When your business expands, the number of transactions you need to handle will grow. It’s critical to effectively manage supplier invoices from the beginning, as the volume and complexity of your accounts payable will inevitably increase over time.
AP automation solutions streamline financial workflows and enable overburdened AP departments to process a larger volume of invoices without breaking a sweat.
Tipalti and Stampli are both popular AP automation solutions, which boast features like invoice processing and approvals, payment remittance, ERP integrations, and more. Unless you know the ins and outs of each system, choosing between the two can be a challenge.
Which solution fits your business best? In this article, we’ll compare the product capabilities of both systems and discuss how each one manages your accounts payable needs.
What Does Tipalti Do?
Tipalti is an accounts payable and procurement automation platform that integrates your entire AP lifecycle and payment management workflow into a single cloud-based solution.
Tipalti Product Capabilities Overview
Tipalti is built to support accounts payable across your entire enterprise, including business entities, subsidiaries, and international divisions. The software provides granular control over payables to protect your business from fraud and loss while augmenting internal processes.
Tipalti can process payments in 6 methods across 196 countries, and in 120 currencies, making it a lot easier for a business to transact on a global scale.
The system offers end-to-end automated features including:
- Supplier onboarding and management
- Tax and regulatory compliance
- Purchase order management
- Invoice management
- Card spend management
- Global payment remittance
- FX solutions
- reconciliation & reporting
The platform is designed to save your business time and money.
Tipalti integrates with any ERP and accounting system. This includes popular systems like:
- Oracle NetSuite
- Sage Intacct and Sage ERPs
- QuickBooks
- Xero
- SAP ERPs
- Microsoft Dynamic ERPs
Tipalti Pricing
Tipalti’s pricing model scales with your company. Pricing starts at $149 per month and you can seamlessly upgrade to Tipalti’s more advanced capabilities like multi-entity payables at any time.
What Does Stampli Do?
Stampli provides AP automation software for companies to manage financial workflows and process payments.
Stampli Product Capabilities Overview
Stampli helps organizations streamline accounts payable with communications, documentation, corporate cards, and payables features delivered via a centralized dashboard. Its AP automation solution supports both PO and non-PO invoices and gives your team control and visibility over corporate spending.
The Stampli solution includes features like invoice capture and coding, approval notifications, internal controls, integrations, and IT support.
The platform integrates with a variety of common ERP systems including:
- Sage Intacct
- QuickBooks
- Microsoft Dynamics
- SAP
- Netsuite
Stampli Pricing
Stampli does not provide public pricing on its website. The company charges a monthly platform fee that includes a fixed number of user licenses and invoices. There are fees for additional users and invoice overages.
Stampli also charges a monthly fee for its payments module in addition to per-transaction fees. Stampli may also charge a monthly connector fee depending on your ERP integration. For an exact quote, you will need to contact sales.
Features of Tipalti vs. Stampli
Although Tipalti and Stampli are both great tools to automate your AP processes, each platform has varying capabilities. Take a look at some of the features and solutions each platform has to offer:
| Functionality |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| *Limited functionality | ||
| Global Payments | Send payments via 6 methods to 196 countries in 120 currencies. 26,000 payment rules to reduce errors. Money transmitters licenses (MTLs) in the US; e-money institution authorization in the EU and UK | Send check or virtual card payments internationally in USD. International ACH to 30 countries. International wire to 150+ countries. No prepaid debit or PayPal payments. No MTLs |
| Bill Approval | No charge for bill approvers, approve bills via email with no login required | Invoice approvers pay a monthly fee, login required, cannot approve via email |
| Invoice Processing and PO Matching | Header and line-level OCR with machine learning + managed services for invoice data capture; AI-based GL coding, 2- & 3-way PO matching at the header and line-level with tolerance thresholds | Header level OCR with machine learning but no managed services to augment invoice data capture. ML-based GL coding. Tolerance thresholds for 2-way PO matching only |
| Foreign Exchange (FX) Solutions | Save time and money on currency conversions. Manage intercompany bank transfers between currency accounts, hedge your FX exposures, and provide full FX rate visibility to both payers and payees | Visibility into FX rates and the ability to automatically execute payments based on preset FX rate goals. No intercompany bank transfers between currency accounts |
| Tax and Regulatory Compliance | KPMG-approved tax engine:
• Digital W-9 and W-8 tax forms
• Collect and validate IRS tax forms and VAT tax IDs
• 1099/1042-S tax prep reports
• 3K tax validation rules
• eFiling integrations and services
| Collect, track, and manage W-9 and W-8 tax forms, as well as other vendor documents. No data validations, no tax prep reports, and no year-end eFiling. |
| Supplier Onboarding & Vetting | Advanced self-service client-branded portal to easily collect & track payment methods, currency, and payment thresholds. 26K payment validation rules reduce errors by 66%. Fee splitting allows payers to incent partners to adopt safer, more efficient payment methods | Branded supplier portal with self-service onboarding but no banking and tax rules validations. No fee-splitting. |
| Fraud Prevention | Fraud module for detailed payee monitoring and proactive screening before every payment. Screening of payees against OFAC/SDN lists | OFAC/SDN list screening but no fraud module. |
| Multi-Entity Payables Reconciliation | Manage multiple entities in a single instance with a consolidated view, instant reconciliation across entities, and payables workflows | Supports multiple entities in a single instance. Cannot offer different branding or tax onboarding flows per entity. |
| Procurement | Friendly purchase requisitions, PO creation & real-time budget visibility. Slack and other integrations accelerate approval workflows. Contact interface for renewal management | No procurement capability |
| Corporate Cards | Issue, control, and reconcile physical and virtual cards for pre-approved spending. Earn cash back on every transaction | Physical & virtual cards are issued for pre-approved purchases per vendor or expense category. Earn cashback |
| Expense Management | Set expense policies. Mobile app for expense filing and approvals. Global reimbursements and automatic reconciliation | Card-focused expense management. No employee reimbursements for out-of-pocket spending. |
Which Solution Works Best for Your Business (and Why)
Choosing the right AP automation software for your business is not as easy as it seems. You must dig through a pile of features, tools, and integrations to decide on one that best fits your business. Here, we’ve tried to create a few scenarios to help you decide between Tipalti and Stampli:
When to Choose Tipalti
You need best-in-class invoice management to reduce payable team workloads
Tipalti’s AP solutions are proven to eliminate 80% of workloads. This helps you to avoid future AP hiring and uplifts your teams out of manual tasks, enabling them to focus on higher-value strategic initiatives
Smart Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology eliminates tedious, error-prone manual data entry. Tipalti provides not only header level, but also line level data capture, which means the difference between spending just 2 minutes to verify the coding vs spending 20 minutes capturing line level data with other solutions.
Approvals are considered the slowest stage in the invoice processing lifecycle. That’s why Tipalti ensures that our approval experience is streamlined from both the AP and approver’s perspective.
Our solution speeds up approval time on the AP side by using AI technology that recommends the right approval flow based on historical data. If you have an approval policy in place, our flexible approval rules engine can maintain your approval metrics based on any combination of parameters.
Approving bills is also very easy, as we provide an optimal approval experience via email by making sure approvers can see the info they need at a glance, from the vendor’s past bills to any other related documents. Approvals can be done directly from email and with no need to log in or purchase additional users.
Tipalti’s PO matching module is one of its strongest differentiators:
- We support both 2 and 3-way matching, on both the header and line level.
- Our automatic AI matching engine, together with our intuitive UI, cuts down on AP time wasted manually comparing tens of lines per invoice. It allows you to complete the matching process within seconds and you can easily view all exceptions and update the bill if needed.
- Our flexible matching tolerance engine, which allows you to define any combination of tolerance rules you want – on header level, line level, or both. You get the control you need without wasting time on redundant approvals.
You have growing domestic or global payables needs
As your payables volumes expand, workflows will become more complex due to the addition of global suppliers, multi-subsidiary operations, and mass payment processing. This will require an AP solution with built-in scalability to future-proof your payables processes.
The Tipalti Multi-Entity feature enables payers to manage a large number of entities within a single AP application. This allows for centralized controls and consolidated financial reporting. It also enhances workflows, streamlines tasks, and simplifies processes per entity.
For global corporations, Tipalti executes fast global payments to 196 countries in 120 currencies. Payments can be made using multiple international payment methods like:
- Global ACH (eCheck)
- Wire transfer
- PayPal
- Prepaid debit card.
You can also streamline your FX workflows with advanced capabilities like FX hedging, Multi-FX, and Payee FX optimization. Tipalti can be funded in 26 different currencies.
You want to automate the entire accounts payable process from supplier onboarding through to payment reconciliation
Tipalti’s white-label, self-service supplier portal guides suppliers through choosing their preferred payment method and collects banking details; which are automatically validated against 26,000 global banking rules to reduce payment errors by up to 66%.
The portal is accessible 24/7 for suppliers to check on payment status, and proactive payment communications are also distributed, reducing the time your team spends handling payment inquiries.
Tipalti also allows you to pay your suppliers earlier than their due date to capture early payment discounts and to incent the adoption of safer, more efficient, payment methods with fee-splitting capabilities.
Tipalti offers a guided digital tax form collection process that meets IRS requirements as prescribed by KPMG with over 1,000 validation rules, including TIN matching, to ensure that correct and accurate data has been provided.
Tipalti can also accommodate a wide variety of tax forms. Additionally, for non-US customers, Tipalti offers local and VAT tax ID collection in 49 countries with a built-in tax engine that validates against more than 3,000 rules to help prevent ID errors and other issues.
Lastly, Tipalti allows you to seamlessly integrate detailed, accurate transaction and reconciliation reports with your ERP system accelerating financial close by 25%. Tipalti offers API integrations with major ERPs, including NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks Online, and Xero. Tipalti can also integrate with all other ERP solutions, such as Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Sage, Acumatica, and more, via pre-built connectors using a no-code, drag-and-drop interface.
When to Choose Stampli
You need a low-cost solution
Stampli offers a low-cost solution and flexible contracts with “try before you buy” free trials, and month-to-month contracts with no commitment terms. It charges fixed monthly fees that include a set # of invoices and users. However, there can be hidden costs when working with Stampli
- Each approver requires a user license and is charged an additional fee if above your user allotment – there is no ability to approve invoices directly from emails
- Stampli’s payment module is an additional monthly fee (in addition to per-transaction pricing)
- Stampli charges a monthly integration fee that varies based on API or file-based syncs
Consider value for money and ROI beyond the sticker price. Make sure you are getting a scalable solution that you will not need to rip and replace down the line as your payables workloads grow in volume and complexity.
You run a small business with simple AP needs
Stampli is suitable for SMBs with simple AP workflows. For invoice processing, Stampli’s OCR technology only captures the invoice’s header-level information. It does not capture line-level details, and it does not provide managed services to augment invoice data capture.
The Stampli solution is also missing procurement capabilities. Tipalti offers an integrated procurement and payable solution that helps to streamline company purchases, improve spend controls, and reduce AP processing time.
While Stampli allows you to collect, track, and manage tax forms and other vendor documents but their tax capabilities are not as robust as Tipalti. Stampli does not support tax data validations, tax preparation reports with auto-calculated withholdings, or end-of-year eFiling integrations / eFiling services with the IRS.
These gaps lead to more time spent on manual processes or the need to invest in additional solutions outside of Stampli.
You need to get set up quickly
Stampli offers aggressive implementation timelines and claims it can have you up and running a matter of days. However, we suggest you don’t rush implementation. AP solutions can help you improve your business operations, but only when set up correctly. You can’t get ERP sync wrong – it’s a lot of work to troubleshoot and fix sync issues.
If immediate setup is a priority, Tipalti can create a supplier portal instance, set up invoice collection and payment in 1 day. We can map customers’ workflows, GL codes, ERP setup, test cases, and vendor onboarding later. Generally, we can get customers live in 2-weeks if the customer is ready to do so, we do this with a “white glove” service where customers have a dedicated implementation manager, customer success manager, and supplier enablement program for vendor onboarding that takes a lot of burden off the customer and to ensure a successful ERP sync to avoid future sync errors.
Four Signs It’s Time to Upgrade to Tipalti
Stampli is designed to help small businesses pay suppliers and perform lightweight bookkeeping. Its solution limitations begin to show once your business starts to grow.
Here are four reasons you may want to consider upgrading to Tipalti:
1. You Need to Streamline Global Supplier Payments
Tipalti can send payments to 196 countries in 120 local currencies via global ACH, wire, PayPal, and more.
2. The Volume of Payments is Overwhelming
Are you processing hundreds of payments at a time? Then you need a flexible AP automation solution that efficiently scales with your business. Tipalti offers integrations that will automatically synchronize and reconcile ERP and accounting systems.
3. Your Business Needs Better Financial Controls
As you grow and add more people to the team, there is more of a need for financial controls. The payment lifecycle must be audited on a regular basis. Tipalti boasts enterprise-level financial controls that include built-in bill and supplier audit trails. It also automates reporting to support audit preparedness.
4. Your Reconciliation Challenges are Increasing by the Minute
Tipalti consolidates payment remittance results into custom reports for quicker and more accurate payment reconciliation and a faster financial close.
What Our Customers Say
The amount of time that’s been saved from moving to an automation process is very significant. We’ve removed 90% of the manual elements from the process, and we’re making it super easy for everyone at each stage to understand what’s going on.
Bradley Clifford | Assistant Controller, Stack Overflow
We were looking for something that made the approval process better. We liked the efficiency of Tipalti’s approval flow and its simplicity was very user-friendly and integrated well with NetSuite.
Byron Whitman | Corporate Controller, Next Insurance
The system is flexible for dynamically processing invoices with both two-way or three-way PO matching. That process is seamless. I can do it all in Tipalti and automatically know it’s synced back in our ERP system.
Cherith Aasen | Staff Accountant, RealWear
Save Time and Money with Accounts Payable Automation
Our in-depth survey of global AP teams found that nearly 50% of all respondents spend over five days each month processing invoices manually. That’s a lot of time wasted!
Adding accounts payable automation technology to your workflow allows teams to spend less time on manual data entry and more resources on business strategy and growth.
When comparing the benefits of Tipalti vs. Stampli, consider both the short and long-term needs of your business. If you plan to expand and work with more suppliers in the future, Tipalti’s automated AP solution is your answer. It enables a company to rapidly scale while enhancing visibility and strengthening financial controls.
Get started today with a free demo of Tipalti.
