Expense management

Best travel and expense management software in India

Jun 26, 2023

Business travel plays a vital role in the growth and success of organizations. It allows companies to explore new markets, build client relationships, and attend conferences and meetings.


However, managing travel expenses can be a daunting task for businesses, leading to various challenges. This is where travel expense software applications for organizations come into the picture.


Effective travel and expense management is crucial to ensure cost control, accurate reporting, and streamlined processes. To address these challenges, businesses in India are turning to travel and expense management software, which simplifies the entire process and provides enhanced visibility, efficiency, and control over travel expenses.

What is travel and expense management software?


Travel and expense management software is a specialized solution designed to streamline and automate the process of managing travel expenses for businesses. It combines expense reporting, receipt management, travel booking, and reimbursement functionalities into a single platform. 


This software empowers organizations to capture, track, and manage travel-related expenses efficiently, thereby reducing manual efforts, improving accuracy, and ensuring compliance with expense policies.


Supercharge your travel expense management process with our comprehensive article on travel and expense automation to discover how automation can save you time, reduce errors, and boost productivity. 

Common challenges in managing business travel expenses


Business travel expense management challenges



1. Lack of visibility into expenses


One of the significant challenges faced by businesses is the lack of visibility into travel expenses. Manual processes and disparate systems make it difficult to track and analyze expenses in real-time. This can lead to overspending, inaccuracies, and difficulties in budget planning.


 Travel and expense management software provide comprehensive dashboards and reports that offer a holistic view of travel expenses, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and identify areas for cost optimization.


2. Manual expense reporting and reconciliation


Traditional paper-based expense reporting is time-consuming and error-prone. Employees often struggle with manual data entry, searching for receipts, and reconciling expenses with corporate policies.


Travel and expense management software automate these processes, allowing employees to capture expenses digitally, attach receipts, and automatically categorize expenses. This eliminates the need for manual reconciliation, saves time, and ensures accurate reporting.


3. Receipt management and documentation


Managing and storing paper receipts can be a cumbersome task for businesses. Receipts can get lost, damaged, or misplaced, making it challenging to provide supporting documentation during audits or reimbursement claims.


Travel and expense management software offer features like mobile receipt scanning, OCR (optical character recognition) technology, and cloud storage, enabling employees to capture and store digital receipts securely. This ensures easy access to receipts when needed and simplifies the documentation process.


4. A complex expense approval process


The traditional expense approval process often involves multiple layers of manual review and time-consuming back-and-forth between employees and managers. This can cause delays in reimbursement and create frustration for employees.


Travel and expense management software streamline the approval workflow by automating routing, notifications, and reminders. Managers can review and approve expenses digitally, reducing processing time and ensuring timely reimbursements.


5. Expense fraud


Expense fraud is a significant concern for businesses, leading to financial losses and unethical practices. Manual expense management processes are susceptible to fraudulent activities, such as submitting false receipts or inflated expenses.


Travel and expense management software mitigate this risk by implementing robust expense policies, automated expense validation, and advanced fraud detection algorithms. This helps organizations identify suspicious patterns, enforce compliance, and minimize fraudulent activities.


6. Difficulty accessing funds


When employees are on business trips, they often face challenges related to accessing funds for travel expenses. Delayed reimbursements or limited access to corporate credit cards can impact their ability to make necessary payments promptly.


Travel and expense management software address this issue by integrating with corporate banking systems, allowing employees to request and receive funds in a timely manner. This ensures smooth cash flow during business trips and enhances employee satisfaction.


7. Lack of freedom in choosing travel options


In traditional expense management approaches, employees may have limited freedom in choosing travel options, such as flights, accommodation, or transportation. This can result in higher costs, inconvenience, and dissatisfaction among employees.


Travel and expense management software provide integrated travel booking capabilities, enabling employees to compare prices, choose preferred options, and make bookings within travel policy guidelines. This enhances flexibility, improves employee experience, and reduces travel expenses.



Unlock the secrets to overcoming expense management challenges. Read our insightful article on expense management challenges and see how you can eliminate all the challenges and streamline your travel expense management process for greater efficiency and cost control.

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7 Best travel expense management software


Best travel expense management software

1. Volopay


Fees & pricing


Volopay’s all-in-one subscription plan that includes AP automation, as well as our corporate cards. You can get in touch with our team to know our pricing plan.


G2 rating


On the G2 platform, Volopay has an average rating of 4.3 out of 5.


Key features


You can issue physical and virtual corporate cards for your employees. This helps them manage their travel expenses without the need to make reimbursements. Real-time expense tracking and custom spending controls ensure that there is no overspending.  


Pros & cons


Finance teams get to control cards by setting custom spending limits on each card through the web app or the mobile app. Volopay may not be a full-fledged travel management portal, but it has an integration with TruTrip to make travel bookings and arrangements simple for employees and the admins to approve them.


2. SAP Concur


Fees & pricing


SAP Concur offers flexible pricing options tailored to the specific needs of businesses. Pricing details can be obtained through their website or by contacting their sales team.


G2 rating


On the G2 platform, SAP Concur has an average rating of 4 out of 5. 


Key features


SAP Concur provides end-to-end travel and expense management solutions, including travel booking, expense reporting, receipt scanning, policy compliance, approval workflows, and travel reimbursement processes. It integrates with various systems and offers robust reporting and analytics capabilities.


Pros & cons


SAP Concur offers a user-friendly interface, seamless integration with popular ERP systems, and a mobile app for on-the-go expense management. It provides enhanced visibility, and policy enforcement, and streamlines the entire expense management process.



Some users find the system complex to configure and require additional training for optimal utilization. Certain advanced features may come at an additional cost.


3. Expensify


Fees & pricing


Expensify offers pricing plans based on the number of users and the specific needs of the organization such as whether you want to make collecting financial information easy or also enforce financial controls. 


G2 rating


Expensify has an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 on the G2 platform. 


Key features


Expensify simplifies expense management through features like receipt scanning, automated expense categorization, mileage tracking, real-time expense reporting, and policy enforcement. It integrates with accounting software and offers features for corporate card management and reimbursement.


Pros & cons


Expensify offers a simple and intuitive user interface, a robust mobile app, and seamless integrations with popular accounting systems. Its SmartScan feature for receipt scanning is highly efficient, saving time and effort.



The pricing plan can be complex and a little misleading for businesses. Some users have reported occasional synchronization issues with accounting software, and certain advanced features may require additional configuration or setup.



4. Zoho expenses


Fees & pricing


Zoho Expenses offers different pricing plans based on the number of users(minimum 3 users required for most of their subscription plans) and features required. Pricing details can be found on their website.


G2 rating


Zoho expense has an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars on G2. 


Key features


Zoho Expenses provides features for receipt scanning, expense tracking, policy compliance, approval workflows, and reimbursement management. It integrates with Zoho's suite of applications and offers comprehensive reporting and analytics.


Pros & cons


Zoho Expenses offers a user-friendly interface, cost-effectiveness, and seamless integration with other Zoho products. It provides customizable expense policies and supports multiple currencies and languages.



Some users have mentioned limitations in customization options, and the reporting functionality may not be as advanced compared to other solutions.



5. TravelPerk


Fees & pricing


TravelPerk offers customized pricing based on the specific needs of businesses. You can visit their website to see the complete pricing details or contact their sales team.


G2 rating


TravelPerk has an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on G2.


Key features


TravelPerk combines travel booking capabilities with expense management features, offering a unified platform for managing travel and expenses. It provides options for flight, hotel, and transportation bookings, expense tracking, policy enforcement, and integrations with accounting systems.


Pros & cons


TravelPerk offers a user-friendly travel booking interface, flexibility in choosing travel options, and seamless integration with popular accounting systems.



Some users have reported occasional glitches in the booking process.


6. Fyle


Fees & pricing


Fyle offers pricing plans based on the number of users and features required. Detailed pricing information can be obtained through their website.


G2 rating


Fyle has an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on G2.


Key features


Fyle provides features for receipt scanning, automated expense categorization, policy compliance, approval workflows, and reimbursement management. It integrates with accounting software and offers advanced analytics for expense data.


Pros & cons


Fyle offers a user-friendly interface, efficient receipt scanning capabilities, and seamless integration with popular accounting systems. 




Some users have reported occasional delays in receipt processing, and certain advanced features may require additional configuration or setup. The per-user pricing structure can also be expensive for businesses.


7. Finly


Fees & pricing


Finly offers customized pricing plans based on the organization's requirements. Pricing details must be obtained by contacting their sales team.


G2 rating


Finly has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars on G2. 


Key features


Finly provides features for expense management, budgeting, approval workflows, reimbursement processes, and policy compliance. It offers integrations with accounting systems and supports multi-level approval hierarchies.


Pros & cons


Finly offers a user-friendly interface, automation of manual processes, and seamless integration with popular accounting systems.


 

Some users have mentioned limitations in customization options, and certain advanced features may require additional configuration or setup.

Why is Volopay the best expense management software


Why is Volopay the best expense management software?



Volopay is a comprehensive travel and expense management software that allows businesses to manage all their expenses through modern tools like corporate cards and a robust system filled with automation capabilities to streamline travel expense management. 


Book travel and accommodation through our integration with the TruTrip platform.

Make offline travel expenses with corporate travel cards.

Easily sync all expense data to your accounting software with native integrations

Easily submit receipts, track expenses, and manage controls through our mobile app

Streamline your corporate travel process

Stay compliant to effective travel policies with the help of Volopay
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FAQs on travel and expense management software