicates, or typos.

Expenses that are not recorded correctly can also go under the radar, resulting in higher chances of employees misusing company funds or making incorrect expenses whether it is intentional or not.

The more tedious and time-consuming a process is, the more difficult it will be to get employees to perform it effectively. Employees may resist submitting expense reports on time, especially if the reports are hard to fill.

Not to mention issues with expenses that require further review, which means the employees who made those expenses will have to provide more details.

Each expense report typically will come with a receipt attached to it as proof of the expense. When expense reporting is performed manually, however, this means that employees will have to store and organize receipts, which can be a challenging task.

Even after expense reports are submitted, the finance team also needs to stay on top of receipt management at all times.

Expense approvals are not just for expenses made on company funds. When an employee makes a business expense with their own money, the employee can get it reimbursed once the expense has been approved.

Faster approvals made through an expense approval system will mean faster reimbursements, which is beneficial for the finance department and all employees getting reimbursed.

Increase employee satisfaction by using automated expense approval software. Not only are employees happier when expense reimbursements are processed faster, but they will also be more satisfied when they know that the approval process does not have to be tedious.

Eliminate the burdens of manual admin work associated with expense approvals and make it easier for everyone involved to process payment requests.

The last thing any business wants is to spend too much time on a single expense request or report.

Rather than making employees cross multiple desks to get physical signatures on a particular document, they can now easily and quickly route expense requests through its corresponding approval workflow with the help of an automated expense approval system.

With a manual process, sometimes an expense is only recorded days after it has been incurred. When an organization uses an automated expense approval system, however, it can get real-time insights into its expenses.

Improve visibility and accuracy by having expenses logged automatically and their corresponding reports easy to do. Automated alerts also help reviewers ensure they do not miss a single transaction.

Rather than routing every company expense through the same company-wide approval workflow, it’s much more efficient to customize approval workflows depending on the expense type, category, or department.

Many expense approval systems allow businesses to set up specific workflows with multi-level approvals for each department or project. Expense approvals are not only quicker but also more specific and reviewed by the right managers.

Enhanced efficiency is valuable to any organization due to how much time and money it can save. With an expense approval system, businesses can cut down the hassle of manual data entry and speed up the process.

Not to mention that the business is guaranteed a higher level of accuracy due to automated data capture, which will significantly save costs.

While creating detailed and clear policies for company expenses is important, that is only one part of the process. The other half of it is ensuring that employees comply with these policies.

Expense approval software is incredibly valuable for policy compliance, as it helps the management team keep a closer eye on all expenses and promotes better accountability throughout the organization.

One downside to keeping paper documents of expenses that people may not immediately recognize is that it’s easy to misplace those documents. Not to mention the risks of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands.

Using expense approval systems ensures that all this data is locked behind a login username and password while still being centrally available easily and securely.

Most expense approval platforms have the added benefit of having analytic tools. Rather than having to manually go through all expense reports one by one, businesses want to take advantage of features that automatically identify and analyze spending patterns for the most efficient spend managment.

Not only does this improve efficiency when creating and analyzing reports, but it also ensures that all data is accurately considered.

Data silos and miscommunication across different platforms could lead to a drop in accuracy levels. Make sure to avoid data silos and integrate all platforms that the organization is using to ensure that everything is synced up perfectly.

An expense approval system gives businesses the advantage of easily maintaining accuracy across multiple platforms in just a few clicks.

Many expense approval software providers have automated receipt capture features, using tools such as optical character recognition (OCR) technology.

Employees won’t have to file expense reports by manually recording information for each transaction, which can take hours to complete. All they need to do is scan or take a picture of the receipt and capture the data on it in a matter of seconds.

No more worrying about putting together an audit trail when audit season rolls around. When expense reports and receipts are submitted to an automated expense approval system, the organization can rest assured that these documents are stored accordingly in an organized manner.

All this information is available on a single platform and can be easily accessed with search filters to enable better audit trails.

While most expense approval processes have similar core objectives, each business will also have its own needs. Before choosing an expense approval system, make sure to assess what the organization’s needs and goals are.

This helps to identify what the pain points and bottlenecks are, as well as what it is the organization is aiming to solve. The best expense approval software will meet these needs.

Once the business needs and goals have been assessed and noted accordingly, it is easier to determine what features are essential. These features should be able to solve the company’s pain points.

Look through several different expense approval system offerings and take some time to compare and contrast them. The right system for a business will have all its must-have features.

A system could have the most cutting-edge technology and all the best features but still be rendered useless if no one in the organization knows how to operate it.

Given that expense approval systems are typically used company-wide, try to look for a platform that is user-friendly. It should not have a steep learning curve to allow all employees to easily use it.

Customization is key when it comes to preserving existing workflows. Ideally, expense approval software is used to speed up the existing process rather than to create new ones entirely.

The more customization features are available, the easier it will be to set up approval workflows that are appropriate and perfectly in line with the organization. Different expense categories can even have different workflows.

Businesses in the growth stage will want to focus on tools that allow them to scale easily. The best expense approval system providers should not take significantly longer to process a hundred expense requests compared to ten requests.

Before deciding on which system to use, evaluate whether or not the company can easily scale its operations while using the system to streamline expense approvals.

Consider the integrations offered by the system provider when choosing an expense approval platform. If a business is already using a particular accounting system, it’s wise to get expense approval software that can easily integrate with that system.

When the choice is between two providers with nearly identical features, businesses may also want to prioritize choosing a software provider that makes integrations seamless.

Budgeting is key to any company’s financial management process. Not only will an organization need to determine how much it is willing to spend on an expense approval system, but it also needs to budget for its expenses.

Make sure to define what the company’s budget is before deciding on which system to use and input those numbers into the system to control business expenses.

Make sure that the expense approval software provider complies with all legal regulations. Any non-compliant provider should not be in the running. Being licensed or having licensed partners are typically good signs of compliance and adherence.

Ideally, most businesses will also want built-in compliance features in the system. These features are helpful in ensuring things such as tax compliance.

Picking an expense approval system is not a task for just one person. Key decision-makers, such as finance managers and executives, should be involved in the process.

It’s also a good idea to have multiple perspectives before deciding on which system to use. The needs of different teams and departments should all be considered and weighed during this process.

The best expense approval software providers will have a solid customer support team that businesses can rely on. When researching different providers, try to look for reviews on how reliable and efficient their support teams are.

It’s also a good idea to check if the provider of choice offers training or not. It’s much easier for businesses to train their teams with additional training from the provider.

The implementation stage is as important as the research stage. Consider choosing an expense approval system that will aid businesses in implementing the software, as this will save time.

Before committing, it’s also important to thoroughly look at the pros and cons of each software provider. Go back to the list of essential features and make sure to choose the software best suited for the business.

Expense approval systems are only as effective as the policies guiding them. Before even implementing automated expense approval software, make sure that the organization has clear and thought-out policies regarding business expenses.

These guidelines also need to be communicated well. Employees should know which types of expenses are allowed, what the limits are, and what the approval workflows look like.

While the goal of an expense approval system is to make the process as simple as possible, this is not possible if employees are not comfortable with using the system.

Host introductory training sessions to ensure that employees are familiar with all the features that they will be using. As system updates happen, make sure to continuously touch base and conduct training as needed.

Most of the best expense approval software providers offer third-party integration capabilities, namely with popular accounting systems. Take advantage of this benefit and make sure to set up these integrations.

Some platforms make it easy to directly sync approved expenses, eliminating the need to perform manual data entry through the company’s accounting software. This saves time, increases efficiency, and improves accuracy. 

Consistency is key when it comes to achieving smooth expense approval processes. Standardize approval workflows and route expenses through the correct workflow. Seeing the process continuously happen through this standardized format also helps eliminate confusion.

Frequent inconsistencies will lead employees to become confused, which can significantly slow down the process and create disarray. Any changes should always be communicated accordingly.

No process is perfect upon implementation. To keep on improving the approval process and increase the efficiency of the expense approval system they use, businesses need to conduct regular reviews and periodic audits.

Schedule monthly, quarterly, or annual reviews and audits. These will help to identify any bottlenecks and can be used to inform decision-making to improve the process.

Don’t overlook the analytics features on an expense approval platform. Check them regularly and consistently monitor the organization’s expenses.

These features allow businesses to get real-time updates on how their money is being used and what the current spending patterns look like.

If there are any changes that need to be implemented to ensure that money is spent more responsibly, businesses can make those data-driven decisions quickly.

Be open to feedback from employees. In fact, businesses should encourage and actively seek out feedback, especially from employees who are regular users of the system.

This provides the company with a better perspective on how effective the expense approval software is. If multiple employees are struggling with the system, for example, some changes may be required to tackle the issue on hand.

Expense approval systems are great tools for enforcing compliance, but it’s also necessary for organizations using them to foster a culture of compliance outside of the tools they use.

Make sure that employees are aware of all company policies regarding expenses. Getting everyone on the same page helps to ensure that there is no misinformation about what compliance looks like.