I Examined G2’s 7 Finest Accounts Payable Automation Software program

Are you able to consider that for some time, I used to be really in company procurement, coping with meals components? And if there’s one factor I keep in mind clearly, it’s how painful the accounts payable course of was. Invoices piled up, approvals bought misplaced in e mail chains, and last-minute discrepancies turned easy funds into full-blown crises.

That have gave me an enormous appreciation for finance groups that cope with this at scale. Even immediately, many are caught with guide bill processing, gradual approvals, and cost errors, points that one of the best accounts payable automation software program may simply remedy.

Considering again to these days, I wished to see simply how a lot AP automation has advanced. So, I examined over 25 instruments to search out those that actually simplify bill processing, automate approvals, and enhance money move visibility. In case your staff is bored with chasing approvals and fixing errors, these handpicked seven instruments are price contemplating.

7 finest AP automation software program I like to recommend

Again once I labored in procurement, I spent means an excessive amount of time coping with gradual approvals, lacking buy orders, and cost delays. Belief me, I do know the struggles!

One of the best accounts payable automation software program doesn’t simply make issues quicker. It eliminates inefficiencies, reduces errors, and retains all the AP course of working easily. However not each instrument will get it proper. Some make life simpler, whereas others create as many complications as they remedy.

I wished to chop by means of the noise and discover out which of them really assist with bill processing and approvals and provides finance groups higher management over funds. Right here’s how I went about it.

What I prioritized when testing AP automation instruments

I thought-about the next components when evaluating one of the best accounts payable automation software program.

• Bill processing and information seize: Manually getting into bill particulars wastes time and is susceptible to errors. I seemed for platforms that mechanically seize information from invoices utilizing AI and optical character recognition (OCR). One of the best AP automation instruments go additional by matching invoices to buy orders and receipts, stopping duplicate funds, and decreasing guide reconciliation.
• Approval workflows that cut back bottlenecks: One of many largest complaints I’ve seen from finance groups is how lengthy it takes to approve invoices. To hurry up the method, I targeted on software program that lets customers customise approval workflows, arrange automated routing, and set off real-time notifications.
• Seamless integrations with different enterprise instruments: AP automation software program isn’t useful if it doesn’t sync with present accounting and enterprise useful resource planning programs. I prioritized instruments that combine easily with frequent ERPs and different main monetary platforms, decreasing the necessity for guide information entry and making certain up-to-date monetary data.
• Fraud detection and compliance controls: Monetary fraud and compliance violations are main dangers in accounts payable. I checked whether or not every platform had built-in fraud detection, computerized duplicate bill flagging, audit trails, and compliance monitoring.
• Automated vendor funds: AP groups cope with a number of distributors, currencies, and cost strategies. I seemed for software program that helps ACH transfers, wire funds, digital playing cards, and worldwide funds whereas offering options like early cost reductions and computerized reconciliation.
• Actual-time reporting and money move visibility: Finance groups want clear, real-time insights into excellent invoices, cost schedules, and total money move. I targeted on platforms that provide customizable dashboards, spend analytics, and predictive reporting so companies can keep forward of their monetary obligations.
• Consumer expertise and buyer assist: I worth environment friendly, quick, and user-friendly software program. I assessed every platform’s intuitiveness and reviewed the standard of buyer assist, making certain finance groups may obtain immediate help when points come up.

The listing under accommodates real person evaluations from the accounts payable automation software program web page. To be included on this class, an answer should:

• Ship customizable workflows to streamline repetitive accounts payable duties resembling information entry
• Embody doc seize and imaging options to transform paper invoices into digital paperwork
• Course of massive volumes of provider paperwork resembling invoices or credit score memos
• Present a single repository for customers to go looking and retrieve AP paperwork
• Match provider invoices with corresponding buy orders to precisely monitor the quantities owed
• Supply approval processes for funds, debits, or any modifications to AP transactions
• Adjust to accounting requirements and laws for AP processing
• Combine with accounting software program, ERP, or superior monetary programs resembling company efficiency administration (CPM)

*This information was pulled from G2 in 2025. Some evaluations might have been edited for readability.

BILL AP/AR brings invoicing, approvals, and vendor funds into one simplified house for finance groups trying to ditch guide spreadsheet work and follow-ups.

One in every of BILL’s largest strengths is its user-friendliness. The structure is clear, and actions like importing invoices, including distributors, or scheduling funds take just some clicks. Even I, with restricted AP expertise, was in a position to get comfy rapidly. That ease of use may help shave hours off the month-to-month workflow and remove confusion.

Vendor administration additionally felt smoother than I anticipated. BILL shops detailed vendor profiles and allows you to automate cost reminders. I may preserve monitor of cost historical past, tax paperwork, and even communication logs in a single place. The method makes vendor relationships extra clear and fewer reactive.

The approval workflow choices are one other main win. You may assign customized roles, route approvals throughout departments, and monitor each determination with full visibility. It’s an ideal match for groups that need inside controls with out pointless bottlenecks. I appreciated how simple it was to arrange multi-step approvals.

Fee processing pace is one space that could possibly be higher. I seen the transfers can take a number of days, which isn’t superb when a vendor wants a fast turnaround. That delay provides a little bit friction to an in any other case easy course of.

Based mostly on my analysis and talking to my colleagues in operations, I additionally realized that buyer assist didn’t at all times come by means of when wanted. Some questions took days to reply, and stay chat wasn’t constantly out there. Whereas there’s an honest assist middle, I discovered myself counting on trial and error greater than I’d like. Fairly a couple of G2 customers additionally resonate with this sentiment.

The sync with different accounting instruments principally works; there have been a couple of bumps early on. I bumped into duplicate transactions and a few lacking entries when syncing payments. It took further time to reconcile these points manually. With common checks, it is manageable, however I wouldn’t name the combination 100% dependable out of the field.

What I dislike about BILL AP/AR:

• Funds don’t undergo immediately, so I needed to think about a delay when scheduling vendor payouts. It’s not a dealbreaker, nevertheless it does require extra ahead planning.
• There have been a couple of hiccups in information syncing, and I spent a while double-checking entries. I additionally seen occasional mismatches that took further time to scrub up.

What G2 customers dislike about BILL AP/AR:

“Downloading studies from invoice.com is a really tedious course of. There are numerous sycnc errors whereas syncing with different software program like Sage Intact and so on.”

– BILL AP/AR Evaluate, Manoj B.

Sage Intacct is a cloud-based monetary administration resolution for rising companies and organizations with complicated accounting wants. It covers core modules like common ledger, accounts payable and receivable, reporting, and multi-entity consolidation.

I appreciated how user-friendly the core navigation was. The structure is clear, menus are logically grouped, and customary actions are simple to search out. I didn’t must depend on guesswork to find options or settings. As soon as I bought the cling of the workflow, duties like bill approvals and journal entries flowed rapidly.

The reporting engine is one in all Sage Intacct’s standout options. I may slice information by division, location, or mission and customise studies with filters and dimensions. It gave me the flexibleness to see financials from a number of angles, which is one thing many different programs wrestle with. For data-driven groups, it is a big win.

I used to be additionally impressed by how simply Sage Intacct dealt with a number of entities. Managing inter-company transactions, consolidations, and entity-specific permissions was simple. It made overseeing parent-child relationships a lot simpler and rolling all the things into unified studies when wanted.

That stated, not all the things got here simply—particularly the superior options. It took time (and a few outdoors assist) to learn to totally use dimensions, automate workflows, or optimize reporting layouts. This can be a little bit of a ramp-up for groups with out a devoted administrator.

There have been additionally a couple of persistent bugs that interrupted sure workflows. Undertaking monitoring didn’t at all times behave as anticipated, and my colleagues who’ve labored with Sage reported minor glitches when switching between entities. These weren’t dealbreakers, however they did require follow-up.

The reporting instruments, whereas highly effective, may’ve been extra intuitive. Among the setup choices felt buried, and I needed to experiment fairly a bit to get studies to look the best way I wished. As soon as issues had been configured, they labored properly, however the path to get there wasn’t at all times easy.

What I dislike about Sage Intacct:

• It took some time to wrap my head round extra superior options, and I wanted some outdoors assist to get essentially the most from it.
• Sure modules typically really feel barely unstable, particularly when juggling entities.

What G2 customers dislike about Sage Intacct:

“I dislike how lengthy it initially takes to get to the wanted pages. Having to open a number of tabs makes looking simpler and cuts down on the period of time I spend ready for the web page to load. It will be simpler for me if all the things I wanted to do with one bill could possibly be executed from the identical web page. I regularly need to refund invoices, and this cannot be executed from Intacct. I’ve to go to Intacct to search out the knowledge and take it to Braintree (each EFT and CC variations). There’s a couple of week’s ready interval for all the things to course of and sync; then I’ve to make use of Intacct to verse on one web page and reprocess on one other. It is not very simple to study at first, both. Since there are such a lot of back-and-forth steps, quite a lot of guide fixes, and one factor at a time, it takes quite a lot of persistence and asking questions. The phrases are extra geared in direction of accountants and never a billing assist staff”

– Sage Intacct Evaluate, Amber J.

Stampli simplifies bill administration and approvals and works alongside your present accounting system to assist route invoices quicker and cut back guide information entry. The instrument is very well-liked amongst finance groups that want extra visibility and collaboration of their AP workflows.

Bill processing in Stampli is easy and quick. I used to be in a position to add, route, and monitor invoices with minimal effort, and the system does an ideal job of auto-filling key fields. I preferred how approvers had been looped in mechanically, which sped up turnaround time. Even with excessive volumes, all the things feels simple to handle.

Buyer assist stood out in a great way. Anytime I had questions, whether or not it was setup-related or about particular workflows, I bought useful responses rapidly. I by no means felt caught ready for a repair, which gave me extra confidence within the instrument total. The assist staff clearly is aware of the platform inside and outside.

The interface is easy, trendy, and simple to study. I didn’t want a lot coaching to get began. The navigation is intuitive, and customary duties are only a click on or two away. For a finance instrument, it’s refreshingly simple.

One limitation I bumped into was round funds. Stampli doesn’t deal with all cost situations, and relying in your trade, there could also be restrictions. This meant I nonetheless needed to depend on different programs for the ultimate cost step, which broke the move a bit. 

Exporting processed invoices got here with its personal set of challenges. As soon as one thing is exported or marked full, enhancing turns into tough. That rigidity led to some do-overs once I caught small errors too late. A bit extra flexibility right here would go a great distance.

What I dislike about Stampli:

• Funds aren’t totally supported for each trade. I seen that this disconnect provides a bit of additional coordination when closing the loop on vendor payouts.
• As soon as invoices are exported, making corrections isn’t simple, which triggered me a couple of duplicate efforts.

What G2 customers dislike about Stampli:

“There are some options that my staff is ready for Stampli to implement, and a few issues aren’t as easy as I would like. For instance, I would like to see cost info straight on the bill web page or, on the very least, have a hyperlink from the bill web page to the cost web page, just like how invoice.com does it. This might make issues a lot smoother when checking on the standing of invoices and offering remittance info for distributors. Moreover, ACH funds take longer than different programs like invoice.com. A brand new expedited cost choice has been launched not too long ago, nevertheless it prices cash and has a cap on the cost quantities allowed to be expedited. Would like to see quicker funds total and finally no cap on expedited funds.”

– Stampli Evaluate, Laura B.

Airbase is a spend administration platform that mixes expense monitoring, approvals, reimbursements, and digital playing cards into one centralized system. It’s designed to assist finance groups acquire extra management over firm spending whereas bettering visibility throughout departments.

Airbase’s spend administration options gave me extra real-time management than I anticipated. The digital playing cards make assigning budgets and monitoring utilization simple and cut back last-minute surprises throughout reconciliations. I additionally preferred how spending limits and insurance policies could possibly be set upfront, serving to forestall overspending earlier than it occurs.

The cellular app provides quite a lot of flexibility. I may add receipts, submit reimbursements, and approve bills whereas on the go. It got here in helpful throughout journey, and the short picture add function meant I didn’t have to save lots of piles of paper receipts. It made conserving issues updated really feel much less like a chore.

General, the interface is clear and intuitive. The structure makes it simple to search out key options without having a walkthrough, and most actions, like creating a brand new request or submitting a report, take just some clicks. It seems like a platform constructed to take away friction from on a regular basis duties.

That stated, the cellular app expertise wasn’t at all times constant. Sometimes, receipt uploads stalled or didn’t undergo the primary time. I double-checked submissions rather more than I would like when counting on cellular.

There have been additionally some hiccups with how receipts had been matched to transactions. In a couple of instances, the auto-matching didn’t work, and I needed to re-attach information manually. It wasn’t tough to repair, however I may see it slowing issues down for customers dealing with massive volumes of bills.

The approval course of labored properly total however lacked some flexibility in additional complicated workflows. If a request wanted rerouting or needed to undergo a number of layers, it wasn’t at all times clear the best way to alter the move. It bought the job executed, nevertheless it felt a bit inflexible in edge instances.

What I dislike about Airbase:

• The cellular app typically struggles with receipt uploads, so in the course of the testing part, I bought into the behavior of double-checking all the things.
• Approval routing often works properly, however making modifications mid-flow takes a couple of extra steps than I anticipated.

What G2 customers dislike about Airbase:

“Whereas Airbase is unbelievable, there are a few minor issues I would prefer to see improved. Sometimes, the automated categorization of bills is not excellent, and I’ve to manually alter it. It is not an enormous deal, however it will be even higher if the AI was a bit extra correct. Additionally, whereas the cellular app is nice, I’ve seen that typically it may be a little bit gradual to load, particularly when I’ve quite a lot of receipts to add. These are simply minor inconveniences, although, and so they definitely do not outweigh the numerous advantages of utilizing Airbase.”

– Airbase Evaluate, Kyle C.

Whereas SAP Concur is finest recognized for expense and journey administration, it additionally performs an necessary function in automating elements of the accounts payable course of—particularly in the case of worker reimbursements and non-PO spending. For corporations with excessive volumes of journey bills or decentralized spending, Concur helps construction approval workflows and retains reimbursement cycles shifting. It’s not your typical AP resolution however fills a crucial hole in broader spend management.

The cellular app is one in all Concur’s most useful options. I may snap an image of a receipt, assign it to an expense, and submit it without having to open my laptop computer. It is useful throughout work journeys when it’s essential to preserve issues shifting. For groups on the go, the app actually helps cut back delays in reimbursement.

Expense administration feels structured and scalable. I may escape classes, monitor spending by division, and fix documentation with just some clicks. The automated reminders helped me keep away from lacking receipts or leaving studies in draft. It may possibly make month-to-month closeouts far much less chaotic.

The approval workflow was one other sturdy level. Requests transfer easily by means of the chain, and notifications make it simple for managers to evaluate and log out. I preferred that you possibly can customise roles and arrange multi-layer approvals. That flexibility is a plus for finance groups attempting to keep up management.

That stated, the cellular expertise wasn’t at all times flawless. Sometimes, receipts wouldn’t sync with the suitable expense, or I needed to re-upload photos that didn’t course of correctly. It wasn’t frequent, however sufficient to make me double-check submissions.

The desktop interface may use a refresh. Some menus really feel buried, and I needed to click on round to search out historic studies or view pending duties. It is wonderful as soon as you understand the place issues stay, however the preliminary studying curve is steeper than anticipated.

There have been additionally moments when the system felt gradual or unresponsive, particularly when submitting studies with many attachments. Nothing crashed, however load occasions added up when managing a number of entries. It’s not a dealbreaker, simply one thing that requires persistence.

What I dislike about SAP Concur:

• Some options within the cellular app really feel inconsistent, particularly when receipts don’t connect correctly the primary time.
• The interface takes some getting used to, and I discovered myself clicking round greater than I anticipated early on.

What G2 customers dislike about SAP Concur:

“Consumer interface! It’s actually unhealthy. Issues are too descriptive, nothing icon-based. If the GUI is made extra graphical, the dashboard would look cool and would keep away from us to maintain trying to find issues, and it helps us to discover issues simply moderately than somebody educating us to navigate.”

– SAP Concur Evaluate, Adarsh S.

Ramp automates expense workflows for companies, enhancing management over spending. Whereas it isn’t a complete accounts payable system, Ramp manages a good portion of the every day bills that finance groups oversee.

Ramp’s card administration system is without doubt one of the most effective I’ve tried. With just some clicks, I may situation digital playing cards immediately, set spending limits, and assign playing cards to departments or initiatives. It helps present real-time visibility and forestall unauthorized purchases, making managing recurring or one-off bills a lot simpler.

Receipt administration can also be a main power. I can textual content or e mail receipts, and Ramp auto-matches them to the proper transaction. This straightforward course of reduces the standard follow-up emails and retains groups forward in the course of the month-to-month shut.

I used to be impressed by how environment friendly the entire platform felt. From approvals to categorization to syncing with accounting instruments, all the things moved rapidly and with out friction.

The one actual limitation I seen was worldwide utilization. Ramp works nice for U.S.-based groups, however utilizing playing cards overseas or with worldwide distributors launched a couple of hiccups. It’s one thing international groups will need to plan round in the event that they’re hoping for seamless protection.

Exporting information for accounting was typically trickier. Whereas a lot of the studies had been out there, formatting them for extra complicated use instances took further effort. I often needed to alter columns or manually arrange fields earlier than importing elsewhere.

What I dislike about Ramp:

• I seen that Ramp doesn’t provide a lot assist for worldwide funds or utilization, so some spending must be dealt with individually.
• Customizing exports for particular accounting wants wasn’t at all times intuitive, and I spent further time cleansing up studies.

What G2 customers dislike about Ramp:

“Downsides for me should not with the ability to pay worldwide wires in international transactions, and a few higher dashboards for spend over time would assist.”

– Ramp Evaluate, Gabriel F.

Tipalti is a world payables automation platform that handles all the things from bill consumption and approvals to vendor onboarding and cross-border funds. The platform integrates with frequent ERPs and in addition consists of built-in fraud prevention.

Tipalti actually shines within the bill processing workflow. It mechanically routes approvals, flags duplicate invoices, and helps standardize formatting throughout distributors. I can simply monitor progress at every step, which helps keep away from bottlenecks afterward. The time saved right here is straight away noticeable.

Vendor onboarding is quick and structured. I discovered it simple to gather tax types, banking particulars, and compliance paperwork multi function portal, so distributors don’t need to e mail info backwards and forwards. As soon as they’re within the system, all the things runs extra easily. It reduces guide errors and saves quite a lot of follow-up time.

Buyer assist was additionally constantly useful. Whether or not it was strolling by means of an integration situation or answering particular reporting questions, the Tipalti assist staff felt accessible and responsive. I did not have to attend lengthy for a reply, which made the training curve simpler to handle.

That stated, the reporting instruments are practical however restricted. I discovered it difficult to create customized studies or export information in exactly the specified format. It labored properly for primary overviews, however deeper evaluation typically required guide cleanup in spreadsheets.

Search performance is also improved. When on the lookout for particular funds or vendor data, the outcomes weren’t at all times intuitive or full. It slowed me down when answering fast inside questions or pulling up previous actions.

What I dislike about Tipalti:

• I typically needed to export uncooked information and reformat it manually to get the breakdowns I wanted for reporting.
• Search outcomes weren’t at all times related, so I typically needed to dig round to search out the file I wanted.

What G2 customers dislike about Tipalti:

“There are some extra complicated payout guidelines I would like to include into our payout routine, nevertheless it’s not but potential. In an ideal world, Tipalti may do pay-ins and payouts, so I would not want one other PSP for this, however possibly sooner or later.”

– Tipalti Evaluate, Kristi H.

Looking for an invoicing instrument as a substitute? Take a look at this listing of the 8 finest free invoicing software program for 2025, ranked and reviewed by my colleague.