Accounting and finance teams often look for a tool for their expense tracking, workflow approval, and payment processing needs. Investing in expense report software can help you automate data entries and provide detailed expense reporting and analytics to identify cost-saving opportunities for the business. However, it is crucial to know the required features before committing to a tool.
To help you with your search, we’ve determined four key expense report management software features based on the ratings given by verified software users. We also include the highest-rated expense report management software for each feature.
1. Expense tracking
Expense tracking is a crucial feature in expense report software, providing users with a systematic way to monitor and manage their spending. Users can easily capture receipts using their smartphone camera or by uploading digital receipts instead of conducting manual data entry. The software may offer OCR (optical character recognition) technology to automatically extract key information such as the date, merchant name, and amount.
Additionally, users can categorize expenses based on predefined categories (such as meals, transportation, accommodation, employee expense, etc.) or create customized categories specific to their needs. This helps organize business expenses for better analysis and reporting.
What business problem does expense tracking solve?
Accounting teams can use expense tracking to maintain a detailed audit trail of all expense-related activities, providing a transparent record of expenses for auditing purposes. Here are some common problems and how tracking expenses can help address them:
Expense oversight: Without proper tracking, businesses may lack visibility into their spending. Expense tracking helps businesses monitor and manage expenses more effectively, ensuring funds are allocated efficiently and aligned with budgets and priorities.
Overspending: Tracking expenses allows businesses to identify areas of overspending or unnecessary expenditures. By understanding where money is being spent, organizations can implement cost-saving measures and optimize their spending to improve profitability.
Inaccurate financial reporting: Accurate expense tracking facilitates the generation of comprehensive financial reports, essential for decision-making, budgeting, and forecasting. Businesses can analyze expense data and use automated expense reporting to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement, enabling informed financial planning and strategy development.
How users benefit from expense tracking
Here are some excerpts from the reviewers of the expense tracking feature describing how it helps them:
“I use expense tracking to locate all expenses tied to a vendor. Makes it easy to double-check milestone payments are processed in a timely manner.
“The software allows us to track expenses by client, or for all active clients, quickly and easily. We can create reports as necessary to review and examine expenses.”
“This is another accurate and convenience feature that I like as it allows me to categorize, monitor, and analyze my expenditures efficiently for better financial management.”
Top 3 products with the highest ratings for expense tracking
We selected products for this article based on their average ratings between April 2022 - April 2024, which may differ from their current overall average ratings.
2. Receipt management
The receipt management feature in expense report software helps users manage and organize their receipts. The software provides a centralized repository for storing all captured receipts which are typically organized by date, vendor, or expense category, making it easy for users to locate them when needed.
Additionally, the expense report software can automatically match expense receipts with corresponding expense entries, streamlining the reconciliation process. This helps ensure accuracy and reduces the need for manual effort. Users may be able to edit receipt details or add annotations to provide additional context or information about the expense to ensure it aligns with the company expense policy. For example, they might add notes about the purpose of the expense, such as travel expenses or any associated project codes.
What business problem does receipt management solve?
Accounting teams can use receipt management to keep track of incoming receipts for small business expenses. Here are some common problems and how receipt management can help address them:
Compliance and audit risks: Many industries and businesses are subject to strict regulations regarding expense reporting and documentation. Receipt management ensures that businesses have accurate and complete records of expenses and spending patterns, supporting compliance with regulatory requirements and helping with cost savings. By providing clear documentation of expenses, receipt management reduces the risk of non-compliance penalties and facilitates smoother audits.
Lack of financial visibility: Receipt management gives businesses greater visibility into their spending patterns by centralizing receipt scanning, storage, and organization. This allows stakeholders to easily access and review expense data, enabling better decision-making and cost savings. With real-time access to comprehensive expense data, businesses can identify spending trends, track budget allocations, and make informed financial decisions.
Increased fraudulent expense claims: Receipt management helps mitigate the risk of fraudulent expense claims by requiring supporting documentation for all expenses. By storing digital copies of receipts securely in the cloud, businesses can deter fraudulent behavior and detect expense reporting process discrepancies more easily. Additionally, detailed audit trails provided by receipt management software enable businesses to monitor expense activity and identify suspicious behavior.
How users benefit from receipt management
Here are some excerpts from the reviewers of the receipt management feature describing how it helps them:
“Extremely helpful to be able to go back and do receipt capture for customers and go back to look at which payment method was used. Commercial customers really enjoy this feature if one of their employees misplaces the receipt for their company.”
“We needed a system that helped gather receipts in a more timely manner and reduce loss of receipts. The fact that we can set up automatic card freezes when receipts have not been submitted has made our employees more accountable and better at quickly submitting them.”
“We love the ability for auto scanning and to have an inbox where you can drop and forward receipts throughout the month and then categorize them when you are ready.”
Top 3 products with the highest ratings for receipt management
We selected products for this article based on their average ratings between April 2022 - April 2024, which may differ from their current overall average ratings.
3. Expense claims
The expense claims feature in expense report software typically allows employees to submit requests for reimbursement of expenses incurred while conducting business on behalf of their company. Typically, employees can access a dashboard to enter their expense details. This may include the date of the expense, the amount spent, the purpose of the expense, and any relevant receipts or documentation.
Once an expense claim is submitted, the software routes it through an approval workflow based on predefined rules and hierarchies. Approvers, such as managers or finance department personnel, receive notifications and can review, approve, reject, or request modifications to the expense claim.
What business problem does the expense claims feature solve?
Team members and bookkeepers can use the expense claims feature to account for individual and small business expenses. Here are some common problems and how expense claims can help address them:
Manual paperwork reduction: Expense claims software eliminates the need for paper-based expense reporting systems, reducing the time and effort spent on manual paperwork. This streamlines the entire expense management process, from submission to reimbursement.
Lack of approval workflows: Instead of manually routing expense claims through email or physical forms, expense claims software automates the approval workflow. This accelerates the review and approval process, leading to faster reimbursements for employees.
Missing accuracy and data integrity: With expense claims software, employees can digitally submit expense details and attach electronic receipts, reducing the likelihood of errors or lost documentation. This improves the accuracy and integrity of expense data, facilitating better financial reporting and analysis.
How users benefit from expense claims
Here are some excerpts from the reviewers of the expense claims feature describing how it helps them:
“Expense claims in the product contribute to accurate expense tracking, compliance, budget control, and efficient reimbursement processes, improving financial management for businesses.”
“It reduces the burden on human resource officer as it automate the process of claim settlement and as employee also it is time saver.”
“Makes it easy to submit expenses as soon as I've paid for something. Far easier than keeping track of receipts and using bank statements to trace everything.”
Top 3 products with the highest ratings for expense claims
We selected products for this article based on their average ratings between April 2022 - April 2024, which may differ from their current overall average ratings.
4. Reimbursement management
The reimbursement management feature in expense report software focuses on efficiently handling the reimbursement process for employees' expenses. The feature calculates the total reimbursement amount based on approved expenses. It may include factors such as currency conversion for foreign expenses and adjustments for tax implications or company-specific reimbursement rules.
Once expenses are approved and reimbursed, the software facilitates payment processing. This can involve generating payment instructions for direct deposit, issuing checks, or initiating reimbursements through integrated payment platforms.
What business problem does reimbursement management solve?
Employees are the primary users of the reimbursement management feature as they submit expense reports for reimbursement. Here are some common problems and how reimbursement management can help address them:
Delayed reimbursements: Delayed reimbursements can frustrate employees and impact their morale. Reimbursement management software accelerates the reimbursement process by streamlining approval workflows and payment processing, ensuring employees receive their reimbursements timely.
Lack of preparedness for audits: Businesses need to maintain accurate records and documentation to prepare for audits or compliance reviews. Reimbursement management software generates detailed audit trails and documentation of all reimbursement activities, making it easier for organizations to demonstrate compliance with internal policies and external regulations.
Lack of cost control and oversight: Without proper oversight, businesses may struggle to track and control expenses effectively. Reimbursement management software provides real-time visibility into reimbursed expenses, allowing finance teams to track spending trends, monitor budget adherence, and identify opportunities for cost optimization.
How users benefit from reimbursement management
Here are some excerpts from the reviewers of the reimbursement management feature describing how it helps them:
“I don't use it much but it is a very easy way of making sure that I am reimbursed in a timely manner and that all the necessary information is included so they know what they are reimbursing. I use it a lot when I drive my own car to get reimbursed for the mileage.”
“One of the main reasons for adopting this software was to improve overall controls for reimbursements, and this system provided everything we needed, from multiple layers of auythorization, as well as audit trail.”
“Reimbursement is a quick turn-around for the employees to get their money back. If a report is submitted early in the week, it will be paid on that Friday.”
Top 3 products with the highest ratings for reimbursement management
We selected products for this article based on their average ratings between April 2022 - April 2024, which may differ from their current overall average ratings.
