Best expense management software in 2023 in Singapore
There are many elements of an expense management tool that make it worth considering for a business.
Many of the best expense tracking software for small businesses will be the ones that are affordable but at the same time provide a host of features and seamless control to enable a company to manage its budgets efficiently.
Expense management software is a digital solution designed to help businesses track, manage, and analyze their expenses. It automates various aspects of expense tracking, including capturing receipts, categorizing expenses, generating reports, and integrating with accounting systems.
By utilizing expense management software, businesses can eliminate manual processes, reduce errors, and gain valuable insights into their spending patterns. It is also known as expense report software as it will help you use your company’s expense data and create insightful reports about your business spending.
The traditional approach involves maintaining physical receipts, invoices, and documents manually. Employees would store all their business expense receipts till the end of the month and then create a comprehensive expense report of all the expenses they’ve incurred throughout the month with the receipts to verify them.
Once created, the employee submits them to the finance department for verification and processing. This also takes a lot of time as a team of just a few individuals might have to process reimbursements for several employees. This method is time-consuming, prone to errors, and lacks real-time visibility.
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Many businesses use spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to track expenses. While spreadsheets offer some flexibility and customization options, they can be challenging to manage, lack automation, and may lead to data inconsistencies.
Even with a system like a spreadsheet, the expense data and reporting are not automatic. Employees or managers still have to enter the data manually.
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Expense management software provides a comprehensive and automated solution to track expenses.
These software platforms offer features such as receipt scanning, expense categorization, policy enforcement, and reporting capabilities, making them an ideal choice for businesses seeking efficiency and accuracy in expense management.
Some of the best expense management software for small businesses are the ones that can be accessed online through a web app or mobile app.
This is a type of platform enables companies to track, manage, and control budget allocation for all employees.
The software application essentially acts as a centralized system for employees to make payments and for the finance and accounting team to carry out necessary financial and accounting tasks.
Key features
Volopay provides real-time tracking of expenses, enabling users to monitor spending as it happens. You can issue both physical and virtual cards to employees, automate expense reporting, reduce manual work and its potential errors, and also seamlessly integrate with popular accounting software to make reconciliation hassle-free.
Pros
Volopay has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for employees to submit expenses and for administrators to manage them. With multi-currency support, it is suitable for businesses with international operations. The software allows businesses to set spending limits and ensures compliance with company policies.
Cons
Some users may find the software's customization options lacking compared to other solutions. The mobile app may lack some features available on the desktop version as the app is mostly for monitoring, tracking, and basic control functions.
Pricing
Volopay does not charge any SaaS fee to start using the platform. The cost to issue a physical corporate card is $5/card. If you want to make domestic or international wire transfers through the platform, charges will be applicable as per the payment method used.
G2 Rating
Volopay has an overall rating of 4.2 stars out of 5 on G2.
Key features
Netsuite provides you with a complete suite of tools for expense management. The software offers powerful reporting and analytics features as well as an ERP system. Netsuite seamlessly integrates expense data with other financial processes. It also allows businesses to define expense policies and ensure adherence to these guidelines.
Pros
The platform is suitable for both small businesses and large enterprises, as it can adapt to the evolving needs of a growing company. The system is also ideal for multinational companies, as it supports multi-currency and compliance with various tax regulations.
Cons
The Vast amount of features and functionalities might be overwhelming for some users, requiring more time for training. Netsuite's pricing may be on the higher side for small businesses with limited budgets.
Pricing
The pricing for using the Netsuite system is done on an annual basis and the exact amount is decided on a case-by-case basis.
G2 Rating
Netsuite has an overall rating of 4.0 stars out of 5 on G2.
Key features
Expense Point allows users to capture receipts and automatically extract relevant expense information. The software streamlines the approval process and businesses can set spending policies to receive alerts for any violations. It also seamlessly integrates with various accounting systems, reducing data duplication.
Pros
The platform is simple and quick to deploy without extensive IT assistance. The receipt scanning feature reduces manual data entry and increases accuracy. Expense Point offers a good balance of features at an affordable price point.
Cons
Some advanced functionalities available in other software may be missing in Expense Point. Users have also reported occasional issues with the mobile app's performance and stability.
Pricing
The platform offers affordable pricing of $8.50/month to use its expense management platform.
G2 Rating
Expense Point has an overall rating of 4.8 stars out of 5 on G2.
Key features
Concur integrates travel booking and expense management, offering a seamless experience for business travelers. The software simplifies receipt capture and categorization for easier expense tracking and automatically enforces expense policies to ensure compliance. Their in-depth analytics and reporting help businesses gain insights into spending patterns.
Pros
Concur integrates with many third-party applications, such as CRM and ERP systems. Their mobile app allows employees to submit expenses on the go, increasing efficiency.
Cons
Concur's pricing is a bit higher for small businesses or startups with limited budgets. The platform's comprehensive features may require some time to fully explore and understand.
Pricing
Concur charges its customers based on customized proposals and they do not seem to have a fixed pricing plan.
G2 Rating
Concur has an overall rating of 4.0 stars out of 5 on G2.
Key features
Aspire provides instant virtual cards for easy expense tracking and control. The platform categorizes expenses automatically, saving time on manual entry. Users receive real-time notifications for transactions and approvals and the platform also streamlines the expense approval process, reducing delays.
Pros
Aspire's focus on SMEs and startups makes it an attractive option for smaller businesses. The brand offers transparent pricing plans. Aspire's simple and intuitive interface makes it accessible for users with limited technical knowledge.
Cons
As the business grows, some users may outgrow the capabilities of Aspire. Compared to larger enterprise-level solutions, Aspire might lack some advanced features.
Pricing
The pricing plan for Aspire’s spend management software depends on the number of users and starts at a minimum of $99/month for 10 employees.
G2 Rating
Aspire has an overall rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 on G2.
Out of all the expense management software for small businesses that exist in the market, you should look for the one that provides the most value in terms of the overall management of budgets.
Listed below are a few must-have features for an expense management system.
When employees make expenses using the financial tools provided by the expense management software, they should be recorded instantly.
This will give you complete visibility over how allocated budgets are being spent by each employee as well as other teams.
Probably the most important element of an expense management tool is the ability of finance and accounting executives to enforce budget controls on how money is spent.
The software should let you set spending limits on financial tools like corporate cards and also set up approval systems to ensure that payments are not made without verification.
The spend management tool that you choose should let you set up approval workflows that are automated.
This means that it allows you to create custom approval systems that are triggered whenever an employee is trying to make a payment.
Many companies like to stick to their methods of having employees spend through their personal funds and then make reimbursement claims.
For such organizations, it is important that there is a reimbursement module within the expense management tool that lets employees instantly submit expense claims.
Related read: How to design employee expense reimbursement policy?
For companies that want to move away from the hassle of reimbursements, expense management software providers often have a corporate card program for their users.
This lets the business issue corporate cards for employees that they can directly spend from using the company budget.
There’s no point in tracking all the expense data if you can’t measure it. The spend management software you select should give you detailed analytics on the spending behavior of your employees.
This data helps derive important insights about budget utilization within the company and take necessary financial decisions.
Once you have all the expense data on a central dashboard, you should be able to sync and export all the data easily into your existing accounting software.
This is another feature that the expense management tool you choose should have.
The errors that companies face in manual entry or the time that it takes to create expense reports and process them can be avoided using modern expense management software.
Expense management software eliminates manual data entry and automates repetitive tasks, saving time and reducing human error. Employees can focus on value-added activities rather than administrative burdens.
By automating expense tracking, the software ensures consistent and accurate reporting. It eliminates calculation errors, and duplicate entries, and enables businesses to maintain compliance with tax regulations.
Without a system to keep expenses in check, there might be too many errors that may go unnoticed and cause a lot of damage in the form of inaccurate accounting of expenses.
Navigate the complexities of expense management with our comprehensive article on ensuring expense report compliance. Uncover proven strategies and best practices to maintain accuracy, adhere to policies, and avoid costly pitfalls.
Without a centralized platform like an expense management tool, it is impossible to keep track of all expenses being made by employees in real-time.
Expense management software provides real-time insights into spending patterns. Businesses can monitor expenses, set budget limits, and identify cost-saving opportunities.
Suggested read: 7 Effective ways to reduce business expenses
Leading expense management software seamlessly integrates with accounting systems, enabling the smooth transfer of data. This integration streamlines financial processes, reduces duplication, and enhances overall financial visibility. This is a major benefit for the business as it reduces the manual work of rentering all the expense data into another platform.
With automated expense management, businesses can maintain organized and easily auditable expense records. The software generates detailed reports, stores receipts digitally, and ensures compliance with audit requirements.
The auditor will also be able to benefit from this organized and structured system as they will be able to carry out their tasks faster and complete the audit on time.
You cannot stop fraud from happening if you are not aware that it is happening within your organization. Expense management software incorporates robust controls and policy enforcement mechanisms, reducing the risk of fraudulent expenses. It helps identify non-compliant claims and ensures adherence to company policies.
Compliance with expense policies and regulations becomes more manageable with expense management software. It enables businesses to define spending limits, enforce policy rules, and identify potential compliance issues.
As businesses expand, managing expenses becomes more complex. Expense management software scales with the growing needs of the organization, offering flexibility and adaptability to accommodate increased transaction volumes and evolving financial processes.
Implementing an automated expense management platform involves several key steps:
Assess the specific needs of your organization, considering factors such as the volume of transactions, reporting requirements, integration capabilities, and budget constraints.
Conduct thorough research to identify expense management software providers that align with your business requirements. Evaluate factors such as features, user-friendliness, customer support, and pricing models.
Define implementation timelines, allocate necessary resources, and communicate the implementation plan to key stakeholders. Ensure the software aligns with your existing financial systems and workflows.
Customize the software to match your organization's expense policies, approval workflows, and reporting requirements. Set up user roles and permissions, expense categories, and policy rules.
Establish integration between the expense management software and your accounting system to ensure seamless data transfer and eliminate manual data entry.
Thoroughly test the software's functionality and workflows before implementing it company-wide. Provide comprehensive training to employees on how to use the software effectively and adhere to expense policies.
Continuously monitor the performance of the expense management software, gather feedback from users, and identify areas for improvement.
Regularly review expense policies and adapt them as needed to ensure optimal usage and compliance.
Volopay is among the best expense management software for small businesses. Our platform is a complete expense management ecosystem for businesses. You can easily track, manage, and control all expenses in a single dashboard.
We have a web app for all the major functions and a mobile app that allows you quick access to certain features like card controls, reimbursement claims, and approval notifications.
Volopay allows you to issue corporate cards for each employee and also create unlimited virtual cards to handle all your online payments.
Our system has a robust infrastructure to help you transfer money to all your vendors. Whether you want to make a domestic payment or an international transfer, using Volopay, you’ll be able to make fast payments and save money on transfer fees.
The platform allows you to hold money in many different currencies. This makes it seamless to transfer money in different countries and avoid the hefty FX charges.
Volopay natively integrates with some of the industry-leading accounting software including Xero, Netsuite, Quickbooks, Deskera, MYOB, and Tally.
Even if you use a different accounting tool, you will be able to integrate with our system thanks to the Universal CSV feature.
Interesting read: Travel and expense management with Volopay and TruTrip
Volopay lets its users create unlimited virtual cards on the platform at no extra cost. This helps users to set specific cards for each subscription and track all expenses related to it individually. So you can also set spending limits and custom expiry dates to ensure you don’t overspend on a subscription.
An expense report should include all the important details of a transaction that are needed for verification and accounting purposes. This includes the date and time of the transaction, the amount spent, the name of the vendor, and the purpose of making the expense for the accountant to verify whether the expense falls within the company’s expense policy.
Any expense that is made using Volopay’s financial tools like physical or virtual corporate cards and the money transfer feature is immediately recorded in separate ledgers. This ledger can be accessed by the Volopay admin users through their dashboard.
When an employee submits a reimbursement request using Volopay, the respective admins and managers are able to view it instantly. The company can then choose to reimburse the amount instantly if needed.