6 Best Business Expense Tracker Apps

The best business expense tracker apps allow you to capture receipts electronically, import credit card transactions, and integrate with most accounting software products. As a result, employees spend less time tracking down receipts so you don’t miss out on any tax deductions. We evaluated a dozen options and narrowed it down to the top six.

If you’re a solopreneur looking for a software that goes beyond tracking expenses, we recommend QuickBooks Self-Employed. QuickBooks Self-Employed is an app that you can download on your mobile device and track all of your income, mileage and expenses. Sign up today to save up to 50% off a paid subscription.

  Visit QuickBooks Self-Employed

Top 6 Business Expense Tracker Apps 2019

When to Use QuickBooks Online

If you’re looking for a way to keep track of your entire business and not just expenses, we recommend QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Online is a complete accounting software that you can use to manage your entire business directly from your mobile device. With QuickBooks Online, you can invoice and collect payment from customers, track and pay bills, and access detailed reports like profit and loss to see the overall health of your business.

In addition to managing all financial aspects of your business, you can give other users access to your data so that they can also access it from any mobile device. For example, instead of trekking over to your CPA’s office, give them access to your data so they can run the reports they need to prepare your tax return without having to bother you! Sign up for your QuickBooks Online account and you can save up to 50% off your paid subscription.

How We Evaluated Small Business Expense Tracking Apps

Many employees don’t bother to request reimbursement for legitimate business expenses due to lost receipts and the amount of time it takes to complete an expense report. With a business expense tracker app, you can take a picture of a receipt with your mobile phone and toss those paper receipts, which will help to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete a reimbursement request.

We evaluated business expense tracker apps based on the following key features:

• Cost: Has a pricing plan that is affordable for small and large companies.
• Ease of use: Is easy to set up, navigate, and learn how to use.
• Electronic receipt capture: Allows users to take a snapshot of a receipt using a mobile app and toss the paper receipt.
• Automatically import credit card transactions: Provides the ability to connect a business credit card or prepaid expense card to the app to download all expenses.
• Able to create approval workflow: Allows you to set up at least one or more approval levels so managers and business owners can review and approve expenses once they have been submitted.
• Mileage tracking and calculation: Allows you to track miles driven for business and automatically calculates the mileage reimbursement amount.
• Reimbursement: Allows for quick reimbursement to employee within a few days of business expense approval.
• Integration with accounting software: Easily integrates expense information and receipts with an accounting software like QuickBooks.

After considering the key features using our evaluation criteria, Zoho Expense is our top pick as best business expense app. The basic plan offered by Zoho Expense is free and it goes well beyond what most business expense apps do to include features like multicurrency and per diem allowances. In addition, Zoho Expense integrates with a whole suite of popular Zoho apps, such as Zoho Books and Zoho CRM. Rather than an app dedicated to expense tracking, you should also consider one of the great mobile accounting apps that includes expense tracking.

Zoho Expense: Best Overall Business Expense Tracker App

Zoho Expense is the most affordable app that includes the features that most businesses need. It offers a free plan that is ideal for solopreneurs with only a couple of employees, and its paid plan starts at just $15 per month for 10 users versus an average of $8 per user, per month for the other providers on our list. Zoho Expense also works great for larger businesses with 1,000 employees or less. You can track, approve, and pay all receipts directly within this app.

Zoho Expense Pricing & Features

In addition to the Free plan, Zoho Expense has a Standard plan that starts at $15 per organization, per month. This plan includes up to 10 users at no additional cost, multilevel approvals, and next-day reimbursement. Both plans are packed with a lot of great features, such as mileage expense, per diem allowances, expense policy enforcement, and the ability to handle multiple currencies for travel overseas.

Zoho Expense Tiered Features

Below is a snapshot of the Zoho Expense app, which can be downloaded to your mobile device:

The Zoho Expense pricing plans are:

Zoho Expense Free Plan

Zoho Expense Free edition is the most budget-friendly at a cost of zero. This plan includes up to 100 receipt captures, expense policy enforcement, and multicurrency expensing. Plus, you can set per diem allowances and track mileage expenses. This version beats the free version of Expensify because you can have up to three users with this plan, while the Expensify plan only allows one user.

Zoho Expense Free edition is ideal for a solopreneur with one or two employees. If you are currently using an Excel spreadsheet or the old shoebox method to track receipts, this will be a huge upgrade that you won’t have to pay a dime for.

Zoho Expense Standard Plan

Zoho Expense Standard edition runs $15 per month ($180 per year) for up to 10 users, which is much more economical than Expensify, which starts at $5 per user, per month. In addition to the features included in the Free plan and the additional seven users, you can create multiple levels of approval and easily create reimbursement payments once the expense report is approved.

Zoho Standard edition is ideal for small business expense tracking with less than 1,000 employees across different departments and multiple offices. The multilevel approvals, custom roles, and online reimbursement features will help to streamline the entire small business expense tracking process. If you do have more than 1,000 employees, you can contact Zoho Expense directly to receive a custom price quote.

What Zoho Expense Is Missing

Zoho Expense does not have the large ecosystem of retailers like SAP Concur. As a result, expenses made at large retailers like Uber, Starbucks, and popular hotel chains automatically get recorded in SAP Concur. To save time, you may want to consider going with SAP Concur if most of your expenses are with large retailers.

Zoho Expense User Reviews

Zoho Expense users have given this app rave reviews. Users love the number of features included at such an affordable cost. Customers who use QuickBooks and Zoho said that the integration with Zoho Expense works very well and has saved both employees and approvers a lot of time. Negative reviews centered around the slow response time from technical support, which is done through email since there is no telephone support available.

 

Expensify: Best Business Expense Tracker App as Alternative to Zoho Expense

Expensify came in second place to Zoho Expense. Similar to Zoho Expense, Expensify is ideal for the solopreneur and companies with no more than 1,000 employees. Similar to Zoho Expense, Expensify includes a free plan and their paid plans start at $5 per active user, per month. This is a lot less than SAP Concur ($8 per user) and TriNet ($10 per user). Like Tallie, Expensify has built-in intelligence to detect duplicate expenses, which will help to reduce employee fraud.

Expensify Pricing & Features

Similar to Zoho Expense, Expensify also offers a free plan that is ideal for a solopreneur with no employees. Unlike Zoho Expense, the free (Individual) plan is very limited in features. The paid plans start at $5 per active user, per month and include unlimited receipt scans, unlimited receipt storage, online next-day reimbursement, and integrations with popular accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero.

Expensify Tiered Features

The Expensify app uses a tool called SmartScan that can read the receipt and code it to the proper account (e.g., office supplies, meals), and it will also automatically add it to an expense report for you. Multilevel tagging is another unique feature of Expensify. With this tool, you can group expenses into multiple categories (e.g., department, location) for additional analysis and reporting.

Below is a snapshot of the Expensify app that can be downloaded to your mobile device:

The three pricing plans for Expensify are:

Expensify Individual Plan

The Expensify Individual plan will fit any budget because it is 100% free, like the Zoho Expense Free plan. However, it is also limited in features; you can only scan up to five receipts per month with the smart technology that reads the amount and merchant information. Unlimited receipt storage and basic expense approval are also included in this plan. However, it does not integrate with accounting software like the Team and Corporate plans do.

The Individual plan is ideal for a solopreneur with no employees and just a few receipts that they need to track. While this plan is limited to five smartscans, you can still upload more than five receipts, but you will have to manually enter the amount, merchant, and expense category after the fifth receipt.

Expensify Team Plan

The Expensify Team plan is $5 per active user ($60 annually per active user). Similar to Tallie, if an employee does not submit expenses during the month, you won’t be charged for the employee that month. The Team plan goes beyond the Individual plan to include online ACH next-day reimbursements once an expense report is approved. Plus, it integrates with Xero and QuickBooks.

The Team plan is ideal for startups, nonprofits, and businesses with small teams to track and reimburse expenses. However, if you need multiple levels of approval or the ability to create rules for expense policy reinforcement, the Corporate plan might be a better fit for you.

Expensify Corporate Plan

The Expensify Corporate plan is $9 per active user, per month ($108 annually per active user); this is a whopping $48 more per active user annually than the $60 for the Team plan. For this additional cost, you get all of the features included in the Team plan plus a direct integration to NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Dynamics, and Zenefits. Multilevel tagging of expenses (e.g., by department, project, location), and advanced expense policy reinforcement are also included.

The Corporate plan is ideal for mid- to large-sized businesses with a sales team or group of employees that frequently travel for business. This plan is ideal if expense claims typically require more than one approval and you want the system to flag items that do not adhere to the Corporate Expense Policy.

What Expensify Is Missing

Similar to SAP Concur, Expensify cannot compete with the Free Zoho Expense plan. While it does have a free plan, there are several features that have limitations. First, the number of scans is limited to five versus 100 with Zoho Expense. Plus the fact that you cannot have any additional users (and that Zoho Expense includes three, at no additional charge) makes it hard to beat Zoho Expense.

Expensify User Reviews

Overall, users like how simple it is to track receipts with Expensify’s app. Users say that it is very user-friendly and it has saved employees and managers a lot of time. On the flip side, some customers who contacted tech support did not have a good experience, so there is room for improvement.

 

SAP Concur: Best Business Expense Tracker App With a Large Ecosystem of Retailers

Unlike Zoho Expense and Expensify, SAP Concur does not have a free plan. However, their paid plans start at $8 per user, which is the average cost of the paid plans for other providers on our list. SAP Concur can accommodate both small businesses and large Fortune 500 companies. Plus, SAP Concur has a large ecosystem of retailers like Starbucks and Uber, which means that when you buy from these retailers, the expenses are automatically captured in Concur.

SAP Concur Pricing & Features

SAP Concur offers two plans. The Standard edition is ideal for small businesses with less than 100 employees and one level of approval and the Professional edition is ideal for larger companies with more than 100 employees. Unlike the Standard edition, the Professional includes multiple levels of approvals. In addition to including the basic features that we listed above, both plans include a free TripIt Travel Pro account, which allows employees to manage their itinerary.

SAP Concur Tiered Features

Below is a screenshot of the SAP Concur app you can download to your mobile device:

The pricing plans for SAP Concur are:

SAP Concur Standard Edition

SAP Concur Standard edition runs $8 per user, per month ($96 annually per user). It includes the ability to capture receipts via the mobile app, employees can create expense reports within the app or from a desktop computer, and you can create an approval workflow. Similar to Tallie, you can create rules to ensure adherence to the corporate expense policy. Corporate credit cards issued to employees can also be linked to SAP Concur, so credit card charges are automatically captured.

SAP Concur Standard edition is ideal for a company that has less than 100 employees and needs the ability to set up an approval workflow. Once employees submit their expense claim request, alerts are sent to their supervisors to inform them expense reports are awaiting their approval.

SAP Concur Professional Edition

SAP Concur Professional edition will cost you more than $8 per user, per month. Similar to the TriNet and Tallie Enterprise plans, pricing is dependent on what your specific business requirements are. You will need to visit the SAP Concur website to request a custom quote. On top of what’s included in the Standard edition, you get advanced workflow approvals, advanced adherence to corporate expense policy, VAT tracking (a type of sales tax), and multiple bank accounts to handle reimbursements.

The Professional edition is ideal for a large enterprise organization with hundreds or even thousands of employees spread across the globe. There will typically be more than one level of approvals required and an intricate set of corporate expense policy rules that need to be set up in the system.

What SAP Concur Is Missing

While SAP Concur is not missing any key features we listed above, their pricing just does not beat Zoho Expense. When it comes to an affordable app that most small business owners can afford, the free Zoho Expense plan beats paying $8 per month ($96 annually) for SAP Concur. However, SAP Concur is a great plan for Fortune 500 companies with a lot of employees.

SAP Concur User Reviews

Most of the user reviews for SAP Concur are positive. Customers like the integration with QuickBooks and feel that it is very easy to use. The negative reviews said that the customer support team is unresponsive and difficult to work with at times.

TriNet Expense: Best Business Expense Tracker App as Another Good Option

TriNet Expense is another great business expense tracker app for small or large offices with multiple locations. While it does not offer a free plan like Zoho Expense and Expensify, their paid plans start at $10 per user, per month. All TriNet plans have the same features and the only difference between each plan is the number of users included. As a matter of fact, the more users you have, the less you pay.

TriNet Pricing & Features

TriNet Expense has three plans between $8 and $10 per user, per month. The fourth plan is for Enterprise organizations with more than 250 users (pricing varies based on the number of users). This plan includes all of the minimum features required, plus you can create custom expense categories and import expenses from bank and credit card accounts. Tracking multiple foreign taxes, such as VAT, GST, and HST, is also included.

TriNet Tiered Features

A snapshot of the TriNet Expense app that you can download on any mobile device is below:

The pricing plans for TriNet Expense are:

TriNet Startup Tier

The TriNet Startup tier runs $10 per user, per month ($120 per user annually). Unlike Expensify and other competitors that limit their most affordable plan, this plan includes all of the features that the higher tiers have, including recording and tracking mileage, custom expense categories, and import of bank and credit card transactions. However, it is limited to a maximum of nine users.

The TriNet Startup tier is ideal for a small business owner who has a small team of no more than nine employees. However, if you are a solopreneur with no employees, the Personal plan for individuals might be a better fit for you. Visit the TriNet website to request pricing for this plan.

TriNet Team Tier

The TriNet Team tier runs $9 per user, per month ($108 per user annually), which is $12 per user, per year more than the Startup tier. It includes all of the great features the other three tiers include, such as expense policy reinforcement, expense approvals, and integration with a number of other systems like QuickBooks and NetSuite.

This tier is ideal if you have between 10 and 24 users who need to submit expense requests. If you have 25 or more users, then you need to sign up for the Corporate tier.

TriNet Corporate Tier

The TriNet Corporate tier runs $8 per user, per month ($96 per user annually), which is $12 per user, per year more than the Team tier. It also includes all of the great features that the other providers include, such as detailed reports to analyze spending trends by merchant, employee, and expense categories, and the ability to manage up to 160 currencies for overseas travel.

The TriNet Corporate tier is ideal for organizations with larger teams of 25 or more located in one office or spread across multiple offices.

TriNet Enterprise Tier

The Enterprise tier includes more than ten times the number of users as the Corporate Tier at more than 250. Since pricing will vary based on the actual number of users needed, you will have to contact TriNet directly to obtain a quote. This tier includes the same features as the other tiers, including tax tracking for VAT, GST, and HST.

What TriNet Is Missing

TriNet knocks it out of the park when it comes to price, features, and the ability to track employee expenses from the initial purchase to reimbursement to the employee. However, it does not offer a free account like Zoho Expense does, and it is a bit pricier than Zoho Expense. However, when you compare the amount of features for the price, it is a great alternative to Zoho Expense.

TriNet User Reviews

We found overwhelmingly positive reviews from TriNet users. TriNet customers like how user-friendly the app is, how easy it is to set employees up with access, and how affordable it is for small businesses. We did not find any negative reviews on this product.

 

QuickBooks Self-Employed: Best Business Expense Tracker App for an All-in-One Solution

QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE) is ideal for freelancers and Uber and Lyft drivers looking for a complete solution that will track income, business expenses, and mileage, all from the app. Paid plans start at $10 per month or you can upgrade to the TurboTax bundle for only $17 per month. With this plan, you can also file your federal and state tax returns, at no additional charge. Check out our QuickBooks Self-Employed guide to learn more about the features and benefits.

QuickBooks Self-Employed Pricing & Features

QuickBooks Self-Employed has two pricing tiers starting at $10 per month. It goes beyond small business expense tracking to include a mileage tracker, the ability to connect a bank or credit card account, invoice customers, and file your federal and state tax returns.

QuickBooks Self-Employed Tiered Features

Unlike its competitors that focus on tracking business expenses, QuickBooks Self-Employed is an accounting software that allows you to track business expenses, create customer invoices, track mileage, manage and pay quarterly taxes, and transfer your data to TurboTax so you can file your Schedule C.

Below is the QuickBooks Self-Employed app you can download to any mobile device:

The pricing plans for QuickBooks Self-Employed are:

QuickBooks Self-Employed Plan

Out of all the providers on our list, QuickBooks Self-Employed is the most affordable paid plan at a starting price of $10 per month ($120 per year). Unfortunately, this plan only allows one user access versus 10 users with the Zoho Expense Free plan. The QBSE standard plan has the ability to track up to five customers, and connect one bank or credit card account. With the QBSE app, you can scan unlimited receipts and keep track of miles driven.

The QuickBooks Self-Employed plan is ideal for freelancers who not only need an expense tracker app, but also a way to keep track of their income. QuickBooks Self-Employed is also capable of separating personal expenses from business expenses. However, we recommend that you set up a business checking account as soon as possible; the IRS frowns upon commingling personal and business accounts.

QuickBooks Self-Employed TurboTax Bundle

QuickBooks Self-Employed TurboTax Bundle is the higher priced tier at $17 per month ($204 per year). This is an additional $84 per year more than the standard QBSE plan. For the additional cost, you get to file one federal and state (if applicable) tax return using TurboTax. All of the information in QuickBooks Self-Employed will transfer to your Schedule C, with no CPA required. No other provider on our list offers this feature.

The QuickBooks Self-Employed TurboTax plan is ideal for freelancers who want a program that goes beyond managing income and expenses to being able to file their tax return without paying a tax preparer a few hundred dollars to do it for them.

What QuickBooks Self-Employed Is Missing

While QuickBooks Self-Employed allows you to go beyond tracking business expenses to managing income and filing your Schedule C, it only includes one user and does not have the functionality to manage expenses for employees. Zoho Expense is a much better choice if you have employees who need to submit expense reimbursement requests.

QuickBooks Self-Employed User Reviews

QuickBooks Self-Employed users like how easy it is to set up and use the app, and they like the built-in mileage tracker. On the negative side, users don’t like the limitations of the software, such as the number of customers you can bill and the inability to track accounts payable.

Tallie: Best Business Expense Tracker App for Fraud Prevention

Tallie goes well beyond the basic features of tracking receipts to help businesses minimize employee theft that occurs each year through the expense reimbursement process. Tallie is ideal for large organizations or accounting firms that can afford to pay a premium (plans start at $50 plus $9 per active user, per month) to prevent fraud. Unlike its competitors, Tallie has intelligent automation that accelerates the expense submission process, eliminates duplicate reimbursement, and flags potential policy violations.

Tallie Pricing & Features

Tallie not only meets, but exceeds our required list of features. It uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to automatically categorize expenses by type (e.g., office supplies, meals). Plus, employees can scan receipts and drag and drop them to the right expense report. Once the expense report has been approved, the employee is notified. Unfortunately, these additional features come with a hefty price tag of $50 plus $9 per active user, per month.

Tallie Tiered Features

A snapshot of the Tallie mobile app that can be downloaded on any mobile device is below:

The pricing plans for Tallie are:

Tallie Business Plan

The Tallie Business plan runs $9 per month ($108 per year) per active user plus an additional $50 minimum per month ($600). However, if an employee does not use Tallie for a particular month, they are considered inactive for that month and, as a result, you are not charged for that month. This plan includes the ability to detect duplicate expenses, send alerts via email to remind employees to submit expenses, and notify an approver when expenses are pending their approval.

Similar to SAP Concur Standard plan, the Tallie Business plan is ideal for small business owners with less than 100 employees looking to upgrade from Excel spreadsheets to a more automated system.

Tallie Enterprise Plan

Tallie Enterprise is similar to Concur Professional plan because this system can be customized to meet the specific needs of the business. In addition to including all of the features in the Business Plan tier, it also allows you to connect an unlimited number of personal and corporate credit cards. Customized training for your team and dedicated customer support is also included in this plan.

The Tallie Enterprise plan is ideal for large organizations with more than 100 employees spread across the globe. Both the dedicated support team and customized training sessions would be ideal for this type of company.

What Tallie Is Missing

Unfortunately, Tallie missed the boat when it comes to affordable pricing. The minimum cost of $50 per month plus $9 per active user, per month is quite steep for most small business owners. Instead, we recommend Zoho Expense. You can manage expenses for up to 10 employees for $15 per month.

Tallie User Reviews

Based on the customer reviews we found online, Tallie users say it is user-friendly, saves employees time, and the customer support team is very good. However, the negative reviews we found were centered primarily around the fact that the steep price is just not affordable for many small business owners.

 

Alternatives to the Best Business Expense Tracker Apps

If the options we have presented in this guide don’t fit your budget or meet your needs, we’ve included a few other products that we looked at during our research for this guide. These products are 100% free to use, and some of them even go beyond tracking business expense by including budgeting as well as tracking income and mileage.

Alternative Options to the Best Business Expense Apps

Bottom Line: Small Business Expense Tracking Apps

We have provided you with several business expense tracker apps that will fit any size business and any budget (including those with no budget). Now it’s time for you to download an app and start tracking those expenses.

We recommend that you give Zoho Expense a try. It is the most affordable app and it’s easy to use. You can start with the Free version, which will allow you and two employees to track your expenses for free. If you have more than two employees, sign up for the Standard edition for only $15 per month and give up to 10 employees access at no additional charge.

Visit Zoho Expense