The 10 Best Apps to Track & Submit Business Expenses

2023-11-08

Business expense management is extremely important to keep up-to-date but also very time-consuming. Accountants used to deal with ledger books and bulky accounting software, but luckily, times have changed. Today, there is an entire industry dedicated to creating robust, dynamic business apps and tools for all aspects of daily operations — including tracking and submitting expenses.

No two software are the same. They each have different features and meet different needs. If you have members of your team who travel and have many expenses, you will need something more robust than a company with three members who take clients out on an occasional lunch. Solutions come in all shapes and sizes — offering expense report solutions for everyone from the solo business owner to large enterprise organizations. Your first task will be to narrow down your search based on the size of your business. You don’t need a dynamic, multi-faceted app designed for extensive expense reporting and tracking if you’re a one-person operation, after all. Just some simple features will do. On the other hand, if you manage large departments or teams, you’ll need something a bit more robust. 

Apps can do a lot more than people realize. The apps available today go above and beyond the “average”, even with the basic features and plans offered. As a business, you’ll want to find mobile apps that integrate with your desktop software, so be sure to consider that above all else. Along with that, you’ll also want to consider the features that are offered, how much the apps cost, what kind of support is available, and how the app will grow with you over time. After all, you don’t want to have to change apps every time that your business grows.

Features to consider

There are several different features you’ll want to look for in your expense reporting and tracking apps, including some that may be more valuable to your specific business than others. As a general rule of thumb, most people should look for things like:

  • AI and automated features
  • Receipt scanning
  • Expense categorization and organization
  • Simple approvals
  • Custom rules and reporting options

There’s a lot that modern expense tracking apps can offer, including the chance to create a totally custom, scalable solution for your business. Keep these things in mind as you peruse the list below to help you choose the best apps for your needs. Here are 10 apps worth considering.

The top 10 apps for tracking and submitting expenses

1. Rydoo 

Rydoo streamlines reimbursement cycles, automates expense flows, and boosts team productivity. They have their own smart corporate credit card, which makes it easy to submit and approve expenses. You can snap pictures of receipts as you get them right in their mobile app and their AI extracts the key receipt data and automatically turns it into an expense. It is designed to work seamlessly with tools like NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, and others. You can create custom per diems, too.  

With Rydoo Expense, you’ll get access to built-in local compliance features and automated approvals for expenses, based on the rules you create. This tool also integrates with Expensify, Concur, and others so that you can migrate easily when you decide you want a better solution.

Key features include:

  • Starting price: $8.50 per month
  • Mobile app with receipt scanner
  • Unlimited expenses
  • Local legal & tax compliance
  • PDF/Excel exports 

2. Zoho Expense

Zoho Expense simplifies travel booking, makes expense reporting faster, and offers more effective cost control — all in one system. Their platform ensures convenient flight bookings, fare lock-ins, streamlined visa requests, and timely flight alerts, all aligned with your company's policies. They also automate the expense process from receipts to reimbursement, eliminating manual errors and saving you countless hours. You can set up budgets for your employees, enforce policies, and configure purchase approvals. Plus, Zoho Expense's AI-driven fraud detection engine helps you audit your business expenses better and gets you ready for tax season. 

You can also integrate Zoho Expense with your existing software and tools, as well as with the entire suite of Zoho products. It offers automatic importing of transactions, enhanced reporting and analytics, and more. If you want premium features, you can pay for access, but it’s free for up to three users to start.

Key features include:

  • Starting price: Free (up to 3 users)
  • 5 GB receipt storage
  • Mileage expenses
  • Customer/project tracking
  • Accounting integration
  • Email support

3. Intuit QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a big name in bookkeeping and expense management. This platform was among the first in the world of accounting tools and technology and is a leader in the industry with its mobile solutions. Not only can you get paid and do payroll via QuickBooks, but you can also get profit reports, track and manage your team’s time, and receive live bookkeeping services. 

QuickBooks offers a robust mobile app and it connects with your current apps to keep your business running smoothly. They have multiple plans to choose from and have a 30-day free trial to check them out.  

Key features:

  • Starting price: $15.00 per month
  • Import transactions and organize finances
  • Accept credit cards and bank transfers
  • Run profit and expense reports
  • Mileage tracking
  • Assign vendor payments to 1099 categories

4. Shoeboxed

Shoeboxed is built for small business owners, accountants, freelancers, and bookkeepers. It helps you turn your receipts into data with automatic data extraction for expense reporting, tax prep, and much more. Through Shoeboxed, you can get a comprehensive expense report that includes images of all your expenses. From there, you can export, share, or print data for tax deductions or reimbursement. 

The best part about Shoeboxed is that you can mail your receipts directly to them and they will extract the data, with verification experts double-checking the info, then add the data to your cloud-based dashboard for you to get your reporting done. This is great for anyone sitting on a “shoebox” full of receipts. 

Key features include:

  • Starting price: $18 per month
  • 600 digital documents per year
  • 300 physical documents per month
  • Unlimited file storage
  • Unlimited users

5. SAP Concur  

SAP Concur helps you automate your spending process so your business can run efficiently. You can submit expenses from anywhere, capture travel no matter where it is booked, and automate and integrate your AP process. The TripLink feature makes it easy to see what employees are spending on travel, even when they book on their own. They even break down their products by expense, travel, invoice, data, support, and integrations so it is easy to see how they can help you in all those categories.  

SAP Concur is a higher-end solution than most on this list, but it offers impressive features and customization solutions that can fit the needs of any size business. You can simplify budgeting, expense reporting, and even reimbursement. It also categorizes spending automatically, saving you the trouble.

Key features include:

  • Starting price: Custom quote
  • Automatic spend capture
  • Receipt scanning for easy tracking
  • Custom reporting
  • Itinerary management

6. Everlance

Everlance is made specifically for travel expense management. They offer intelligent drive technology which detects when you start driving and automatically tracks your trip. Just classify your mileage and expenses with a single swipe for work or personal use, and then you can download your mileage reports. It’s as simple as that. 

You can also sync with your credit cards and bank accounts, track purchases, set custom rules for transactions and approvals, and more. Everlance makes it easy to manage receipts and track revenue from more than one source through its diverse app.

Key features include:

  • Starting price: Free
  • Manual mileage tracker
  • Expense management
  • Reporting and approval flows

7. Expensify

Expensify is a platform that helps you manage your company's spending — from receipt scanning and expense management to paying bills and booking travel. Expensify helps businesses succeed every step of the way and provides valuable insight into spending patterns. 

Expensify directly connects to accounting, HR, payroll, and travel software, giving companies real-time visibility and control over their business spend. You can sync credit cards or use the Expensify Business Credit Card to keep everything streamlined. You can also track travel and mileage, get notifications, and more.

Key features include:

  • Starting price: Free basic/individual plan
  • Reimburse cash expenses
  • SmartScan receipt tracking
  • Send invoices
  • Pay bills

8. Wave

Wave allows you to create invoices, accept online payments, and make accounting easy — all in one place. You receive a user-friendly dashboard, a complete picture of your business health, and access to their team of in-house bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll coaches.

You will have to pay for payroll services and the payment processing, but that’s only if needed. You can integrate the platform with your existing tools and scan receipts for easy organization and management. Mobile access ensures that you can manage your expenses from anywhere.

Key features include:

  • Starting price: Free (pay for add-on services)
  • Receipt scanning feature
  • Expense and income tracking
  • Custom reporting available
  • Fee-based payment processing

9. Ramp

Ramp has easy-to-use cards, spending limits, approval flows, and vendor payments to help control your spending on a single platform. They automate your expenses, accounting, and compliance so you can stay focused on the big picture. Ramp also offers multiple integrations so you can make sure you sync with any other programs you use. 

They have solutions for any size business, from startup to enterprise, and even operate globally, so no matter where you are, you can use Ramp. You can also check out their great help center or their live training (if that is more your style). 

Key features include:

  • Starting price: Free 
  • Unlimited virtual cards
  • Travel & expense policy enforcement
  • Automatic vendor tracking, contract extraction, and price intelligence
  • Fee-based payment processing
  • Real-time spend reporting with automated savings insights and perks

10. Odoo

Odoo is an easy way to manage your employees’ expenses. Whether it's travel expenses, office supplies, or any other employee expenditure, you can access all receipts and expense submissions from your Odoo Expenses dashboard and create, validate, or refuse them in just a click. All you need to do is upload all receipts directly into the expense record and you are good to go. You can even manage an entire team’s expenses all in one place. 

They fully integrate with other Odoo apps, like Project, Invoicing, and Fleet, which helps you manage all aspects of your business in one place. And your first app is free through Odoo. 

Key features include:

  • Starting price: Free (for the first app)
  • Reinvoice your expenses
  • Compare expenses and receipts
  • Add attachments and comments
  • Submit to Managers

While you’re streamlining, why not partner with Smith.ai to streamline communications, admin, and more?

At Smith.ai, we know the value of time management, and more importantly, using your resources wisely. That’s why we’re designed to help you operate more efficiently. Our dedicated team of virtual receptionists can take the communications and admin tasks off your hands by fielding phone calls, chats, SMS messages, and much more.

Too busy to handle leads and other admin duties? We can take care of those as well, offering solutions that include payment collection, scheduling, amd intake and qualification.

Schedule a consultation to learn what the 24/7 virtual receptionists at Smith.ai can do to improve your operations and customer engagement. 


Tags:
Business Education
Written by Mike Graner

Mike Graner is the Marketing Manager at Smith.ai. He focuses on engaging content, company updates, and in-person events.

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