Accounting & Finance

7 Top-Rated Accounting Software for Expense Tracking

Dec 7, 2023

Manage your business’s financial records, track expenses, and streamline accounting processes.

AvatarImg
Saumya SrivastavaWriter
7 Top-Rated Accounting Software for Expense Tracking

Managing business expenses without the right tool is similar to navigating a city without a map. When continued, accounting and finance managers find themselves lost in huge piles of receipts and spreadsheets. However, investing in expense report accounting software can speed up the process with reduced errors using automation, helping you find the smoothest route to your small business’s financial efficiency.

There’s a vast variety of expense report accounting tools in the market, which can make your software search slow and daunting. But fear not, the article highlights seven top-rated accounting software for expense reporting listed alphabetically based on verified user reviews. Read more about our methodology at the bottom of this article.

The tools listed in the article are dedicated accounting solutions with capabilities to track expenses related to business expenditure, inventory management, or employee hours and expense reimbursement.

GA_01242024_TopRatedAccountingforExpenseTracking-comparisontable

1. Bill4Time

Business expense reporting using Bill4Time is managed by directly uploading the images of receipts from your desktop or mobile devices. The tool’s image syncing feature adds the captured data (expense, amount, date, category, and other additional data) to the accounting books with all company expenses. You can also manually enter expenses into the system, add additional notes, and attach receipts as images or PDF files. Entered expenses can be filed into categories, including travel, meals, inventory, and office supplies to organize and analyze spending during audits.

Product features of interest*:

  • Mobile snapshots: Take a picture of your receipts using the Bill4Time mobile application for Android or iOS devices. The feature allows taking a single or multiple pictures at a time for uploading. 

  • Cost markups: Charge your clients by applying a flat percentage markup to set your selling price, whenever required. The feature allows you to track expenses internally or share them with your clients. 

  • Custom expense types: Add unique expense types to the tool’s UTBMS (Uniform Task-Based Management System) directory. These can be any new expense types that were not found in the existing list. 

Customer support options: Knowledge base, blog, call, email, FAQs, and chat

Starting price: $27 per user per month

Billing cycle: Annual

Who should consider Bill4Time?

Capturing receipt images and uploading them into the system is worth considering for finance and accounting managers looking to simplify on-the-go expense tracking and management. Just carry your smartphone or tablet instead of a pile of paper-based receipts to take back to the office when billing clients on the field.

*Analysis performed November 2023

2. BQE Core Suite

BQE Core Suite offers automated employee time and expense capturing using pre-populated timesheets on the desktop and Android or iOS mobile devices. By turning on the location setting in your BQE mobile application, the tool automatically records all employees’ travel expenses, including route information, mileage, travel time, and fuel costs. This expense reporting software uses artificial intelligence (AI) to link trips to appropriate projects and convert them into a company expense billed to the client. 

Product features of interest*: 

  • Automated overtime calculator: Set up overtime rules based on applicable labor laws or company policies, including overtime kicks (for example, after 40 hours in a worksheet) and the compensation rate.

  • Time and expense report template: Utilize predefined time and travel expense report templates for entering and tracking employee hours and expenses. 

  • Reporting and analytics: Use customizable expense reports for a detailed overview of all recorded expenses. The feature allows sorting reports for the date range, business expense category, project type, or client. 

Customer support options: FAQs, chat, webinars, eBooks, blog, and call

Starting price: Available upon request from the vendor

Who should consider BQE Core Suite?

Finance and accounting managers looking to simplify employee time and expense tracking to bill clients can consider the BQE Score suite. The tool automates expense tracking with pre-populated templates that employees can fill in real time using the desktop or mobile application. Additionally, you can generate custom reports to analyze the expenses for client billing based on the costs incurred by employees working on the field.

*Analysis performed November 2023

Pro tip

Take into account the scalability of the accounting and expense report software you selected to track and manage the expenses. The financial transactions will grow with your business and you would not want to buy a new tool each time. The selected tool should be flexible to allow increasing users, dashboard metrics, and data volumes without any significant downtime.

3. Patriot

With Patriot accounting solution, you get smart suggestions for automatic expense account categories. You need to connect your bank account for the first time via integration or uploading a CSV file, and all the transactions from the selected date to up to two years will be automatically transferred into the system. Once you have imported all the data, you will be able to categorize them based on the given suggestions on the ‘Manage Imported Transactions’ page. Simply accept or dismiss the suggested expense categories instead of manually categorizing every entry.

Product features of interest*:

  • Profit and loss statement: Generate statements for your income expenses and net profit using the imported transactions dashboard. The P&L statement measures the financial health of your business by showing income and expenses for a set time frame, project, or client. 

  • Dual-ledger accounting: Enter data in a cash basis (received and spent), and save the data to view reports in cash, modified cash, or accrual basis. 

  • Payment history: Access payment history reports for customers and vendors with invoice and order details. The feature allows generating reports for all the paid and due invoices. 

Customer support options: Chat, blog, call FAQs, how-to videos, and help center

Starting price: $20 per month

Billing cycle: Monthly

Who should consider Patriot?

Smart suggestions for expense categorization save time compared to manual sorting and assigning of entries. The process allows you to focus on more strategic aspects of expense and financial management. Automated suggestions also reduce the risk of manual data entry, ensuring that expenses are categorized accurately and consistently across all transactions for financial reporting.

*Analysis performed November 2023

4. ProfitBooks

Tracking expenses in ProfitBooks involves monitoring and recording all costs associated with maintaining and managing a business inventory. You can use the tool to assess the cost associated with acquiring inventory (purchase price, shipping fee, and custom duties) and storage (warehouse rent, utilities, insurance, and security costs). These costs contribute to managing a business inventory and are factored into the overall profitability assessment.

Product features of interest*:

  • Multi-currency support: Convert all captured expenses into home currency before creating accounting entries for reporting. 

  • Inventory management: Manage and track inventory levels of products and create purchase orders in real time. The feature helps ensure you have enough stock to run business operations smoothly. 

  • Tax calculations: Calculate various types of tax deduction, including value added tax (VAT) and service tax in accordance with jurisdictional rates and rules for billing and invoicing.

Customer support options: Knowledge base, video tutorials, and live chat

Starting price: $15 per month

Billing cycle: Monthly

Who should consider ProfitBooks?

Consider ProfitBooks's expense reporting process to manage your business inventory and assess the true cost of goods sold (COGS). The process helps understand profitability and make informed purchase decisions. You can track expenses related to inventory spoilage or obsolescence. This is particularly relevant for businesses dealing with perishable goods or products with a limited shelf life.

*Analysis performed November 2023

Pro tip

Check if the software actually offers expense tracking, including automated workflows, bank integration, receipt attachment, and reporting and analytics. In some cases, the vendors mention expense tracking on the product website but it only relates to bookkeeping for accountants.

5. Ramp

As an automated employee expense management software, Ramp lets your employees request spend from pre-sets budgets. These are custom templates based on your business’s structure and needs for a month, quarter, or year. For example, different departments may have distinct budgetary requirements, and the system allows for setting budgets that align with these variations. You can also create workflows to make sure that the right stakeholders are looped in to approve the spending added by employees. The tool checks every transaction automatically and flags non-compliant expenses to avoid manual reviews. This includes identifying fraud or duplicate entries, such as weekend spending, excessive tipping, and reusing the same receipt.

Product features of interest*:

  • AI analytics: Analyze historical expense data to make predictions about future spending patterns. You can get recommendations for optimizing expenses, including suggestions for cost-effective suppliers, alternative travel options, or potential ideas for cost reduction based on historical data and market trends.

  • Virtual cards: Provide app-based virtual cards to employees and set up enforced limits, controls, and submission requirements for spending and reimbursement for different vendors and categories. 

  • Custom approval workflows: Define hierarchical structures to approve employee expenses. You can set up specific approval chains based on teams and projects and customize approval rules and criteria. 

Customer support options: Chat, email, call FAQs, blog, webinar, guide, and help center

Starting price: $15 per user per month

Billing cycle: Monthly

Who should consider Ramp?

Consider Ramp when looking to monitor and control employee expenses over defined intervals. The tool offers features to enforce the business expense policy, including spending limits, budget restrictions, reimbursement process, and other business policy compliance. Additionally, issuing virtual cards further ensures that employees are not overspending or spending on restricted expense categories.

*Analysis performed November 2023

6. Striven

Striven expense tracking solution lets you visualize your expense reports with interactive charts, graphs, and tables to analyze spending trends, income fluctuations, and savings progress, facilitating efficient financial planning. You can input and track various business expenses, including receipts, invoices, credit memos, and purchase orders, allowing for a centralized record of all expenditures.

Product features of interest*:

  • Custom alerts: Set up personalized alerts for specific transactions, spending limits, or goal achievements. The triggers are generated based on certain amounts and keywords. 

  • Budget reports: Generate budget reports based on your income, spending patterns, and financial goals for a month, quarter, or year. You can do a side-by-side comparison of actual financial results with the initial plans.

  • Real-time expense insights: Get up-to-the-minute information and analysis of your spending and savings. The insights are used to identify spikes in spending, track expenditures, and understand expense distribution across different departments.

Customer support options: Blog, FAQs, video library, online guides, call, and online ticket

Starting price: $35 per user per month

Billing cycle: Monthly

Who should consider Striven?

Striven can be considered for its visual analytics that provides interactive charts, graphs, and tables to present expense report metrics. The emphasis on personalization and real-time data enhances the business's financial reporting and decision making. Additionally, custom alerts can be used for specific transactions, spending limits, or goal achievement, providing you with timely notifications and transaction monitoring.

*Analysis performed November 2023

Pro tip

Consider the safety of your critical financial data, which will be fed into the system for relevant stakeholders and accounting professionals within the business. The selected accounting software should offer robust security measures, such role-based access, two-factor authentication, data encryption, and regular backups. Also, check the vendor’s past records for cyber security incidents related to data leak or loss.

7. ZarMoney

ZarMoney lets you automate all expense tracking and management tasks, including grouping similar transactions, matching your transactions with bank statements, and attaching receipts for clients or vendors when processing transactions. Additionally, the tool lets you define your expense entry fields and individually tag transactions for tracking. For example, ‘get your customer PO’ or ‘side mark for their orders.’

Product features of interest*:

  • Related transactions: Set up automation rules to group similar transactions within the accounting books. You can create triggers for specific amounts, vendors, or expense types. 

  • Automated matching: Connect your bank account with the system using integration to match the business transactions with bank statements automatically. 

  • Receipt attachments: Attach supplier receipts within the expense entry or transactions details screen. The feature allows uploading a digital copy of the receipt, such as JPEG, PNG, or PDF. 

Customer support options: Call, online form, and help center

Starting price: $15 per month

Billing cycle: Monthly

Who should consider ZarMoney?

Consider ZarMoney when looking to automate various expense tracking and management tasks for a seamless accounting experience. You also get the flexibility to define unique expense entry fields. All this leads to a tailored expense tracking process for meeting specific financial goals of the business and capturing relevant information for reporting purposes.

*Analysis performed November 2023

How much does accounting software for expense tracking cost?

Accounting software upgrades can cost as low as $15 per month, or go all the way up to $499 per month, depending on various factors—number of users, automation rules, number of bank integrations, training availability, and deployment options. Most accounting solutions typically include the following pricing plans:

  • Free trials: No-cost trial plans ranging from 7 to 30 days, giving users access to all or limited software features. These are ideal for businesses who wish to try out a tool before purchasing.

  • Free versions: Free software plans offer basic and/or limited premium features. These are ideal for small businesses on a budget.

  • Entry-level plans: Start at $15 per month and offer limited accounting features such as automated transaction tracking, bank integration, and approval workflows. These are a good option for small businesses or teams with expense-tracking needs.

  • Mid-tier plans: Range from $20 to $70 per month and offer advanced features such as user-based permissions, rule-based triggers, reconciliation, and calendar integration. These are ideal for businesses that have outgrown basic expense-tracking solutions.

  • High-end plans: May cost upward of $499 per month. In addition to basic and midrange features, these offer unlimited users and priority support. They are ideal for large enterprises with cross-functional accounting teams.

Hidden costs associated with accounting software

Besides the software license, there may be additional costs, including

  • Training expenses: Initial training for new users and ongoing training for updates or new features can lead to additional costs.

  • Data migration costs: Migrating data from the existing system to the new tool may require expert assistance, which can add to the software implementation cost.

  • Transaction and processing fees: Some software solutions charge fees based on the number of transactions or the volume of data processed.

Frequently asked questions when selecting accounting software

It’s important to ask the right questions to find the best accounting software for your business’s expense-tracking needs. Some common questions include:

  • What are the expense tracking capabilities of the tool?

Look for common expense tracking features, including automating entries, capturing and attaching receipts to the entries, creating and customizing expense categories, and converting transactions into preferred or home currency. Besides, there can be specific requirements related to compliance, tax regulations, and reporting and analytics that you need to assess for your business-specific needs.

  • Does the tool connect with the bank accounts for data import?

Automating expense entries in accounting tools means collecting financial data from all business sources, including bank accounts. You must look for an accounting tool with expense tracking that enables you to connect your bank accounts via integration and import all the financial data to match the entries and project the accurate financial health of the business. 

  • How does the tool provide insights into spend analysis?

Most accounting tools with expense tracking features offer a dashboard that tracks business expenses and all the related metrics. However, the number of metrics tracked and visualization capabilities vary for different software and subscription plans. You must assess and find one matching your business’s expense tracking requirements.

Methodology

To be considered for this list, products had to:

  • Feature in 2023 GetApp’s Category Leader’s Report for accounting software. We selected the top seven products with the highest ratings to include in this article.

  • Include expense tracking features as demonstrated by publicly available sources, such as the vendor’s website.

  • Meet our accounting software market definition: “Accounting software enables accounting professionals in any type of organization to manage accounts and perform various accounting and financial operations such as record keeping, financial reporting, billing, and invoicing.

*Our research team identified these features from vendor websites (as of Nov 28, 2023) based on their analysis of what users find valuable in or expect from accounting software for expense tracking. This list is not exhaustive. For additional free features, refer to the vendor's website.

We select and rank products based on an objective methodology developed by our research team. While some vendors may pay us when they receive web traffic or leads, this has no influence on our methodology.

*To present the most up-to-date information, the product information below shows the latest real-time ratings, which may differ from the ratings values at the time this report's analysis was conducted, since new reviews may have been left in the meantime.

Products evaluated for the pricing calculation were taken from GetApp’s accounting software directory. The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of the products. The features highlighted were identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in the GetApp directory that offer them. Only products with publicly available pricing information, as of Nov 28, 2023, were considered for pricing calculation.

avatar
About the author

Saumya Srivastava

Writer
Saumya Srivastava is a writer at GetApp. She provides expert insights and helps small businesses identify the right software for their needs by conducting primary and secondary research and analyzing user sentiment.

A postgraduate in mass communication, she has worked as a content creator for an educational website and an advertising agency. Her expertise lies in social media marketing and content strategy. When not working, she can be found meditating or spending time outdoors.
Visit author's page