What Are the Top Apps for Managing Expenses?

Expense-tracking apps have become necessary in recent years, helping small business owners manage, track, and compare certain business expenses. Modern expense-tracking software often operates from a smartphone or laptop, making it extremely simple for anyone to manage expenses even while on the go.

Tracking and managing business expenses is crucial to avoid pitfalls that many small businesses owners face. This is especially important considering that the right expense management tool for your business can help streamline the accounting process, help identify problems, improve cash flow, and even skyrocket productivity but how do you choose the best expense-tracking app for small businesses from all the options available today?

Here’s a look at why a small business expense-tracking app matters, the functionality and features you need most, and how to choose the best expense-tracking app for small businesses of all sizes.

How to Choose a Small Business Expense Tracking App

Choosing the best app for business expenses can be incredibly valuable.

• Accounting software enables you to track all possible write-offs come tax time, compared to analog tracking which can let some potential tax deductions fall through the cracks.
• You’ll never wonder where your money is going and how it’s being spent, as the right business expense tracker apps will categorize expenses and offer a snapshot of your business spending in real-time.
• No more wasting countless hours sorting paper receipts, files, and financial records into expense categories, generating expense reports, or finding what you need for the IRS or reimbursements.

The Best Small Business Expense Tracking Apps

Today’s apps for managing expenses for business have become more complex, but also more intuitive, than ever before. After some simple data entry steps, you’ll be able to view your business spending at any time according to expense categories, generate necessary expense reports, compare spending to previous months or years, and recall receipts or records for tax or reimbursement purposes.

Whether you’re self-employed, a freelancer, or just want to find the best way to track business expenses you incur through your employer, here are the best expense management tools to help keep track of every detail.

QuickBooks

One of the most popular and feature-packed apps for managing expenses is QuickBooks, which can handle just about every aspect of your finances whether you’re a brand-new small business or growing corporation. QuickBooks tracks things like online transactions, upcoming and paid bills, employee payroll, and more. Through Quickbooks, you can send invoices, track sales taxes, and even scan store receipts through your phone while on the go. It’s also one of the most widely used tax management platforms, helping sort financial records and generate reports necessary for filing local, state, and federal taxes.

The biggest downside to QuickBooks is that it can be complicated in the beginning and has a notable learning curve. While you may need to dedicate a few hours to learning the ins and outs of the platform, taking the time to learn QuickBooks (or having one of your team members do so) is worth the time and effort.

QuickBooks is available starting at $17.50 per month.

Rippling

Not everyone has the time or resources to invest hours into learning a complex financial management platform, no matter how great the app might be. If you’re looking for a less time-consuming learning curve that still meets your business needs, and even automates many of those practices, Rippling might be a better choice.

The Rippling platform and mobile app allow you to create specific budgets and goals for your small business. The user-friendly AI integration automatically detects things like duplicate receipts or purchases, and the tracking tool detects out-of-policy spending and flags purchases for further review. Rippling also calculates taxes for small business owners at the local, state, and federal levels and can even submit tax filings and payments for your company automatically.

Rippling is a robust small business expense tracking app right out of the box, however, it also integrates with over 600 third-party apps, including many of the best business accounting platforms, for further functionality. Depending on which features and services you need, Rippling starts out as low as $8 per month.

FreshBooks

As a comprehensive expense tracking software, the FreshBooks platform makes it easy to see how your business is spending and where your profitability stands at any given time. You can link up your credit card and business bank account to consolidate expense payments right into the platform and even scan in or email receipts to easily capture transactions. Whether your primary focus is managing the budget, automatically invoicing clients, categorizing expenses for taxes, or mileage tracking, the Freshbooks dashboard can offer it.

FreshBooks has plans and features designed for self-employed individuals and freelancers, as well as businesses with contractors and businesses with employees. Depending on the plan you choose, FreshBooks starts at just over $7 per month.

Bench

Bench is a little different from the other expense management tools on this list, providing more than just expense tracking and categorization for you. The platform prides itself on its ability to also do all your bookkeeping tasks and thoroughly prepare your company for tax time.

Small business owners can upload their financial documents, such as receipts, straight from an iOS or Android mobile device. After adding bills and receipt scanning, Bench will categorize and track those payments and then compile monthly financial summaries and reports for your business. Bench also provides tax assistance through on-board accountants, which can be invaluable for small business owners during tax season.

Bench charges more than the other platforms here for its full bookkeeping service, coming in at $299 per month. You can also add catch-up bookkeeping services to get your existing and past books in order quickly.

Expensify

As an entrepreneur on the go, managing small business finances can get a little tricky. That’s where Expensify comes in, offering an all-inclusive solution that integrates with many of the top accounting and HR platforms like NetSuite, Gusto, and Zero.

Expensify allows the easy upload of receipts. Just add them to the platform’s Smartscan feature and you’re good to go. Automation enables a hands-off approach to logging traveling expenses, especially if you open a cash back business credit card through Expensify, offer virtual credit cards to employees, or integrate with platforms like Airbnb, Uber, and more.

Another great traveling feature of Expensify is its automatic currency conversion; no matter where you go or what you spend, Expensify will ensure that your international transactions will smoothly transition into your accounting. Be aware, though, that even though Expensify provides expense reports and budget forecasting, it doesn’t keep track of balances.

Expensify paid plan pricing starts at just $5 per month.

Final Thoughts

Small business expense tracking apps offer an alternative to spreadsheets, allowing you to track company and employee expenses and summarize your business’s finances at a glance. These platforms can simplify your efforts at tax time and even help you to pay bills and invoice clients as needed, often with minimum manual effort on your part.

FAQs About Small Business Expense Tracking

What does a small business expense tracking app do?

Expense apps help businesses small and large by, well, tracking expenses over the course of the year. Depending on the platform you choose, many of these apps can automatically categorize expenses into the appropriate categories, track bills, generate invoices, facilitate employee reimbursement, connect with business bank accounts and credit cards, track tax burdens, and more. They also connect with other accounting and HR platforms for more robust functionality.

Do I need to use an expense tracking app for my company?

All businesses have expenses, and properly tracking those costs can help you analyze spending, generate financial reports, and correctly assess your tax burden each year. While you can use pen and paper or even an Excel spreadsheet to do the job, small business expense tracking apps and platforms make the job infinitely easier by categorizing purchases, generating invoices, calculating tax burdens, and creating financial workflows automatically.

How much does a small business expense tracking app cost?

Some of the more basic platforms are free to use monthly, while the majority charge around $5 to $10 per month for their services. If you add features, you might expect to pay between $20 and $50 per month, though some of the more robust apps even add in full bookkeeping services and charge $299 or more monthly.

Can I scan receipts into my expense tracking app?

Yes, most small business expense tracking apps and platforms allow you to scan receipts from your computer or mobile device. You may even be able to email receipts directly or link business spending accounts to have these purchases automatically tracked.

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