Introduction
With finance teams spending up to 10h per week only for invoice processing and administering vendor payments (as per a recent SAP research), automating financial operations with accounts payable software (AP) is undoubtedly critical for any type of organization.
Small businesses are not excluded: too often an improperly-balanced management of outgoing and incoming payments impact the financial health of up-and-coming companies.
And, since cash-flow management, as well as vendor and client relationships can make or break the thin line small businesses walk on, the importance of securing an automated process is unquestionable.
In this article, we have evaluated seven software providers after a rigorous, cross-platform research to help small businesses make informed decisions.
Table of content
Accounts Payable software – Key capabilities
Accounts Payable software at a glance
In-depth AP software comparison
Procys
Bill.com
Airbase
Zoho Books
Melio
Xero
Sage 50
Question list: how to choose the right accounts payable software
Conclusion
Accounts Payable software – Key capabilities
Accounts Payable tasks are as essential as they are stressful: comparing various data from the last three years, one-digit percentage of manual errors can translate to 5 figure loss for companies managing 1M in AP payments.
Understanding that it would be likely absurd not to automate and digitize accounting, even and especially in small finance departments, let’s review what game changing elements are shaping the software solutions out there.
AI-driven technologies are some of the core ones.
An EY report of a 2024 roundtable1 quotes: “All CFOs in the roundtable indicated they are doing something about GenAI, whether early experimentation or full implementation of capabilities.”
The real challenge about AI is making it accessible to businesses with limited budgets and specific needs (something that only some avant-garde providers care about).
Other software capabilities include:
- OCR functions, for invoice capture and customized data extraction
- Vendor management, with centralized data, compliance tracking, and real-time analytics
- Internal payment approval flows and automated payment execution
Upcoming, a quick-access table listing the main pro and con of each software of our shortlist, and a tiered indication for the price, seen with the eye of a small business.
Accounts Payable software at a glance
Good to know: your account team can start saving time by trying out Procys accounts payable automation for free.
We crafted this list leveraging the knowledge of software engineers, IT experts, and finance managers with decades of experience.
The software evaluation takes into consideration critical, technical characteristics, with the best interest of accounts payable teams in mind, and doesn’t aim to discredit any of the mentioned software providers.
In-depth AP software comparison
1 – Procys
The ideal, AI-powered solution to set up and manage accounts payable automations, including invoice capture, highly accurate data extraction from documents in any format, payment match and reconciliation, payment approval and processing, and vendor list management.
Other than offering probably the best price on the market for small businesses, Procys software stands out for its customizable, industry-specific set up, which allows users to monitor analytics according to their preferences and integrate with existing tools.
Key Features
- AI-powered optimization of the accounts payable flow or commercial debts
- Automated invoice data extraction and multi-currency payment management
- Administrative compliance and real-time analytics
- Integration with accounting, CRM and ERP systems
- ISO 27001-backed security certification and beyond-standard data protection
Integrations
Works with platforms like Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Salesforce CRM, HubSpot, and several other systems
Pricing
Start free with 10 pages, then use pay-as-you-go credits that never expire to scale as per your business needs.
Available Capterra Rating
- 4.7 out of 5
A positive review
“Procys has significantly reduced our manual data entry, allowing our team to focus on more strategic tasks.”
A negative review
"For businesses with a low volume of documents, the full range of features may not be necessary."
2 – Bill.com
Bill.com is an AP and AR automation platform offering automatic approval workflows and vendor payment management to both small and mid-sized companies.
Key Features
- AI-driven invoice processing
- Automated approval workflows
- Vendor payment management
Integrations
It’s sufficiently flexible, as it seamlessly connects with several accounting platforms.
Pricing
Starts at $45 per user per month.
Available G2 Rating
4.1 out of 5
A positive review
"Bill.com is very user-friendly and glitch-free; it was cost-effective and easy to implement into our organization."
A negative review
"The main function of the software is honestly 9.5/10, but their business practices and customer support is 1/10."
3 – Airbase
Airbase combines AP automation, expense management, and corporate cards into a single platform, offering real-time spend tracking and deep financial visibility.
It has a more complex learning curve and a less accessible pricing.
Key Features
- Comprehensive spend management platform
- AP automation, expense management, and corporate cards
- Integrates with accounting platforms like NetSuite and QuickBooks
Integrations
It integrates with many ERPs and accounting tools.
Pricing
Custom pricing based on company size and requirements.
G2 Rating
4.7 out of 5
A positive review
“Great for managing company-wide spend in real-time.”
A negative review
“It takes some time to learn and adapt.”
4 – Zoho Books
Zoho Books is an affordable all-in-one AP and accounting software, a key component of Zoho CRM suite with good customization options.
Key features
- Comprehensive accounting platform
- Customizable invoices and payment reminders
- Bank account reconciliation
Integration
Zoho Books doesn’t always integrate well with tools outside of its ecosystem, but offers laser-focused integrations with other payment automation platforms.
Pricing
Accessible, from 12€ to 36€ per month.
G2 Rating
4.4 out of 5
A positive review
“An affordable and powerful accounting solution.”
A negative review
“Limited third-party integrations compared to competitors”
5 – Melio
Melio is an AP and AR solution with industry-specific use cases, and offering a transparent list of fees per transaction.
Key Features
- User-based plans with batch payments features for small businesses
- Flexible payment methods, including bank transfers and credit cards
- Functions focussed on ACH bank transfers (although limited according to the subscription plans)
Integration
Melio has three highlighted integrations with Xero, QuickBooks and Amazon Business
Pricing
Free plan available; paid plans start at $25 per month.
G2 Rating
4.5 out of 5
A positive review
“Great option for small business bill payments.”
A negative review
“ACH payments take too long. Sometimes it can take more than a full week for the supplier to receive payment.”
6 – Xero
Xero is a cloud-based accounting software designed primarily for small to medium-sized businesses, aimed at simplifying financial tasks and payment flows.
Key Features:
- Online invoicing
- Bank reconciliation
- Expense management
- Payroll processing
- Project tracking
Integration
Xero has a proprietary app store for integrations, enhancing AP automation.
Pricing
Xero offers tiered pricing plans to accommodate different business needs, starting at 29$ per month
G2 Rating
4.3 out of 5
A positive review
“A reliable and scalable accounting solution.”
A negative review
“Limited inventory tracking features.”
7 – Sage50
Part of Sage Intacct automation software, Sage 50 is known for belonging to a larger ecosystem, usually apt for bigger financial teams.
Key Features
- Core financials and inventory management
- Complex, granular AP automation flows and functions
- Cash management and job costing
Integration
It has an add-on library and aims for a large number of integrations with ERPs and payment systems.
Pricing
Higher tier, it starts at about 45€ per month per user, depending on the country.
G2 Rating
4.0 out of 5
A positive review
“Robust accounting functionality for SMBs.”
A negative review
"Not very intuitive”
Question list: how to choose the right accounts payable software
Before selecting the right software to automate financial tasks, it’s important to identify and evaluate some critical functions.
Here’s a list of questions your accounting team should consider:
- Does it integrate with my existing accounting/ERP system?
- Does it offer fraud prevention and compliance tracking?
- Does it have an intuitive interface and easy implementation?
- Can it scale with my business growth?
- Is pricing transparent and aligned with my budget?
- What do user reviews say about customer support and reliability?
- How does it make our company’s and clients’ data secure?
How the accounts payable workflow look like
Data capture and invoice validation and verification
Data capturing is all about precision: the purpose of an automated system is (also) to reduce manual errors, so we have to rely on systems with a clear promise about accuracy and completeness of the extracted data.
For this, a reliable software provider has its ML engineers operate a thorough, iterative testing process to validate this function.
Finally, this step ensures that there aren’t duplicated items, and that VAT and tax compliance are valid as per the country specifications.
Workflow automation and approval routing
A proper automated workflow includes a hierarchical set up and approval cycle, which should always be customizable for the users.
The software functions must then cover all accounts payable (and receivable) steps, from the collection of the invoice, to vendor/client matching and payment reconciliation.
This allows for full control for the management and flexible adaptation to the business needs.
Note: this area also includes the integration with existing software to manage one or some parts of the accounting cycle, like the actual payment processing; what this means is that the software we choose should take into consideration the tech-stack we don’t plan to abandon.
Reporting and analytics
Finance is numbers, numbers are data, data is successful decision-making.
Without both real-time and historical data tracking, accounting teams will struggle to communicate the real status of the company’s health and will walk blindly on the tight-rope of their business life-cycle.
Moreover, having the possibility to connect with other Business Intelligence tools for predictive analysis can be the game-changer that secures a proper scalability plan for the company.
Security and compliance of accounts payable software
Purposefully at the last but not least position, this is not an actual step but an unavoidable checkmark that covers all the previous steps.
Among the most common and necessary features:
- Data encryption, to protect sensitive data while they’re stored and flowing
- Role-based access, and approval steps
- Compliance certifications, including support for GDPR and ISO-backed processes
- Automated audit and tracking of the operation history
- Fraud prevention via the accuracy and validation tests
Conclusion
Typical challenges for small businesses are not just about choosing the right software but also leveraging it to its full potential.
As users need to understand how to configure payment flows, approval hierarchies, and integrations, it’s important to rely on easy, user-friendly solutions aimed to keep the company financially healthy and prosperous.
For more information on the qualities and features typical of an efficient accounts payable software, you can visit this page.
Sources
1: How top CFOs see 2024 unfolding and what they’re doing about GenAI, EY, 2023
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