Many small business owners track expenses retrospectively. The bill arrives in, a few charges are skimmed through the statement, and each charge is given a category based on what it most probably was. That works for a solo owner with thirty transactions a month. It ceases to be effective once employees have cards, subscriptions renew on their own and reimbursements request arrive on a Friday afternoon as a screenshot.
Expense tracking tools bring this process to the moment of spending. Charges come in from the bank and card feeds, receipts are captured and matched, categories are suggested, and things that need approval are sent to the right person to make it to the books. The owner sees the spending as it happens, not in weeks.
The six tools listed below vary from accounting software that has expense tracking to dedicated expense apps and corporate card platforms. The right one depends on how many people spend company money and how much control you need over that spending.
The expense tracking mistake I see most is treating it as a year-end job. An owner lets three months of card charges pile up with no receipts and no notes, then tries to remember whether a $240 restaurant bill was a client dinner or a family one.
Some of those get coded wrong, some get left out, and the business either misses deductions or claims ones it can't support. The tool matters less than the habit. Pick something that captures the receipt and business purpose at the moment of purchase, and review uncategorised expenses weekly, not quarterly.
Ankit Sagatani, MBA, B.Com · LinkedInTop 6 Expense Tracker Tools for Small Business
| # | Tool | Best For | Approx. Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expensify | Receipt capture and expense reporting for teams with approval workflows | ~$20/month/user for Control plan; free for individuals under 25 SmartScans/month |
| 2 | Zoho Expense | Businesses in the Zoho ecosystem; multi-currency expense management | Free for 3 users; paid plans from ~$4/user/month |
| 3 | SAP Concur | Mid-market and enterprise expense, travel, and invoice management | Custom pricing, contact SAP |
| 4 | Wave Accounting | Solopreneurs; free expense tracking integrated with free accounting | Free (core); Wave Pro ~$16/month |
| 5 | FreshBooks | Service businesses; expense tracking embedded in invoicing and time tracking platform | ~$17/month (Lite) |
| 6 | Ramp | VC-backed startups and tech companies; corporate card + expense automation in one platform | Free base; premium features from $12/user/month |
What to Look for in an Expense Tracker
| Feature | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Receipt capture | OCR-based receipt scanning, photo the receipt, software extracts merchant, date, and amount automatically |
| Bank/card feed | Direct connection to business bank and credit card accounts, eliminates manual entry |
| Expense categorisation | Automatically tag expenses to correct categories (advertising, travel, meals) for cleaner bookkeeping and simpler tax prep |
| Approval workflow | For teams, employee submits expense, manager approves, finance processes payment |
| Accounting integration | Sync to QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite, expense entries appear in the GL automatically |
| Mileage tracking | GPS-based or manual mileage logging for vehicle expense deductions |
| Multi-currency | Required for any business with international expenses or travel |
| Reporting | Expense by category, employee, project, or cost centre, essential for budget vs actuals review |
Expensify, Deep Dive
Expensify is one of the most widely used expense tools for small-to-mid-size businesses. Key capabilities:
- SmartScan, photograph a receipt; AI extracts merchant, date, amount, and category; receipt attached to the expense automatically
- Credit card reconciliation, connect corporate cards; transactions matched to submitted receipts automatically
- Approval workflow, multi-level approval chains; finance manager reviews before payment
- Direct integrations, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct
- Expensify Card, physical/virtual card with real-time spend visibility and automatic receipt capture
Ramp, Deep Dive
Ramp is a corporate card and spend management platform (similar to Brex) that includes expense management as a core feature, not an add-on. Particularly popular among VC-backed startups and tech companies:
- Corporate card with no personal guarantee (like Brex), credit underwritten based on company financials
- Automatic receipt matching, employees photograph receipts via mobile; AI matches to card transactions
- Vendor price intelligence, Ramp flags if a vendor charges more than the market rate for a software subscription
- Accounting integrations, QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Gusto
- Free base platform, Ramp's core expense management is free; premium features on paid tiers
Ramp: A Closer Look
Ramp starts from the card, not the receipt. The company issues physical and virtual cards through Ramp, sets limits and rules for each one, and expense management is built around those card transactions. Employees are prompted to add receipts and notes as they spend, and the platform matches them automatically.
Like Brex, Ramp underwrites its corporate card on the company's finances, not a personal guarantee. It also offers bill pay, accounting integrations, and tools for spotting duplicate or overpriced software subscriptions. It suits growing companies with several cardholders that want to control spending before it happens instead of reviewing it afterward.
We were tracking business expenses in spreadsheets and mostly reviewing our card statements at tax time, so receipts were often missing by the time we needed them. Our accountant had to spend extra time sorting through transactions and figuring out which expenses were actually deductible. After setting up a proper expense-tracking tool connected to our books, receipts and expense details were captured throughout the year instead of becoming a year-end cleanup.
We have seen around 30% of new Profitjets clients have at least some card transactions missing receipts or business-purpose notes at onboarding, with the issue most common among businesses that previously relied on spreadsheets or year-end statement reviews.
Book a free consultation and we will clean the process up end to end.
FAQs
Is Mint still available for business expense tracking?
No. Intuit shut down Mint in March 2024. It was built for personal budgeting, not business bookkeeping. For business expenses, use a tool that connects to your accounting software, such as Expensify, Zoho Expense, Ramp, or the expense features in your accounting platform.
Do I need a separate expense app if I already use QuickBooks or Xero?
Often not at first. Bank feeds, receipt capture, and categorisation rules in QuickBooks or Xero are enough for many small businesses. A separate tool earns its cost once several employees are submitting expenses, you need approvals, or card and reimbursement volume becomes hard to manage in the ledger alone.
What's the difference between an expense tracker and a corporate card platform?
An expense tracker records and approves spending that has already happened, whether on a card or out of an employee's pocket. A corporate card platform controls spending as it happens, with limits, merchant rules, and approvals built into the cards. Growing companies with many cardholders often move from the first to the second.
How should I track employee reimbursements?
Have employees submit each expense through an app with a receipt and a business purpose, and route it through a set approval process before paying. Reimbursing only through that process keeps records complete. A written accountable plan, where employees substantiate expenses and return any excess, also keeps reimbursements from being treated as taxable wages.
How often should I review business expenses?
Weekly is ideal for most small businesses. A short weekly review keeps receipts matched, categories accurate, and odd charges easy to investigate while people still remember them. Monthly is the minimum before a proper month-end close.
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