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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.
Working capital is crucial for ecommerce businesses—it helps pay rent, staff, bills, and a whole host of other overheads. In fact, 82% of small businesses fail due to mismanagement of cash. But for many ecommerce enterprises, knowing when and how to raise capital is one of the biggest challenges they face. Fluctuating energy prices, global pandemics, interest rates, and general market volatility make the 2020s a difficult decade to make financial decisions. What businesses need is an overview of the options available to them. In this blog, we’ll explore the pros and cons of how ecommerce businesses can raise working capital and how viable they are in an unpredictable economic climate.
Private equity is a model of financing where a firm or fund uses money raised from investors to buy an equity stake in a private company. Once the company has grown in value, the firm sells its stake at a profit and repays investors.
Private equity funding is susceptible to market volatility in various ways. First, private equity firms tend only to invest in profitable or near-profitable companies, usually for a majority stake. Businesses need to be able to present a detailed plan describing past performance, projected growth, and a viable exit strategy to secure funding. Planning for the future can be challenging in periods of economic turmoil.
Economic downturns can make PE investment more available to ecommerce companies. PE firms tend to play a long game and won’t be put off by a temporary dip in the market. In fact, PE firms expect businesses to wait longer before going public during a slump, creating an opportunity for more stable investments. Firms also tend to see downturns as an opportunity to buy stakes in companies for less, meaning there’s a greater chance for ecommerce companies to secure investment for working capital, but with less negotiating power to ask for large amounts.
Interest rates are another factor when it comes to private equity. When rates are low, many investors looking for significant returns will look away from fixed income and credit securities. If PE firms can then secure investment capital at low rates, they have plenty of choice of where to spend it and can enjoy a healthy internal rate of return (IRR) and eventual return on their investment. That’s all good news for an ecommerce business looking for working capital funding. But when interest rates rise—as they currently are—this has the opposite effect. Investors run back to fixed income and credit securities, fundraising becomes more difficult for PE firms, and asset valuations drop as initial public offerings become less appealing. That puts a spanner in the works for PE firms looking for a clean exit and makes it harder for businesses looking for funding.
Venture Capital is technically a form of private equity, only focussed on promising startups and young businesses rather than more established companies.
Economic downturns have a significant effect on VC firms. Since they’re generally hunting for the next unicorn, market-susceptible companies trading in consumables rather than tech products or CPGs are unlikely to seem like a good bet in times of uncertainty. To secure funding, businesses will have to provide a detailed assessment of how macro factors like energy costs, interest rates, and inflation could affect them. Firms will also be concerned with efficiency. Any business looking for funding should be prepared to demonstrate strong sales efficiency, solid unit economics, and plans to grow capital efficiently.
Interest rates also impact strongly on venture capital fundraising. In 2017, a 1% increase in rates reduced the ability of VC funds to attract investor capital by 3.2%. For context, that means a 1% hike in 2021 would have wiped out $10.5 billion from the total raised by VC firms in that year. That’s $10.5 billion that wouldn’t be available to ecommerce businesses seeking funding.
Crowdfunding is the raising of capital from a large number of micro-investors. It generates $17.2 billion in North America each year, so crowdfunding can be a great option for companies with an established social community. Ecommerce enterprises can build communities through social media, live events, newsletters, and outreach. For more tips on how to use community, take a look at our community building whitepaper.
Economic downturns are especially detrimental to the crowdfunding space. Investors have less disposable income, so they’re more likely to tighten their belts. When VC finance is more scarce during a downturn, there’s also likely to be more competition for crowdsourced funding, making it harder for ecommerce companies to secure the working capital they need.
For businesses that decide to take the crowdfunding route, the best approach is to reach out for advice from people who have done it before, build a strong, diverse network of potential investors, and employ a good marketing strategy to bring maximum visibility to your campaign. With a loyal base of consumers, businesses may even be able to secure funding during a downturn, emphasising the need to build communities around your brand.
Loans, credit cards, and overdrafts are longstanding methods of securing business funding. They have the benefit of being backed by established financial institutions but are, therefore, highly susceptible to changing interest rates.
Recessions have a substantial impact on approval rates.During the 2008 recession, rejections for overdrafts and business loans rose by over 50% and 160%, respectively. As banks predict an increased risk of borrowers defaulting, they’re less inclined to lend—especially to young businesses without a strong credit history or proof of revenue. Companies can always expect a bank to perform a thorough review before giving them money, but checks will only become more stringent in difficult economic times.
Interest rates are a central concern when looking for funding from banks. Taking a fixed-rate loan when rates are high could lock a business into paying more than it can afford once rates come back down. While opting for a variable rate can leave borrowers exposed to crushingly high rates as central banks increase interest to fight recessions. What might seem a good deal at the time can turn out to be massively damaging to a company’s working capital. Before taking a loan, ecommerce businesses should always take advice on current interest rate trends and forecasts.
Venture debt is a short-term financing solution where early stage companies take loans from bank and non-bank lenders—typically between equity funding rounds—and repay them with the proceeds of the next round.
Market volatility can make venture debt a risky prospect. Because this form of funding is used primarily by early stage businesses, it presents a higher risk to lenders. That means it’s more expensive and can come with covenants and obligations that increase the risk of default—if a borrower isn’t able to keep their promises due to unforeseen circumstances, they’re liable to lose a slice of control in their company. If business is booming and a company’s growing fast, venture debt can be a great option. It leverages equity and provides flexible working capital against operational glitches and unforeseen overheads.
Economic downturns don’t totally preclude venture debt as an option for ecommerce businesses, but as with other forms of finance, it’s always worth having a solid short-term plan to see companies through to the next funding round.
Revenue-based financing is subject to a different regulatory regime than traditional debt financing. It allows borrowers to repay a loan as an agreed percentage of gross monthly profits instead of at a fixed rate.
Economic downturns have a much smaller impact on revenue-based borrowers because their repayments adjust in line with their profits. Unless a business loses money, they aren’t at risk of missing payments.
Severe economic downturns can significantly impact the revenue-based financing ecosystem as a whole. While borrowers are protected in the short term, as lenders take the hit from smaller repayments and can’t recover collateral if clients default, they’ll be much less likely to lend again once terms end.
Ecommerce SMEs will always need funding to help meet their working capital needs, and during periods of market volatility, their requirements are only likely to increase. While taking a loan of any kind always presents a risk, the best strategy is always to have a solid plan in place—both to present to lenders and to keep up with repayments.
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