Whether small, medium, or large, businesses of all scales require business expense-tracking apps. Rent, utilities, furniture, inventory, licenses, insurance, marketing, and staff. These assets incur expenses for your business in one way or another. Thus, tracking all your costs is essential to stay within budget and successfully run your organization.
However, not every business has access to the best-fit business expense tracker solutions. Either they have picked the wrong software or don’t know what to look for in such tools.
So, in today’s post, we will tell you all about the business expense-tracking apps and more. So, let’s begin.
What are Business Expense Tracking Apps?
In short, tracking business expenses can mean tracking, recording, and organizing the spending of your business. These expenses can be bills, fees, and other costs. One of the reasons why tracking business costs is essential is because of the tax-deductibility on some. Accurately tracking your expenses can help you:
- Decrease taxes
- Monitor budget
- Determine business profitability
Sure, it’s possible to manually track these expenses. However, business expense tracking apps ensure that you don’t get the headache of more than enough complex paperwork.
Read Also – Top 10 Best Employee Productivity Tracking Software In 2024
Why Do You Need Business Expense Tracking Apps?
There are many benefits of using expense tracker software. Other than the fact that it eliminates pen and paper use, there are many reasons why you need such apps. Plus the fact that these apps can save you 15-20% (from multiple sources) costs is amazing.
- They have user-friendly interfaces.
- These apps provide anytime and anywhere accessibility.
- Expense apps automate receipt scanning.
- They simplify expense entry processes.
- Using apps for tracking business expenses reduces errors.
How to Choose the Right Business Expense Tracker in 2024?
When looking for business expense-tracking tools. Especially, for an expense tracker for small businesses, thorough requirement analysis is the key to identifying the best-fit solution. You have many needs in your organization. To fulfill these requirements, you need to look for these features.
1. Income and Expense Tracking
The first feature to look for is the name of the game feature. Otherwise, there is no use for business expense-tracking apps. In short, your expense app must be able to track expenses and keep a tab on your income. A must-have functionality here is the capability to import your expenses from accounts, wallets, and credit cards.
2. Receipts Organization
Your business expense manager app should also be able to assist you in organizing receipts. The idea here is for your app to have the tools to capture receipts as you make and receive payments. Plus, the functionality to categorize receipts is also a basic requirement.
3. Tax Organization
For organizations looking for business expense-tracking apps, we also recommend looking for the feature of tax organization. We recommend looking for intuitive tools that can categorize the required tax deductions after you log your expenses and income. This will give you a bird’s eye view of which tax deductions are okay, and which ones you must avoid.
4. Invoice and Payment Management
Your business expense-tracking software must also accept debit cards, credit cards, net banking, and bankers to directly connect to your invoice. Your app must provide tools and functionalities to track, monitor, and log the status of your credit card bills. The app you use must have the feature to end direct payment reminders to help you save maximum costs.
5. Report Management
Another good feature you will find in most business expense-tracking apps is report management. A good tool will be able to generate and run profit and loss reports, expenses, income, and balance sheets. The reports must also be customizable to assist you in identifying business needs and generating budgets and inventory reports.
6. Sales Tracking
What you need in your expense-tracking solution. Especially, for expense management software for small businesses is the tool’s capability to double as an expense management solution. We are talking about integrations with your preferred credit cards and e-commerce application programming interface here.
7. Vendors and Contractors Management
What we like about business expense-tracking apps is that they also assist you in managing contractors and vendors. This feature lets you add vendors and contractors. Plus, the tool must also categorize them for optimized management.
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8. Providing Secure Access
Another thing to look for in business business expense-tracking apps is the feature to provide secure access. For example, secure access to your account books for your accountants. Plus, it must also allow specific permissions for certain functionalities. This reduces errors, which in turn saves you more costs.
9. Project and Inventory Tracking
What makes an app the best business expense-tracking app for your organization is the project and inventory tracking feature. We are talking about the functionality to track products and the expenses on goods. It’s even better if the app lets you directly make purchase orders and handle vendors within the user interface.
10. Analytics and Insights
When, looking for a business expense software. Especially, expense-tracking software for small businesses is the tool’s capability to make easy-to-understand reports with charts and graphs. This ensures that you make more optimized financial decisions. Here, we recommend looking for software with in-depth analysis tools.
11. Workflow Automation
This feature of the software to manage business expenses helps you strengthen your relationships with clients. We think that this can’t get any better as automated reminders also improve your cash flow and sales. Without this feature, you would be spending long hours tracking bill payments and vendor transactions.
Read Also – 10 Best Project Time Management Software for 2024
Top 15 Business Tracking Apps in 2024
So that’s all you need to look for in a business expense management solution. However, still finding the best-fit solution for your business can be overwhelming. Since we know that the best way to track business expenses is to use software or applications, here are the top 10 apps for this purpose to give you a heads-up.
- DeskTrack
- Zoho Expense
- Rydoo
- Emburse Certify
- QuickBooks Online
- FreshBooks
- SAP Concur Expense
- Expensify
- Everlance
- Shoeboxed
- Xero
- Rippling
- Airbase
- Navan
- Webexpenses
1 DeskTrack
There’s a reason why DeskTrack sits at the top of our business expense-tracking apps list. More than a cost and income tracker, it’s your complete time-tracking package with the most intuitive, integrable, and customizable project management, employee monitoring, and productivity-tracking tools and features.
Pros:
- Automated billable and non-billable hours calculation
- Seamless integrations
- Automated work hours tracking
- User-friendly interface
- Accurate invoicing
Cons:
- None
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Best overall | 15 days | 5/5 |
2. Zoho Expense
This expense management software for businesses provides you with everything you require to monitor your expenses without going over budget. What we like about this one is the automated expense reporting feature that lets employees submit costs anywhere to simplify approvals. However, you can submit only up to 5 receipts per expense.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Free plan
- Major accounting solution integrations
Cons:
- Limited to 3 users (free plan)
- Maximum 5 receipts/expense
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Travel and expense management | 14 days | 4.9/5 |
3. Rydoo
Rydoo is one of the business expense-tracking apps on our list that lets you deny or approve expenses within the app. Furthermore, you can also get automated approval flows based on the rules you set. However, you can only scan up to 15 pages for PDFs or receipts. That too is not always accurate.
Pros:
- Real-time cost tracking
- Opimizes reimbursement cycles
- Automated expense approvals
Cons:
- Maximum 15 pages/receipt or PDF
- Inaccurate scanning
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Global expenses | 14 days | 4.8/5 |
4. Emburse Certify
The best mileage-tracking app for small businesses is Emburse Certify. With a starting price at an affordable rate of $12/month, it provides you with automated report creation. Plus, you also get streamlined approvals and built-in policy control functionalities. What makes it stand out is it provides 10 methods to scan and upload receipts. However, the lack of workflow management tools is the biggest concern.
Pros:
- Supports 64 languages and 140+ currencies
- ACH reimbursement
- Unlimited cloud receipt storage
Cons:
- No workflow management tools
- No free version
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Virtual expenses | 14 days | 4.7/5 |
5. QuickBooks Online
Another well-known expense software for small businesses on our list is QuickBooks Online. It’s your complete accounting solution with the best expense-tracking tools, features, and functionalities. Plus you can also sync your bank accounts, credit cards, and other accounts for automated expense imports. However, reimbursement only happens through payroll, which sucks.
Pros:
- Built-in cash flow statement
- Automated recurring expenses
- Up to 40 tag groups (expenses)
Cons:
- Up to 25 unique users only
- Reimbursement through payroll only
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| All-in-one accounting | 30 days | 4.6/5 |
6. FreshBooks
Another one of the well-known business expense-tracking apps on our list is FreshBooks. What we like about this one is the automated expense update feature through syncing your credit cards and bank accounts. However, there is no in-app reimbursement. That’s one feature less for $10 more for each additional member.
Pros:
-
- 14 default expense categories
- Supports multiple currencies
- Assignable recurring expenses
Cons:
- $10 extra for each additional team member
- No in-app reimbursement
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Freelancers | 30 days | 4.4/5 |
7. SAP Concur Expense
Conquer your business expenses with SAP Concur Expense, (we couldn’t help but write this pun). What we like about this business expense tracker is that it’s 100% customizable. So, if you are looking for software that fits your ever-changing needs, this is your choice. However, only 3 pages of receipts are analyzed.
Pros:
Expense capture works on airplane mode as well
Automated reporting
In-app reimbursement
Cons:
Upto 9 pages/receipt
Only 3 receipt pages are analyzed
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Customized solution | 15 days | 4.4/5 |
8. Expensify
Expensify is one of the business expense-tracking apps on our list that ups the ante. How? You get unlimited receipt-tracking and expense management with the free plan. What we like about it is the one-click receipt scanning feature. However, it’s very costly, if you are not using the Expensify card and there are only 25 scans/month available with the free plan.
Pros:
- Discounts if you use the Expensify Card
- Separate business and freelance plans
- Tax tracking
Cons:
- Expensive (without the Expensify Card)
- Limited to 25 auto-scans/month (free plan)
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Dedicated expense cards | Up to 6 weeks | 4.3/5 |
9. Everlance
This business expense manager provides you with unlimited receipt uploads even with its free plan, similar to Expensify. This is a benefit if your business is highly purchase-oriented. Automatically tracking purchases is also possible with credit card syncing. What we like about it is the deduction feature, which lets you find expenses you can reduce from taxes. However, the focus is only on mileage tracking and only USD support is available.
Pros:
- Separate business and freelance plans
- Unlimited receipt uploads
- Unlimited users
Cons:
- Focuses mainly on mileage tracking
- USD ($) support only
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Tracking tax deductions | 7 days | 4.2/5 |
10. Shoeboxed
Shoeboxed is one of the business expense-tracking apps on our list, which is an ample choice for simplifying scanning receipts. All you have to do is make an envelope with all your receipts and the app will do all the scanning and digitizing for you. However, there are no workflow approval or management tools.
Pros:
- Unlimited file storage
- Unlimited users
- Human-verified data
Cons:
- Up to 300 digital/paper receipts/month
- No in-app reimbursement
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Paper receipts | 30 days | 4.1/5 |
11. Xero
Xero is the software for tracking business expenses, which is the best for small businesses. Why so? Because it has customized financial tools and services to streamline expense management. Furthermore, it focuses on simplifying accounting and essential tools make it an excellent choice.
Pros:
- Extensive integrations
- Comprehensive financial management
- Good choice for small businesses
Cons:
- Additional features in higher-tier plans only
- Limited invoices and bills (early plan)
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Small businesses | 30 days | 4.4/5 |
12. Rippling
Rippling is more than one of the business expense tracking apps on our list. It’s primarily a workforce management software that integrates HR, IT, and finance. With Rippling, it becomes simple to manage payrolls, employee benefits, expenses, device management, and app provisioning. Not only all of these features are available in one platform but it also automates and controls spending.
Pros:
- Employee self-service portals
- Automated workflow
- Comprehensive operation-specific features
Cons:
- Steep learning curve
- Time-consuming initial setup
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Automated workflow approvals | Free Demo | 4.8/5 |
13. Airbase
Looking for a business expense tracker for payable automation? You can never go wrong with Airbase. It’s primarily a spend management platform for simplifying expense management, AP, and corporate card spending. All of this increases financial operations accuracy by reducing manual work. Overall, it’s one of the best tools for automating accounts payable processes.
Pros:
- Seamless integrations
- Real-time visibility into spending
- Comprehensive AP automation
Cons:
- Steep learning curve
- Pricing is not directly available
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Payable automation | Free plan | 4.8/5 |
14. Navan
Navan is one of the best business expense tracking apps for simplifying tracking expenses, reporting, and agreements. We specifically chose this one because of the unified travel and expense management integration. Plus, with Navan, you get real-time and detailed financial oversight and operational control. Moreover, the user-friendly interface and integration capabilities are like the cherry on the cake.
Pros:
- User-friendly mobile app
- Real-time visibility into spending
- Integrated travel and expense management
Cons:
- Non-transparent pricing
- Dependent on third-party integrations for complete functionality
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| User experience | Free plan | 4.7/5 |
15. Webexpenses
Want to streamline tracking, managing, and, reporting business expenses? Then, you can never go wrong with this business expense software. Webexpenses provides you with the ease of use and powerful functionality. Overall, if you want detailed travel expense records, we recommend Webexpenses because of its intuitive mileage tracking feature.
Pros:
- User-friendly mobile app
- Numerous ERP and accounting system integrations
- Comprehensive mileage tracking and verification
Cons:
- Needs at least 3 active users
- Initial setup and implementation takes up to 8-10 weeks
| Best For | Free Trial Availability | User Rating |
| Mileage tracking | 14 days | 4.4/5 |
Why is DeskTrack the Best Business Expense Tracking App?
Out of the so many expense-tracking solutions, we picked DeskTrack as the best business expense-tracking app. The proof is it’s 8K+ users across 100+ nations.
However, that’s not what makes this time-tracking, employee monitoring, productivity-tracking, and project management software your best choice for business expense tracking. Here’s why DeskTrack is the best tool for tracking your business expenses in 2024 and beyond.
- Automatic and accurate calculation of billable and non-billable hours.
- The most accurate payroll and invoicing features.
- Seamless integrations with your preferred tools including payroll, and other project management apps.
Conclusion
With that, we wrap up our post for today on the top 10 business expense-tracking apps in 2024. To summarize, businesses need to keep tabs on their expenses to stay under budget and save costs. For that purpose, they require business expense monitoring software solutions or apps that simplify the job of expense-tracking. What you need to look for in your ideal software solution is features including income and expense-tracking, sales tracking, contractors and vendors management, tax organization, receipt organization, and workflow automation. However, to get the maximum benefits, you need the best-fit solution. We recommend DeskTrack as the same.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What are Business Expense Tracking Apps?
Ans. Expense-tracking software or business expense-tracking software solutions are apps that simplify monitoring, recording, and logging all your business expenses. What all of them do is scan your paper or digital receipts and with their plethora of features give you detailed reports and management capabilities regarding taxes, sales, and other expenses, helping you optimize all the cost management.
Q. What to Look for in Business Expense Tracking Apps?
Ans. When choosing the best-fit business expense tracker for your organization, you need to look for these key features.
- Income and Expense Tracking
- Receipts Organization
- Tax Organization
- Invoice and Payment Management
- Report Management
- Sales Tracking
- Vendors and Contractors Management
- Providing Secure Access
- Project and Inventory Tracking
- Analytics and Insights
- Workflow Automation
Q. Which are the Best Business Expense Tracking Apps?
Ans. To help you quickly choose a good expense-tracking software for your business, we listed the top 10 solutions for you.
- DeskTrack
- Zoho Expense
- Rydoo
- Emburse Certify
- QuickBooks Online
- FreshBooks
- SAP Concur Expense
- Expensify
- Everlance
- Shoeboxed
