Acumatica Expense Management: Overview and Top Solutions

Acumatica Cloud ERP is a modern system with international capabilities. Its target customer base is small businesses and mid-market companies. Acumatica’s SaaS pricing model includes unlimited users. Users can also access its mobile app. 

Acumatica’s core accounting software and optional ERP/CRM modules include this functionality:

• Financial Management
• Project Accounting and Project Costing
• Payroll Management
• Multi-Entity and Intercompany Accounting 
• Reporting
• Business Intelligence
• Advanced Expense Management Software
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

In this article, we’ll describe an Acumatica expense management module and top third-party expense management solutions for automating employee expense reports and reimbursements with Acumatica ERP integration. 

Does Acumatica Have Expense Management Functionality?

Acumatica ERP does not include expense management in its core ERP functionality. However, it offers some expense management functionality through its optional Acumatica Advanced Expense Management Software module, which is available for an additional SaaS cost.

Using add-on third-party expense management software with Acumatica integrations instead of this internal Acumatica module may be a better, more comprehensive expense management and spend management solution for your company. 

Third-party expense management software is often combined with efficient AP automation software to save your company time and money. Your business can complete faster digital invoice processing in time to take early payment discounts like 2/10, net 30 offered by suppliers. 

The best combined expense +  AP automation software solution adds more financial controls, error and fraud risk detection, company expense policy compliance checking, and automated tax and global regulatory compliance. Tipalti makes expense submission easy for employees to get a quick expense reimbursement before their personal credit card bills are due for payment. 

What is Expense Management for Acumatica?

Our definition of expense management for Acumatica ERP covers both an internal Acumatica module and comprehensive third-party solutions for expense management for Acumatica users. 

The optional Acumatica software module called Advanced Expense Management Software is an internal solution to Acumatica expense management. 

The Acumatica Advanced Expense Management Software module includes these features and key benefits:

• Automatically attaches expense receipts to bank feeds
• Uses push notifications to remind employees to submit expense receipts via their mobile phones with receipt photos
• Includes project accounting integration for project management
• Uses AI/ML smart matching for recurring transactions to reduce errors and manual matching processes
• Provides transaction security and audit logs 

The 5 Best Acumatica Expense Management Solutions

When your business selects the best add-on Acumatica expense management automation software from a third-party provider with ERP integrations, evaluate the following solutions. 

Tipalti 

Tipalti Expenses, used in combination with Tipalti AP automation cloud software, has Acumatica integration. Tipalti finance automation works as a unified system for employee expense submission, approvals, expense reimbursement, and automated invoice processing, including routed approvals and global payments. Your business can add advanced FX features with Tipalti Multi-FX and FX Hedging software to hedge payables. Tipalti automation software uses artificial intelligence/machine learning, OCR for scanned receipts, and RPA technologies.

Overview

Tipalti’s easy-to-use, modern expense claims submission and approval software works through a mobile app for capturing employee receipts data and getting approvals of automatic T&E expense reports. Tipalti Expenses combines with scalable Tipalti AP automation for Acumatica ERP integration to make streamlined, efficient payments in 196 countries and 120 currencies. Payees choose their preferred electronic payment method during the onboarding process. 

Features

Tipalti Expenses and AP automation features include:

• Mobile device app for employee receipts submission to automatically capture, prepare, code, and route approvals for  employee expense reports, and cloud software
• Automatically checks compliance with company expense policy
• Self-service guided onboarding with the collection of payment information (and W-9 or W-8 forms, and supplier validation before the first payment)
• Applying over 26,000 payment rules in employee expense reports and digitized supplier invoice processing
• Error and fraud detection
• Supplier expense tracking and calendar year payment totals for tax compliance preparation reports 
• Automated global regulatory compliance, including checking suppliers against government sanctions blacklists
• Multi-entity visibility of accounts payable and cash requirements for global payments, including expense report reimbursements
• AI-driven analytics and real-time dashboards with total spend visibility by each entity and combined
• Automated batch payment reconciliation in real-time
• Tipalti Card for corporate spend by employee and category

BILL Spend & Expense (formerly Divvy)

Bill.com’s expense management solution called Spend & Expense for SMBs can be integrated with Acumatica ERP.

Overview

BILL Spend & Expense is an employee expense management software and corporate credit card solution that integrates to work with the BILL accounts payable and accounts receivable automation software, including budgets and total spend visibility. Bill.com acquired Divvy in 2021. 

Features

• Expense management software for employee reimbursement with mobile app 
• Automatic receipt matching, rule-based auto-categorization, and automated expense reports
• Corporate credit cards with target spending limits by employee and budget group and spending rewards 
• Company policy compliance
• One-time or recurring budgets with the ability to allow limited overspend
• Budget spend categories
• Offers credit limits from $500 thousand to $5 million

Expensify

Expensify is an expense management app for employee expense reimbursement. Expensify can be integrated with Acumatica through a self-service API connection, with documentation for how to achieve integration in the Expensify Integration Server.

Overview

Expensify is an AI-driven mobile app for expense management that also offers a simple bill pay solution from a mobile app. Expensify offers an Expensify Visa® Commercial Card as a corporate spending card. 

Features

• Unlimited receipts from photos to automate expense receipt creation and expense reports
• Controls to detect duplicate receipts
• Company policy rules
• Customizable approval workflows
• Credit card transactions imports (business or personal) 
• Expensify Card
• Corporate card reconciliation for each expense cycle

Concur

SAP Concur Expense is its expense management solution that can be integrated with Acumatica using Celigo’s Quickstart Bundles and used to capture spending in a unified system with ERP, CRM, HR, and other integrated systems. 

Overview

Concur Expense uses a mobile device and cloud software for its employee expense management solution. It also offers products for invoice management, payment, and travel booking. 

Features

• Automated spend management
• Company policy compliance
• Capture receipts through mobile app photos and upload them, with ExpenseIt data capture for transactions
• Uses eReceipts, credit cards, and booked travel for expense reports
• Handles expenses, travel, and invoice spending in one system
• Detects exceptions and incomplete expense reports
• Integrates with partnered travel apps for car rentals, hotels, and ride-sharing 
• Real-time dashboard for spend management and metrics 

Navan (formerly TripActions)

Navan offers expense management solutions and a travel booking product that can be integrated with Acumatica. However,  Navan is not a pre-built certified Acumatica integration. 

Overview

Navan expense management consists of a mobile app and cloud software for employee expense reimbursement and a corporate spending card issued to employees for incurring business expenses with spend management controls.

Features

• One combined mobile app for expense reports, corporate cards, and travel booking
• Receipts scanning and data capture for employee expense reports
• Automatic company policy enforcement and spend rules
• Automated expense itemization and reporting
• Employee reimbursement payments in 45 countries and 25 currencies
• Real-time dashboard with spend metrics for reimbursements and cards by department or other grouping, with the total number of transactions, average spend per user, and graphical trends
• VAT-compliant invoices
• Card transactions with automated reconciliation 

Choosing the Best Solution for Your Business

When choosing the best solution for your business to use with Acumatica ERP for expense management and reimbursement, compare the Acumatica software module and third-party solutions with Acumatica integration. Also, include corporate spending cards to charge business expenses directly to your company without requiring reimbursements.

Perform a Software Evaluation 

For Acumatica expense management to submit and process employee expense reports and pay employee expense reimbursements, include add-on third-party solutions in your analysis to compare features and get competitive bids. 

To make the best software decision, list the required features and desired added-value features, including better fraud and error detection controls and multi-entity capabilities with Acumatica integration. 

Look for added value from a unified Expense + AP Automation system that can be used to reimburse employees and pay global supplier invoices using a choice of payment methods, with optional advanced FX features, supplier validation, tax compliance, and global regulatory compliance.

In your software evaluation, document each solution’s costs and fees, compare the cost-benefit of using each expense management system, calculate ROI (return on investment), and ensure affordability within your company’s budget.

Evaluate Customer Success 

Customer case study testimonials, customer retention rate, customer satisfaction, and customer growth rate should be included in your considerations. Tipalti has 98% rates for customer retention and customer satisfaction. Tipalti grew its customer base by 41% in the first half of 2023. 

Get Started 

As an Acumatica ERP user, Tipalti will provide your company with award-winning, efficient finance automation solutions to streamline workflows and provide fast, approved global payments. You’ll get added tax and global regulatory compliance and more financial controls and visibility to manage cash flow and expenses.  

Select the best accounts payable software. To evaluate using Tipalti’s combined Expenses and AP automation software, get in touch with our team for a demo and quote.