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Best Accounts Payable Automation Software in 2026

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Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users commend the ease of use of BILL AP/AR, simplifying invoice management and vendor payment processes.

Users appreciate the easy payment capabilities of BILL AP/AR, finding it convenient and efficient for remote transactions.

Users value the seamless integrations with QuickBooks, enabling easy management of AP/AR from anywhere.

Users find the missing features like discount terms and detailed policy workflows frustrating in BILL AP/AR.

Users experience payment issues with Bill, including difficulties with partial payments and slow processing times.

Users experience invoicing problems with BILL, including issues with partial payments and duplicate vendor entries.

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Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users appreciate the intuitive design of Sage Intacct, making complex financial processes easy to navigate and manage.

Users appreciate the intuitive design of Sage Intacct, facilitating easy adoption and enhancing overall usability.

Users value the one-click reporting feature of Sage Intacct, simplifying multi-entity accounting and report generation.

Users find the missing features of Sage Intacct limit customization and basic functionalities, affecting reporting needs.

Users face a steep learning curve with Sage Intacct, requiring significant training and assistance for effective use.

Users find the limited functionality of Sage Intacct frustrating, especially for basic accounting tasks and currency handling.

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G2 recognized Stampli
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Pros and Cons

Users value the ease of use of Stampli, appreciating its accessible interface and seamless workflow improvements.

Users appreciate the automation and ease of use in Stampli, simplifying invoice management and approval processes significantly.

Users praise the prompt and helpful customer support of Stampli, enhancing their overall experience with the system.

Users experience invoice issues with Stampli, including payment recognition flaws and challenges with vendor name changes.

Users note a lack of batch processing features, complicating invoice management and requiring time-consuming manual adjustments.

Users experience approval issues with missing receipts and syncing details post-approval, necessitating manual adjustments.

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Pros and Cons

Users appreciate the ease of use of SAP Concur, enabling quick and efficient expense reporting from anywhere.

Users appreciate the efficient expense management of SAP Concur, streamlining reporting and enhancing automation for travel expenses.

Users appreciate the efficiency of SAP Concur, benefiting from streamlined processes and time-saving features.

Users find the app not intuitive, struggling with a bulky interface and a challenging learning curve.

Users face a steep learning curve with SAP Concur, finding it complex and slow to navigate effectively.

Users find SAP Concur's complexity burdensome, seeking a more intuitive and streamlined user experience.

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Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users commend Ramp for its ease of use, highlighting its intuitive interface and seamless expense management features.

Users commend Ramp for its easy-to-use expense management features, enhancing financial oversight and security for business purchases.

Users appreciate the efficiency of Ramp's expense reporting, streamlining approvals and easing integration with other tools.

Users find the missing features in Ramp, like a review hierarchy and better reporting, limit user-friendliness.

Users experience card issues, such as currency limits and inefficient transaction review processes that hinder convenience.

Users experience blurriness in receipts, leading to challenges in clarity and accuracy during management.

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Pros and Cons

Users highlight the user-friendly interface of Tipalti, streamlining processes and enhancing productivity for daily tasks.

Users appreciate the quick and diligent customer support of Tipalti, enhancing their overall experience and satisfaction.

Users appreciate the efficiency of Tipalti, as it simplifies invoicing and saves valuable time in approvals.

Users experience payment issues with delays, currency problems, and a lack of client-friendly features in Tipalti.

Users find the missing features in Tipalti frustrating, particularly the limitations with 1099 capabilities and reporting tools.

Users experience delays in money transfers and invoice processing, impacting overall satisfaction with Tipalti.

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Pros and Cons

Users appreciate the ease of use of Paylocity, which simplifies HR tasks and enhances overall efficiency.

Users appreciate the helpfulness of Paylocity's customer service, ensuring support is always available for their needs.

Users appreciate the awesome customer support from Paylocity, enhancing their experience with timely updates and assistance.

Users face poor customer support, often needing multiple follow-ups for effective issue resolution and guidance.

Users express frustration over missing features like recurring payments and unexpected removal of critical workflows and information.

Users face a steep learning curve with Paylocity, finding the dashboard overwhelming and LMS functionality lacking.

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Pros and Cons

Users find Corpay Complete easy and user-friendly, facilitating effortless management of financial operations and transactions.

Users praise the quick and efficient payment processes of Corpay Complete, enhancing overall financial management.

Users highlight the excellent customer support from Corpay Complete, providing assistance for various queries effectively.

Users experience payment issues with Corpay Complete, facing difficulties with E-checks and international vendor transactions.

Users find the vendor setup process cumbersome and face challenges with third-party check acceptance from smaller vendors.

Users experience poor customer support from Corpay Complete, leading to unresolved issues and frustrating communication challenges.

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G2 recognized Payhawk
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users find Payhawk to be super easy to use, simplifying expense tracking and making it more intuitive.

Users commend Payhawk for its swift and effective customer support, enhancing their overall experience with the tool.

Users appreciate the simple and intuitive interface of Payhawk, making expense management effortless and efficient.

Users highlight missing features like multi-entity support and flexible currency views, affecting overall efficiency.

Users desire more customization options in Payhawk to better suit their specific needs and preferences.

Users experience approval issues with Payhawk, disrupting workflows and complicating team processes.

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Pros and Cons

Users value the ease of use of Laserfiche, finding it simple and effective for all staff members.

Users value the process automation capabilities of Laserfiche, simplifying workflows and enhancing overall efficiency.

Users benefit from enhanced automation in Laserfiche, streamlining workflows and improving document management efficiency.

Users note a steep learning curve with Laserfiche, requiring time to master its powerful capabilities.

Users find the learning difficulty challenging due to complex setup and a steep learning curve for features.

Users find the missing features in Laserfiche limit their ability to work efficiently with PDFs and Forms integration.

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Pros and Cons

Users praise the ease of use of Yooz, finding it intuitive and user-friendly for quick team onboarding.

Users love the intuitive interface of Yooz, making tasks simple and efficient with helpful automations.

Users value the time-saving automation of Yooz, significantly reducing manual entry and streamlining invoice processing.

Users report technical issues with Yooz, including errors, timeouts, and inconsistent support during implementation.

Users face invoicing issues with Yooz, struggling with visibility and accuracy of invoice data and processing.

Users find the vendor management process cumbersome, requiring assistance and lacking flexibility among team members.

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G2 recognized Brex
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users find Brex to be straightforward and user-friendly, enhancing business finance management with ease and efficiency.

Users find expense management effortless with Brex, enjoying quick tracking and easy receipt uploads.

Users praise Brex for its prompt and responsive customer support, making the experience smooth and efficient.

Users face approval issues with Brex, leading to confusion about pending transactions and inconvenience while traveling.

Users find the manual entry requirement for integration with QuickBooks tedious and time-consuming when using Brex.

Users find the 72-hour approval process frustrating, causing delays for businesses with significant expenses and low lines.

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Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users find Quadient Accounts Payable Automation by Beanworks to be very user-friendly, enhancing overall efficiency with minimal troubleshooting.

Users highlight the effective automation capabilities of Quadient Accounts Payable Automation, enhancing efficiency in the AP process.

Users value the efficient approval process of Quadient Accounts Payable Automation, streamlining workflows and saving time.

Users are frustrated with the poor customer support, facing delays and limited communication options with the service.

Users express concerns over limited options, finding the interface lacking and some features underdeveloped compared to competitors.

Users are frustrated by delays in invoice scanning and payments, causing significant issues with vendor transactions and communication.

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Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users commend the ease of use of DualEntry, highlighting its intuitive interface and seamless integration with tools.

Users appreciate the user-friendly interface of DualEntry, which enhances efficiency and accuracy in financial management.

Users highlight the efficiency of DualEntry, appreciating automated reconciliation and seamless integration for faster workflows.

Users note that DualEntry needs improved onboarding and support, as initial navigation can be overwhelming without guidance.

Users feel the lack of essential features like mobile app support and onboarding tools limits their experience with DualEntry.

Users find the limited customization options restrictive, impacting their ability to meet unique team requirements.

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Learn More About Accounts Payable Automation Software

What is AP Automation Software?

Companies use accounts payable (AP) automation software to manage large volumes of invoices and financial transactions between a company and its suppliers. AP automation software can reduce manual work and avoid human errors, as well as improve the efficiency and accuracy of the AP department and help with other accounting activities such as financial closing. AP management functionality is included in most accounting systems, but it is not always sufficient for companies that do business with hundreds of suppliers and need to process thousands or tens of thousands of invoices and payments.

AP automation software should not be confused with billing and invoice management systems—the main difference between them is that AP automation focuses exclusively on purchasing transactions while billing and invoicing software manages both sales and purchase invoices.

What Types of AP Automation Software Exist?

AP automation software is usually available in two different platforms:

Standalone AP automation software 

AP automation software is usually delivered as a standalone product that needs to be integrated with other software, such as ERP or accounting solutions. The primary benefit of this type of software is that it focuses exclusively on AP automation and provides the most advanced features in the market for this business need.

Procure-to-pay suites that include AP automation

Since AP automation is directly related to purchasing, some vendors decided to create procure-to-pay suites that cover all procurement needs, including AP management. Procure-to-pay suites are usually made of separate products or modules that can be used in different combinations. Buyers should be aware that not all procure-to-pay suites include AP automation as a standard module.

What are the Common Features of AP Automation Software?

Invoice management: Invoice management refers to purchasing invoices (or AP). While these invoices may be created using ERP systems or accounting software, they need to be transferred to an AP automation solution for processing. Importing invoices includes data transfer, optical character recognition (OCR) scanning, or document transfer for files in various formats such as PDF or text.

Supplier management: Supplier management for AP automation is usually limited to the financial information required for payments, such as vendor bank account details. Maintaining accurate supplier financial information helps companies avoid banking errors and ensure that vendors receive their payments.

Purchase order (PO) matching: PO matching helps companies ensure that suppliers are invoicing them for the products and services they received. Between the moment when companies place a PO and the invoice date, both parties may agree on changes, such as the amount, the number of products, or the payment terms of the invoice.

Payments management: Payments tracking does not refer to payment processing but to the ability to identify which invoices have been paid, what invoices are due and when, as well as payment errors. Similar to PO matching, payments need to match the purchasing invoices to avoid overpaying or underpaying.

Approvals: Approval workflows allow managers to decide which invoices should be paid and when, based on multiple criteria such as invoice date and priority. Approvals are also required when companies decide that any invoice that exceeds a certain amount should not be processed automatically.

Other Features of Accounts Payable Automation Software: Benchmarking, Supplier portal

Which AP Automation System is the Best for Enterprise Companies

  • Sage Intacct: A cloud-based financial management platform offering advanced AP automation features, including real-time visibility, multi-entity support, and seamless ERP integrations.
  • Airbase: A unified spend management platform that combines AP automation, corporate cards, and expense management. Great for growing enterprises needing real-time control and accounting integration.
  • Coupa: Offers procurement-led AP automation with AI insights, supplier management, and spend optimization—well suited for large, global companies.
  • Tipalti: Best for global mass payments. Supports multi-currency, tax compliance, and fraud detection—ideal for companies managing international vendors.
  • Stampli: Focuses on fast, collaborative invoice processing. Offers smart invoice capture, approval routing, and audit trails, making it easy to integrate into existing ERPs.

What are the Benefits of AP Automation Software?

There are many benefits to this software that not only automate tasks but also save time and money.

Less human intervention: AP automation software can eliminate unnecessary manual intervention that can slow down an AP team's processes and efficiencies. When using manual AP workflows and procedures, from invoice receipt to payment, there are too many steps that require humans to intervene. Each of these manual steps can lengthen the process of paying an invoice, gaining the correct approval, and ultimately, making the final payment. AP automation software can help eliminate most of these hands-on steps, allowing AP teams to do more than just track down and pay bills.

Accuracy: Accuracy in AP is achieved by matching POs, supplier invoices, and payments. This helps companies make sure that they only pay for what they bought and that there are no processing errors that may impact their profitability.

Return on investment (ROI): ROI can be achieved relatively fast for AP automation software. This type of software isn’t very expensive, and most products are in the cloud, which makes it easy to implement. AP automation brings immediate benefits, such as cost savings and increased productivity.

Scalability: Scalability of payable operations can be a significant challenge for companies whose activities fluctuate in time. For instance, a peak of business may require the processing of thousands of invoices weekly or monthly, while slow periods only generate dozens of invoices. AP automation can help this type of company scale operations without investing in additional personnel for peak periods or being overstaffed during the slow periods.

Who Uses AP Automation Software?

Accounting departments: Accountants need to consolidate AP information with the other financial data of the company. When AP automation is delivered separately, the data it manages needs to be transferred to an accounting or ERP system for the teams mentioned below. AP automation software should, therefore, allow accountants to export and import data. Since errors are unavoidable, accountants also need to be able to find transaction details that may be the source of inaccuracies, such as invoice date, amount, or payment terms.

Procurement teams: Procurement professionals can benefit from using AP automation software to match POs and payables. By paying suppliers accurately, companies can maintain a good business relationship and rely on them in the future. Suppliers may also reward good payers by offering them special discounts and other incentives (e.g., free shipping, a high priority for deliveries).

Vendors and suppliers: Suppliers use online portals within the software, where they can submit invoices and information for payments and communicate with customers. They can also track the status of the invoices and payments for the products or services they delivered.

Managers and executives: Upper management can monitor AP processing activities and refocus manpower on improving working capital management and performance optimization. They are able to spend less time correcting errors and maintaining vendor relationships, and spend more time focusing their efforts on more strategic and value-adding projects.

Software Related to AP Automation Software

Accounting software: Accounting software manages all the financial transactions of a company, including AP. While standard accounting software includes basic AP functionality, advanced features for AP automation aren’t usually covered.

ERP systems: ERP systems manage most business operations that are related to AP, either directly (purchasing) or indirectly (sales, inventory management, and payments).

Purchasing: Purchasing software manages procurement activities, from sourcing to PO management and the receiving of the goods delivered by suppliers. Procurement may also apply to the acquisition of services from third-party consultants, brokers, and other providers of professional services.

Treasury management: Treasury management manages the cash and liquidity of a company, which is directly related to its ability to pay suppliers. If businesses don’t have enough money to pay suppliers on time, they may be penalized or even lose relationships with vendors that are critical for their business.

Billing: Companies use billing software to create and send invoices to customers in order to request payment for the products and services that they deliver. By using this type of software, companies can reduce the time and effort required to manage invoices and improve the accuracy of their billing processes.

Invoice management: Invoice management software helps companies automate tasks related to invoice processing. When companies or accounting departments receive invoices, these invoices typically go through an approval process, after which their information is matched with sales and POs, as well as payments. Invoice management software streamlines this workflow by scanning invoices, reading and pulling data into the system, and transferring payments electronically.

Which AP Automation Software is the Best for Small Business

  • BILL AP/AR: Provides a flexible, cloud-based platform to automate accounts payable and receivable workflows, helping small businesses streamline invoicing, approvals, and payments with built-in fraud detection and audit trails.
  • Ramp: Combines bill pay, expense tracking, and corporate card management into a single platform, automating AP tasks while offering real-time visibility and budget control—ideal for lean finance teams.
  • Melio: Tailored for small businesses, Melio allows seamless bill payments via bank transfers or cards, even when vendors only accept checks, making it a simple and affordable AP automation solution.

Challenges with AP Automation Software

The automation of AP can save companies time and money when implemented and onboarded properly, but all software solutions can come with their own set of challenges. 

Integration: Integration with accounting and ERP systems is critical because most AP automation solutions are standalone and do not provide accounting features. Since most standalone AP automation solutions are delivered in the cloud, integration with other software is more straightforward. Most vendors also offer APIs or partnerships with ERP or accounting vendors to improve integration. This does not mean that AP automation can be easily integrated with any type of software. Integration with on-premises software can still be a challenge, especially for companies using legacy systems based on obsolete technology and using old programming languages such as COBOL.

Learning curve: All new software comes with a learning curve, but some are more complex than others. If some AP automation features are too complicated or cumbersome, the automation could be costing the company more money than it’s saving. Oftentimes, a platform will push automatic updates, which can come with new features or updates that require employees to relearn how to use the software. 

How to Buy AP Automation Software

Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for AP Automation Software

When selecting AP automation software, it is important to first look at how the business operates, and then familiarize oneself with the different types of software available. There are a variety of options when it comes to AP automation software products, including those designed for the business needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

Compare AP Automation Software Products

Create a long list

Depending on the industry, the buyer might want to first create a long list of software that is designed to help businesses in the particular industry. For example, there are platforms specifically built for businesses in retail, manufacturers, restaurants, etc., as well as for many other types of commercial organizations.

Create a short list

After reviewing and researching the software on the long list, the buyer can widdle down this list based on the budget. AP automation software is available to suit all budgets and some general applications may be downloaded free or bought off the shelf at a lower price.

Buyers must keep in mind, however, that the more specialized a software is, the more expensive it gets. This is the case because the user base for specialized software is usually relatively small. If the company wants something specific to their industry or customized for the business, they should be prepared to pay a premium.

Conduct demos

As a rule of thumb, companies should make sure to demo all of the products that end up on their short list. During demos, buyers should ask specific questions related to the functionalities they care most about, for example, one might ask to be walked through any image capturing features, how to run reports, or how to match supplier invoices with corresponding POs.

Selection of AP Automation Software

Choose a selection team

It is important that the accountants or members of the AP team who will be using this software are involved in the selection process. The accountant may prefer an application that is compatible with the ones they currently use. Every business is different and the accountant is most likely in the best position to offer an educated opinion about which one is the best choice for the particular needs of the business. The accountant may even be able to help the company install and set up the software of choice.

After choosing a software, buyers must remember that they don’t have to be stuck with this selection forever; most platforms allow for add-ons or modifications. However, this decision shouldn’t be made lightly because no matter what software is chosen, it will be a big time and money commitment. In order to see ROI, buyers can’t change their minds a few months later and switch software again.

Negotiation

Negotiating a software contract is important to minimize risk, whether it is in terms of performance protection, security protection, or simply making sure that both parties are in complete agreement with what to expect from the other. 

If the business has the cash flow, they could ask for a discount in return for annual upfront payment, and many software providers are happy to make that deal. Other times, a software provider may offer unlimited usage if the buyers pay upfront instead of paying a monthly or quarterly package price.

Buyers should also determine if they will need help implementing the AP automation software or integrating with another system. Usually, a software provider's first offer will include some implementation services in a given timeframe. Buyers can ask for these services to be removed if they can manage it themselves, or if a third party can do it for cheaper.

They also need to decide for how long they will need this software. If the company will use the software for years and years, the buyer can negotiate longer terms which sometimes results in more favorable pricing.

Final decision

The final decision should be based on all the information gathered previously. Businesses should try to prioritize needs and select the solution that meets most of, if not all of, their requirements. Companies must remember that there is no one perfect software, but there is one that is best for their business.

If possible, buyers must conduct a pilot program with a smaller sample size of users to gauge how well the software is received. If the platform gets high marks, they can buy with more confidence. If the tool is found to be inefficient or not performing as expected, it might be time to test another software.