When it comes to managing company revenues, it’s not just about what you sell but what you save. Spend management is vital to making the most of every dollar — conserving capital to fund meaningful investments, drive growth, and improve cash position.

Technology makes it easier than ever to accurately and automatically track business expenses, identify trends, and make good choices about capital allocation. Yet, with so many spend management software tools available for the mid-market, choosing between options can be difficult. 

With real-time spend data and line-level spend coding, Order.co combines the best features of a stand-alone spend management system with the power of procurement software in one dynamic tool. This unique combination of functionality positions Order.co among the best spend management tools available to the mid-market. 

We’ve compiled a list of the top 10 spend management tools to help your team streamline its budgetary controls and maximize its cash efficiency.

Download the free ebook: The Procurement Strategy Playbook for Modern Businesses

What are the benefits of spend management software?

Visibility: Spend management software provides a comprehensive view of all procurement spending. It helps accounting teams track invoices, organize contracts, and document procurement activities. It also helps finance teams keep track of budgets, vendor performance, benchmarking, and trends.

Spend management software provides a central repository for financial data to ensure an accurate audit trail of expenses. With enhanced visibility into spending, organizations can easily identify areas for improvement and make adjustments when necessary.

Accuracy: Spend management software significantly improves the accuracy of accounting data by automating the procurement and payment process. With the right platform, every purchase is logged electronically for easy tracking, categorization, matching, and reconciling. Software reduces instances of human error and saves hours of lost productivity spent researching issues. 

Transparent approvals: Software also helps to streamline the approval process for purchase requests, ensuring every purchase is properly approved by managers, legal, IT, and finance teams before being fulfilled and recorded. A streamlined approvals process helps prevent maverick spending and overspending by ensuring every purchase falls within budgetary controls and has a solid business case behind it.

Lower risk: Spend management software mitigates procurement risks through enhanced visibility and control over the entire procurement process. In addition to the approval workflows mentioned above, a spend management solution provides various features that improve budgetary control, including: 

• Centralized purchasing for better visibility and compliance
• Supplier management tools to evaluate vendors throughout the procurement life cycle
• Better budgetary control to reduce instances of fraudulent activity or accidental overpayments

1. Order.co

Spend management through the Order.co platform makes it easy to curate spending. Order.co offers pre-approved and preferred vendors, streamlines the requisition and purchase orders approval process, and automates invoice payment for any volume of purchases flowing through your organization. 

The platform offers centralized spend analysis features that allow you to extract real-time data insights from your procurement process so you can analyze trends. Plus, you can see your spending by category, user type, department, location, or project. The procure-to-pay features of the system allow users to get the products they need through approved channels, route approvals, and make payments automatically to save time and reduce errors. 

Top Features:

• Custom catalog features with pre-approved products for easy spend policy management
• Dynamic budget settings by user, location, cost center, product type, and more
• Streamlined automated approvals to speed cycle times

Pros:

• A fast and reliable onboarding process allows users to begin ordering and routing requests. 
• Automated features like pre-populated vendor list options, approval routing, and one-click invoice payments make strategic sourcing and end-to-end spend management easier.

Cons: 

• Reporting options are slightly limited, though the development team is responsive to user requests for expanded capabilities.

Best for: Order.co is great for companies of all sizes. 

2. Airbase

Focused on the needs of companies “from startup to IPO,” Airbase offers a scalable solution to spend management. This is particularly true in spend management aspects such as accounts payable, corporate card programs, and employee expenses. The platform bills its services as an all-in-one solution for non-payroll spend.

Airbase serves customers from the computer software, IT services, financial services, and automotive industries. 

Top Features:

• Guided procurement 
• Accounts payable automation
• Expense management
• Corporate card features 

Pros:

• Many users appreciate Airbase's ease of use, allowing managers to approve and review spending across their team with just a few clicks. 
• The system provides at-a-glance visibility for expense spending, with a single approval workflow for all types of spend. 

Cons:

• Users report a bit of a learning curve with implementation and use, such as difficulties uploading receipts through the system. But as a newer system, reports of occasional bugs are to be expected. 
• Corporate card options are limited to pre-paid procurement cards. Some users would like to see expanded capabilities for this feature. 

Best for: Airbase works well for small to mid-market companies. 

Ebook

The Procurement Strategy Playbook for Modern Businesses

Learn the key pillars of a strong strategy, valuable procurement metrics to track, and initiatives you can start implementing today.

Download the ebook

3. Brex

Brex offers a five-in-one solution for customers looking to manage budgets and expenses through a card-based business spend management system. The individual credit card limits system uses company cash flow to provide card-based spend controls for global employees without personal liability requirements. 

The system offers managers real-time spend visibility and approvals with a useful mobile app. This allows them to “manage by exception” when dealing with limited instances of maverick spend versus issuing approvals for each individual purchase.

Top Features:

• Corporate card services
• Travel management
• Mobile app
• Bill pay features

Pros: 

• The system is easy to use regardless of user level (whether buyer, manager, or finance leader). 
• The customer service team is quick and responsive to issues like login difficulties, card replacement requests, and trouble using the system. 

Cons:

• Reporting requires improvement when managing multiple user accounts on the admin side. For instance, reporting for individual users requires manual sorting and searching rather than individual spend reports on demand.
• Expense receipt uploading through the mobile app does not always work as expected. This requires users to wait to upload (in cases of connectivity issues) or to find a workaround to import receipts. 

Best for: Brex is geared towards the needs of small businesses, with some room to grow as companies scale. 

4. Spendesk

All-in-one tool Spendesk provides solutions for managing individual employee spend. This includes employee spend challenges, corporate card service, invoice payments, spend approval workflows, reimbursements, budgeting, pre-accounting, and compliance features. 

The system makes it easy to submit expense reports, track spending automatically through corporate cards, and pay invoices. It offers an app for inputting new expense data and integrates with Slack to route directly to these channels versus email. 

Top Features:

• Streamlined month-end close
• Virtual and physical cards
• Zero cost setup 

Pros:

• App-based interface is quick and easy to use, allowing employees to upload and route their expenses for approval. 
• The ability to quickly spin up virtual cards for large purchases takes the burden off of employees. No more buying on a personal card and waiting for reimbursement.

Cons:

• The receipt upload feature has some quirks, with incorrect amounts or coding reported by multiple users. 
• A few users have requested the ability to look at reporting for personal expenses and historical expenses.

Best for: Spendesk primarily serves the mid-market. 

5. Navan (formerly TripActions)

For businesses with significant corporate travel programs, Navan provides one-platform support for travel, corporate card, and employee expense management. The global system helps organizations reduce their spend on the travel category, keep employee finances safe, and improve productivity for in-the-field staff. 

The platform pairs a SaaS approach to spend management with a built-in travel booking component. It provides user rules and settings to keep bookings within policy. Users can access 24/7 live support from travel agents for booking or changing flights, hotels, transportation, and more. 

Top Features:

• Rewards features for in-policy spend
• Self-service employee travel management
• Corporate card-based spend controls

Pros: 

• The travel platform has a wide selection of hotels, cars, and other travel providers to make booking easy. On the back end, all employee bookings on corporate cards flow to detailed reporting for accounting. 
• The mobile app makes it easy to submit expenses in the field for quick reimbursement.

Cons:

• Some users report difficulty reaching live agents or receiving adequate service in the case of delays or cancellations. 
• Back-end systems do not always work as expected. For instance, managers cannot see spend data for members of their departments. It is challenging to edit GL codes when changes are required. 

Best for: Navan is well-suited to the needs of mid-market and enterprise companies. 

6. Ramp

Finance automation platform Ramp provides a five-in-one software solution. It consolidates corporate cards, expense management, bill payments, accounting, and reporting into an integrated solution. Unifying these systems into a single tool allows finance teams to close their books faster and more efficiently.  

Top Features:

• Physical and virtual cards
• Automated expense capture
• Global spend management services 

Pros:

• The spend rules and spend reporting features are easy to use and granular enough to support organizations with multiple locations. Analysis features are available by team, individual, or category.
• The card offers cashback benefits to help save money across the organization. 

Cons:

• The bill payment system is currently limited to domestic vendors, which creates friction in organizations purchasing internationally.
• Some users would like the ability to earn loyalty miles for travel, a feature not possible when using a Ramp-issued corporate card. Some users feel that the cashback and benefits offered are not competitive for high-spend organizations (compared to rewards for American Express cards). 

Best for: Ramp primarily serves small businesses, with some features that extend its use into the mid-market. 

Ebook

The Procurement Strategy Playbook for Modern Businesses

Learn the key pillars of a strong strategy, valuable procurement metrics to track, and initiatives you can start implementing today.

Download

"*" indicates required fields

First Name*

Last Name*

Company*

Email*

Phone

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

7. Mesh Payments

This all-in-one spend management platform creates control and visibility in every transaction. With automation for the most time-consuming tasks, Mesh Payments allows finance users to streamline payments for travel, supplies, vendor payments, tail spend, and more. It also categorizes spend, conducts expense receipt matching, and has one-touch invoice reconciliation functions. 

The system issues virtual and physical prepaid cards with pre-set spending limits, allowing employees to make self-service purchases while automatically routing all spend information back to the system.

Top Features: 

• Monthly close optimization
• Expense approval features
• Virtual and physical card services

Pros:

• Virtual and physical cards offer safer alternatives to sharing actual credit card information via unsecured means. 
• Visibility into spending by vendor, category, or department allows for a quick and comprehensive view of company finances.

Cons:

• Integration selection leaves something to be desired. Users want to see integrations with large systems such as Quickbooks and ERP providers.
• Some users would like more in-platform analysis and visibility without the need to download data into Excel for analysis.

Best for: Mesh Payments serves small to medium-sized businesses. 

8. Procurify

Procurify is a cloud-based platform that helps mid-market businesses leverage intelligent spending and procurement. It offers real-time spending insights, approval management, and policy compliance. Its dashboards are easy to use, and its reporting tools simplify tracking, workflows, and budget allocation.

Top Features: 

• End-to-end visibility
• Real-time data and reporting
• Accounts payable customization

Pros:

• Catalog-style reorders simplify rebuying previously purchased items.
• Order tracking to ensure speedy and accurate fulfillment.
• Mobile application creates easy access to the platform from phones or other devices.

Cons:

• Some features and historical data may be difficult to find.

• It’s challenging to make changes or corrections to POs in progress.
• No dashboard-style updates for in-progress orders. Research requires running a report in the system.

Best for: Procurify works well for small and mid-market companies.

9. PayEm

PayEm provides end-to-end spend management using a smart credit card system. Finance can approve, track, and manage vendors, pay for subscriptions, and approve funding requests from users in real time. 

One unique feature of the system allows administrators to set up a dedicated virtual card for each vendor. This lets them individually designate budgets and limits and prevents overspending by receiving a notification when a card nears the limit. It also offers subscription monitoring for employee apps, automatically canceling dormant subscriptions. 

The system provides real-time spend data and integration support for other systems, such as ERP platforms. Spend data is searchable and sortable by vendor, users, category, etc. Live user support is available for implementation and issues using the system. 

Top Features: 

• Approval and request workflows
• Real-time data and reporting
• Accounts payable customization

Pros:

• PayEm allows users to quickly and easily scan out-of-pocket expenses and route reimbursement requests through the system without extra steps or delays.
• The system fully integrates with NetSuite, allowing users to issue and manage PO creation and reconciliation within the PayEm system. 

Cons:

• Several users point to system bugs and implementation issues consistent with adopting a newer tool. Customer service is reportedly responsive and works to find resolutions.
• While international payments are available, users would like the ability to assign cards with international currencies. This feature is not currently available. 

Best for: Payem works well for small to mid-market businesses. 

10. Custodia

The AI-driven Custodia spend management system allows small businesses to achieve “digital finance” with automation and company spending limits to empower employees while keeping spend under control. The system offers a mobile app that allows users to enter estimated purchase details directly, place the purchase on a proprietary card, and send the transaction through for approval and spend tracking. 

Top Features:

• Automated expenses
• Automated spending and budgeting
• Digital finance features

Pros:

• Employees can spend and track expenses automatically, meaning budgeting and approvals occur instantly. 
• The system is highly customizable and offers intuitive AI features that make reporting and budgeting faster. 

Cons:

• The setup and UI can sometimes confuse less tech-savvy users. Specifically, setting up MCC code rules takes time to learn and configure.
• The system sometimes miscodes spend categories and must be manually adjusted.

Best for: Custodia is intended for mid-market to enterprise-sized companies. 

Improve spend management with Order.co

Spend management solutions make purchase and expense tracking simple and efficient, but with Order.co, leaders take spend controls from reactive to proactive. The dynamic controls and purchasing guidelines within the system go beyond identifying maverick spend to eliminating it at the source. With Order.co, you get the increased productivity of curated sourcing from pre-approved vendor purchasing options paired with granular, real-time spending data. Easy and accurate GL coding and robust analysis features make it easy for finance teams to control costs across any number of users, departments, or locations. 

If you’ve considered your options and are ready to learn more about using Order.co to enhance your spend management experience, schedule a demo of the Order.co platform today.

Get started

Schedule a demo to see how Order.co can simplify buying for your business.

"*" indicates required fields

First Name*

Last Name*

Company*

Email*

Phone*

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.