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Here are our top six best accounts payable software catering to specific business needs:
- QuickBooks Online is our overall best accounts payable (A/P) software with complete accounting features.
- Pyrus is best for businesses seeking affordable A/P software with built-in communication tools.
- Stampli is best for businesses relying on enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.
- MineralTree is best for businesses paying vendors with virtual cards.
- Approval Donkey is best for Xero users.
- Concur Invoice by SAP Concur is best for companies with employees who often travel for business.
We reviewed and evaluated the best accounts payable software in terms of their capabilities to manage and track bills. We also looked into advanced features, such as recurring bill and expense setup, customizable A/P approval workflows, and a mobile app for entering bills and capturing expense receipts on the go. Furthermore, we considered other factors, such as ease of use, pricing, and customer support.
Apr. 8, 2024: Mark Calatrava rewrote the page based on his objective, research-driven evaluation of the best accounts payable software.
Comparison of best accounts payable software
| Price per month | Key Features | Learn More | |
| QuickBooks Online | $30 to $200 | • QuickBooks Bill Pay • Check printing • Recurring bills and expenses |
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| Pyrus | $0, $15 per user, or custom priced | • Customizable workflows • Optical character recognition (OCR) invoice reader • Mobile app |
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| Stampli | Custom priced | • Enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrations • Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered • Advanced vendor management |
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| MineralTree | Custom priced | • Virtual card payment option • Two- or three-way auto purchase order (PO) matching • Payment authorization |
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| Approval Donkey | $0 or $19 | • Xero integration • Workflow creation • Unlimited member setup |
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| Concur Invoice | Custom priced | • Integrated travel and expense features • Duplicate invoice detection • Advanced analytics |
Need additional options? See our roundup of the best business accounting software for recommendations.
QuickBooks Online: Best A/P software with complete accounting features
Pros
- Complete accounting solution with built-in A/P features.
- Supports recurring bills and expenses.
- Lets you print checks to pay vendor bills.
- Native bill pay tool.
- Includes a mobile app for capturing expense receipts.
Cons
- Can be expensive and impractical, especially if you only A/P features.
- Bill pay requires an upgrade.
- Doesn’t let you enter bills through the mobile app.
- Complete accounting: You can use QuickBooks Online to manage other aspects of your business, such as invoicing, income and expense tracking, and financial reporting.
- Check printing: If your vendor requires paper checks, then you can print checks directly from the QuickBooks platform.
- Recurring bills and expenses: If you have ongoing monthly bills and expenses like electricity and rent payments, QuickBooks Online allows you to set up recurring transactions so you won’t have to create them every month manually.
QuickBooks Online offers four plans — and you need at least the Essentials plan to be able to pay bills:
- Simple Start: $30 per month; supports one user.
- Essentials: $60 per month; supports up to three users.
- Plus: $90 per month; supports up to five users.
- Advanced: $200 per month; supports up to 25 users.
You can either sign up for a 30-day free trial or purchase right away and receive a 50% discount for three months.
- Businesses seeking a complete accounting solution: Instead of using separate software programs to manage your payables and other aspects of your business, you can use QuickBooks as a single solution.
- Companies working with independent contractors: QuickBooks Online provides 1099 reporting tools to help you manage your tax reporting obligations for payments made to contractors, freelancers, and other nonemployee workers.
- Businesses looking for expedited payments for vendors: For an additional fee, QuickBooks provides expedited automated clearing house (ACH) payments, usually by the next business day. This is great if your vendors need quick access to their funds.
If you don’t want to use separate tools to manage your accounting and payables, then we strongly recommend QuickBooks. Its Plus and Advanced plans include robust A/P features, including the ability to manage vendors, enter and pay bills, track unpaid bills, and create recurring expenses.
One of the best features of QuickBooks that make it one of our best accounts payable solutions is QuickBooks Bill Pay. It captures vendor invoices automatically and allows you to pay your bills directly from the QuickBooks Online platform, set up approval workflows, and process payments via ACH or checks. You can also file and issue 1099s for free depending on your subscription.
QuickBooks Online also provides other accounting features, including A/R management, banking, project accounting, inventory, and cost of goods sold (COGS) tracking. And despite its extensive feature set, QuickBooks Online is easy to use, though you may need some time and practice to get the hang of it. If you need help along the way, you can contact support through phone and live chat.
If you think QuickBooks Online isn’t for your business, then head to our list of the best QuickBooks alternatives for small and midsize businesses (SMBs).
Pyrus: Best affordable A/P software with communication tools
Pros
- Built-in team messaging tool.
- More affordable than most similar A/P software.
- Unlimited A/P transactions in all paid plans.
- Integrates with accounting and ERP software.
- Uses OCR Invoice Reader for a more efficient invoicing scanning and data extraction.
Cons
- Excludes A/P features from the free plan.
- OCR Invoice Reader requires an additional fee.
- A/P forms aren’t very customizable.
- Customizable A/P workflows: You can create and customize your vendor invoice approval workflows based on factors, like the invoice amount, department, and vendor category.
- OCR Invoice Reader: This feature scans invoices and creates digital data out of them. The data is then populated automatically into the appropriate A/P fields within Pyrus.
- Mobile app: Approvers can review and approve invoices from their smartphones through the Pyrus mobile app.
Pyrus offers three subscription options:
- Free: $0; includes task management features and supports an unlimited number of users
- Form Pro: $15 per user per month; includes all features in the free version plus A/P features
- Enterprise: Custom priced; includes enhanced features, such as access to a dedicated customer success manager
- Companies with a remote workforce: If you have remote employees involved in your A/P workflows, then you can communicate with them easily through Pyrus’ messaging tool.
- Organizations that operate in highly regulated industries: Specialized industries, such as healthcare, finance, and government contractors, can set up audit trails and security controls that comply with regulatory requirements.
- Businesses working with multiple vendors: You can fill out an unlimited number of A/P forms when you upgrade to a paid plan.
Pyrus is primarily a workflow management tool; thus, it includes excellent built-in communication tools. Its Form Pro plan includes A/P management workflows that are useful for A/P teams that work remotely. It allows you to create and assign tasks to team members through Kanban boards and track them until they are completed.
You can also message team members using the built-in messaging tool instead of being overwhelmed by notifications. Simply put, it allows you to track tasks and communicate with members in one place.
While Pyrus’ free plan lacks A/P features, we believe that its Form Pro plan is generally affordable for most small businesses. For as low as $15 monthly per user, you can create unlimited forms, including invoices, POs, and expense reports. Also, just like most other A/P solutions, it uses OCR technology for more efficient scanning of invoices.
In terms of ease of use, we like that Pyrus has a simple user interface (UI) that is easy to navigate. From the dashboard, you can create items, such as task assignments, invoice submissions, invoice approval requests, and expense reports easily. If you need help, you can contact support via email in the free plan or upgrade to a paid subscription to access priority support over the phone.
Stampli: Best A/P software for businesses relying on ERP solutions
Pros
- Integrates with over 70 ERP tools
- Automates A/P workflows with an AI technology called Billy the Bot
- Helps with vendor onboarding
- Automatically tracks vendor expiration
Cons
- Doesn’t disclose pricing information; can be potentially expensive
- Can be complicated for new users
- Doesn’t offer expedited ACH payments
- ERP integrations: Stampli connects to over 70 ERP solutions, including your favorite tools, like Acumatica, Oracle, Microsoft, and Sage.
- Billy the Bot: This AI tool uses machine learning to capture and extract data from electronic and paper receipts and understand all line types, such as charges and fixed assets.
- Advanced vendor management: Stampli allows you to collect and manage vendor information and store and organize documents, like vendor contracts and W-9 forms. It also includes a vendor portal where vendors and suppliers can view and track the status of their bills easily.
Stampli’s prices aren’t published on its website, so you need to contact the provider to request a customized quote or detailed pricing information.
- Business managing high transaction volumes: Larger teams dealing with high transaction volumes often need ERP solutions to handle their operations. With its seamless ERP integrations, Stampli allows you to manage a large number of invoices, all while keeping other financial transactions organized.
- Businesses with distributed financial management structures: Stampli supports A/P management for businesses with multiple locations, subsidiaries, currencies, and tax structures.
- Companies that often pay bills partially: When paying bills, Stampli provides the flexibility to adjust the payment amount when needed.
Businesses with extensive financial operations often rely on ERP software to manage various workflows, including procurement and inventory management. If you’re among them, you can seamlessly integrate your existing tool with Stampli. Unlike other A/P solutions, Stampli supports native integrations with more than 70 ERPs — and the best part is that you don’t have to execute complex configurations and data mapping, so you can get started as soon as possible.
Powered by AI, Stampli remembers past customer and vendor transactions, so it knows what to do the next time you process similar transactions. It also includes advanced vendor management capabilities, such as the ability to manage vendor onboarding, communication, and documentation.
On the downside, Stampli isn’t as easy to use as other similar software like Pyrus given that it’s a full-featured software. It offers a wide range of features and data reports, which can be initially overwhelming for new users, so there might be a learning curve. To assist you with any questions or problems, you can email Stampli’s customer support team or browse through Help Center articles.
If you’re looking for an alternative ERP solution, consider Workday ERP or NetSuite ERP. Learn how the two programs stack up in our Workday ERP vs NetSuite ERP comparison.
MineralTree: Best for businesses paying vendors with virtual cards
Pros
- Offers a virtual card payment option that earns rebates
- Uses two- or three-way auto PO matching to automate reconciliations
- Lets you customize invoice approval workflows with automated reminders
- Tracks essential key performance indicators (KPIs), such as invoice aging and payment mix
Cons
- Doesn’t disclose pricing information; reportedly more expensive than similar software
- Doesn’t allow international payment transfers
- Lacks A/P aging reports
- SilverPay: MineralTree allows you to pay your vendors through virtual cards, which are considered to be faster than ACH payments. A virtual card is a unique 16-digit number and it allows your team to specify amounts to your suppliers based on your contract or agreements.
- Two-way or three-way auto PO matching: This feature allows you to reconcile POs automatically with their corresponding invoices to ensure consistency in your A/P workflows.
- Payment authorization: After invoices are reviewed, they go through designated team members to verify the accuracy of payment details before getting paid.
The provider doesn’t disclose pricing information on its website but, according to a third-party website, prices start at $200 per month. You need to contact MineralTree directly to request a customized quote.
- Businesses heavily relying on online purchases: Businesses that often purchase goods online can benefit from the convenience offered by MineralTree’s virtual credit card payment option.
- Businesses with a large inventory: The two-way or three-way auto PO matching feature is beneficial for companies with a large inventory, as it helps ensure that the prices and quantities listed on invoices match with what you originally ordered and received.
- A/P teams with busy departments: If your A/P teams have multiple responsibilities and competing priorities, then the ability to set up automated reminders can help prevent payment delays.
We believe MineralTree is a great accounts payable system, especially for companies that often pay vendors with virtual cards — thanks to its virtual card payment option, SilverPay. Companies can use this service to automate their A/P workflows while earning rewards from every payment.
Virtual cards are sent to your vendors through email, and they are processed just like credit cards. If your vendors don’t accept virtual cards, then there’s no problem, as MineralTree also supports ACH and check payments.
MineralTree helps automate your overall A/P workflows with advanced features, such as invoice capture, customized invoice approval workflows, payment optimization, and A/P analytics. It can also detect duplicate invoices and payments easily.
Additionally, it has a customizable dashboard with pretty impressive graphs and charts for reporting. It may take time to master the features, but we believe you can find your way around easily in less than a week. Also, we like that users can contact customer support over the phone.
Approval Donkey: Best for Xero users
Pros
- Has a direct integration with Xero accounting software
- Lets you invite as many members as needed, even in the free plan
- Allows you to set up single-step or multistep workflows
- Enables you to choose who must approve invoices
Cons
- Doesn’t integrate with other accounting software, like QuickBooks Online
- Has a limited feature set compared to other software
- Doesn’t allow you to create and customize workflows in the free plan
- Cannot be used to pay bills — only approve for payment
- Xero integration: Approval Donkey partners directly with Xero to provide a combined solution for managing payables and other accounting tasks, such as invoicing, project accounting, and inventory management.
- Workflow creation: The program allows you to create approval workflows or “panels” by setting up rules and conditions for routing invoices to the appropriate approvers.
- Unlimited member setup: You can set up as many members as needed in both the free and paid plan. In other similar software, you usually have to pay an additional fee for each member.
Approval Donkey offers two subscription plans:
- Member: Free; can receive and respond to approval requests but can’t create workflows
- Plus: $19 per month; ideal for admins needing to create and customize workflows
You can sign up for a free 30-day trial of the Plus plan with no credit card required.
- Xero users: You can integrate Approval Donkey with your Xero account to enable enhanced A/P features, like the ability to automate and track all approval, sign-off, and decision requests.
- A/P teams with multiple members: If multiple people are involved in your A/P processes but aren’t required to create workflows, then you might find the free plan sufficient.
If you are currently using Xero for accounting and want to further enhance your A/P processes, then Approval Donkey is an ideal software for A/P. It highlights its direct integration with Xero and provides many useful features, such as customized workflows for various types of A/P transactions.
With Approval Donkey, you can set up as many workflows as needed so that all your bills, expenses, and invoices will be forwarded to the right people for approval. Once they are approved, they are synced back automatically to Xero awaiting payments from your vendors.
Approval Donkey isn’t as feature-rich as other software like Stampli, but it’s one of the easiest-to-use A/P tools we’ve reviewed. It has a minimalistic dashboard that you can probably master in just a day. Unfortunately, the provider has very limited customer support options; you can contact support only through an online form.
Concur Invoice: Best for companies with employees who often travel for business
Pros
- Tracks business expenses and travel costs in one place
- Can flag duplicate invoices easily
- Provides analytics tools to help you stay on top of expenses
- Integrates with numerous payment providers
Cons
- Doesn’t disclose pricing details publicly
- Requires additional fees to use integrated travel cost tracking features
- Has no built-in communication tools
- Integrated travel cost tracking: Concur Invoice integrates with Concur Travel to help you manage and track expenses incurred by your employees when traveling for business purposes.
- Duplicate invoice detection: When an invoice is uploaded in Concur Invoice, the program compares the extracted data with existing invoices stored in the system. If a potential duplicate is detected, it alerts the right person so that they can take necessary actions.
- Advanced analytics: Whether you need to analyze expenses by vendor reports or travel patterns and trends, Concur Invoice provides the tools you need to do so.
Concur Invoice’s pricing information isn’t published on the provider’s website, so you need to contact the sales team to request a customized quote. For an additional fee, you can integrate Concur Invoice with Concur Travel to enable travel management and cost tracking features. Just like Concur Invoice, Concur Travel is quote-based, so contact the provider if you’re interested.
- Companies with employees who often travel for work: Businesses like consulting firms and sales and marketing agencies can benefit from Concur Invoice’s integrated travel management and tracking features.
- Businesses that accept plenty of invoices daily: It’s easy to miss duplicate invoices, especially when dealing with a high volume of invoices each day. Concur Invoice can automate invoice processing, helping you avoid duplicate invoices and payments.
If you have employees who travel for business purposes frequently, then you may find Concur Invoice by SAP Concur a good fit. It has built-in travel and expense management features, including the ability to manage travel bookings and populate them automatically into expense reports. This means your employees can submit their travel-related expenses and get reimbursed easily.
With Concur Invoice, you can capture and scan printed, mailed, and faxed invoices to populate payment requests automatically. Also, you can create customized workflows so that invoices are approved by the right employee before they get paid.
One of the best parts about Concur Invoice is that it is relatively easy to use. We appreciate the Invoice Manager, which includes links to important daily tasks. It also has a modernized Unassigned Invoices screen that is easy to understand, even for beginners. Those who need help can contact support through live chat or phone support.
How to choose the best accounts payable software
When choosing the best accounts payable software, we looked into several factors, including ease of use, affordability, invoice processing efficiency, and customer support. We also evaluated whether these accounts payable platforms seamlessly integrate with other business apps, most especially accounting and ERP solutions:
- Choose QuickBooks Online if you’re seeking complete accounting software with robust A/P features.
- Consider Pyrus if you’re looking for affordable A/P software with built-in communication tools.
- Check out Stampli if your business heavily relies on ERP solutions.
- Select MineralTree if you often pay vendors with virtual cards.
- Go with Approval Donkey if you’re using Xero and want to enhance its A/P features.
- Select Concur Invoice by SAP Concur if you have employees who often travel for business.
If you still can’t find what you need, explore our list of the best small business accounting software for more options.
