Can you believe that for a while, I was actually in corporate procurement, dealing with food ingredients? And if there’s one thing I remember clearly, it’s how painful the accounts payable process was. Invoices piled up, approvals got lost in email chains, and last-minute discrepancies turned simple payments into full-blown crises.
That experience gave me a huge appreciation for finance teams that deal with this at scale. Even today, many are stuck with manual invoice processing, slow approvals, and payment errors, issues that the best accounts payable automation software could easily solve.
Thinking back to those days, I wanted to see just how much AP automation has evolved. So, I tested over 25 tools to find the ones that truly simplify invoice processing, automate approvals, and improve cash flow visibility. If your team is tired of chasing approvals and fixing errors, these handpicked seven tools are worth considering.
*These AP automation software are top-rated in their category, according to G2 Grid Reports. I’ve also added their monthly pricing to make comparisons easier for you.
Back when I worked in procurement, I spent way too much time dealing with slow approvals, missing purchase orders, and payment delays. Trust me, I know the struggles!
The best accounts payable automation software doesn’t just make things faster. It eliminates inefficiencies, reduces errors, and keeps the entire AP process running smoothly. But not every tool gets it right. Some make life easier, while others create as many headaches as they solve.
I wanted to cut through the noise and find out which ones actually help with invoice processing and approvals and give finance teams better control over payments. Here’s how I went about it.
I began by reviewing G2’s latest Grid Report, examining usability, automation capabilities, and how well each AP automation tool helps finance teams manage their responsibilities. This gave me a clear picture of which platforms consistently performed well and which ones had recurring issues.
To gain a deeper understanding, I used artificial intelligence (AI)-powered analysis to go through thousands of user reviews, identifying trends in what finance professionals found most valuable and what caused them frustration.
Beyond rankings and reviews, I compared key AP automation features, focusing on invoice processing, approval workflows, payment scheduling, and ERP integrations. When I couldn’t test a platform directly, I reached out to finance professionals who use these tools daily to get their firsthand experiences and validate my findings.
The screenshots in this article include both images from my testing and verified visuals from vendor pages on G2.
I considered the following factors when evaluating the best accounts payable automation software.
The list below contains genuine user reviews from the accounts payable automation software page. To be included in this category, a solution must:
*This data was pulled from G2 in 2025. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.
BILL AP/AR brings invoicing, approvals, and vendor payments into one simplified space for finance teams looking to ditch manual spreadsheet work and follow-ups.
One of BILL's biggest strengths is its user-friendliness. The layout is clean, and actions like uploading invoices, adding vendors, or scheduling payments take just a few clicks. Even I, with limited AP experience, was able to get comfortable quickly. That ease of use can help shave hours off the monthly workflow and eliminate confusion.
Vendor management also felt smoother than I expected. BILL stores detailed vendor profiles and lets you automate payment reminders. I could keep track of payment history, tax documents, and even communication logs in one place. The process makes vendor relationships more transparent and less reactive.
The approval workflow options are another major win. You can assign custom roles, route approvals across departments, and track every decision with full visibility. It’s a great fit for teams that want internal controls without unnecessary bottlenecks. I appreciated how easy it was to set up multi-step approvals.
Payment processing speed is one area that could be better. I noticed the transfers can take several days, which isn’t ideal when a vendor needs a quick turnaround. That delay adds a little friction to an otherwise smooth process.
Based on my research and speaking to my colleagues in operations, I also learned that customer support didn’t always come through when needed. Some questions took days to answer, and live chat wasn’t consistently available. While there’s a decent help center, I found myself relying on trial and error more than I’d like. Quite a few G2 users also resonate with this sentiment.
The sync with other accounting tools mostly works; there were a few bumps early on. I ran into duplicate transactions and some missing entries when syncing bills. It took extra time to reconcile those issues manually. With regular checks, it's manageable, but I wouldn’t call the integration 100% reliable out of the box.
“BILL's Accounts Payable (AP) features are advantageous to me. Setting up recurring invoices is also a significant time saver since it ensures that monthly payments are handled automatically and without effort. One of my favorite features is the AI-powered tool for easily copying information directly from papers while processing bills. This has made data entry considerably faster and more accurate, lowering errors and saving time. Overall, BILL has tremendously simplified our AP process, and I am satisfied with BILL as I use it daily. The BILL support is also very helpful. They listen to our concerns and are quick to assist in resolving any issues, making the overall experience much smoother.”
- BILL AP/AR Review, Mohammed H.
“Downloading reports from bill.com is a very tedious process. There are many sycnc errors while syncing with other software like Sage Intact etc.”
- BILL AP/AR Review, Manoj B.
Sage Intacct is a cloud-based financial management solution for growing businesses and organizations with complex accounting needs. It covers core modules like general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, reporting, and multi-entity consolidation.
I appreciated how user-friendly the core navigation was. The layout is clean, menus are logically grouped, and common actions are easy to find. I didn’t need to rely on guesswork to locate features or settings. Once I got the hang of the workflow, tasks like invoice approvals and journal entries flowed quickly.
The reporting engine is one of Sage Intacct’s standout features. I could slice data by department, location, or project and customize reports with filters and dimensions. It gave me the flexibility to see financials from multiple angles, which is something many other systems struggle with. For data-driven teams, this is a huge win.
I was also impressed by how easily Sage Intacct handled multiple entities. Managing inter-company transactions, consolidations, and entity-specific permissions was straightforward. It made overseeing parent-child relationships much easier and rolling everything into unified reports when needed.
That said, not everything came easily—especially the advanced features. It took time (and some outside help) to learn how to fully use dimensions, automate workflows, or optimize reporting layouts. This may be a bit of a ramp-up for teams without a dedicated administrator.
There were also a few persistent bugs that interrupted certain workflows. Project tracking didn’t always behave as expected, and my colleagues who have worked with Sage reported minor glitches when switching between entities. These weren’t dealbreakers, but they did require follow-up.
The reporting tools, while powerful, could’ve been more intuitive. Some of the setup options felt buried, and I had to experiment quite a bit to get reports to look the way I wanted. Once things were configured, they worked well, but the path to get there wasn’t always smooth.
“Whether it's a fiscal year or calendar year entity no longer matters when it comes time to provide the auditors their required reports! Now, I can customize those reports in advance and assign outside entities to their proper places. Coming from a legacy accounting software product, I've been very impressed with the search functionality of Sage Intaact's software! I'm used to being forced to know precisely where to look for the answers I'm seeking, but even the best accountants aren't software code mindreaders. Being able to enter brief search criteria and use the "%" function to get a slew of results has been a HUGE time saver for both myself and my team, who no longer need to explain to the accountant who is new to non-profit accounting where to look for the appropriate backup.”
- Sage Intacct Review, Chris B.
“I dislike how long it initially takes to get to the needed pages. Having to open multiple tabs makes searching easier and cuts down on the amount of time I spend waiting for the page to load. It would be easier for me if everything I needed to do with one invoice could be done from the same page. I frequently have to refund invoices, and this can't be done from Intacct. I have to go to Intacct to find the information and take it to Braintree (both EFT and CC versions). There's about a week's waiting period for everything to process and sync; then I have to use Intacct to verse on one page and reprocess on another. It isn't very easy to learn at first, either. Since there are so many back-and-forth steps, a lot of manual fixes, and one thing at a time, it takes a lot of patience and asking questions. The terms are more geared towards accountants and not a billing support team”
- Sage Intacct Review, Amber J.
Related: Are you a small business wondering if you should outsource your accounting or invest in an in-house team? Check out this article on in-house vs. outsourced accounting.
Stampli simplifies invoice management and approvals and works alongside your existing accounting system to help route invoices faster and reduce manual data entry. The tool is especially popular among finance teams that need more visibility and collaboration in their AP workflows.
Invoice processing in Stampli is smooth and fast. I was able to upload, route, and track invoices with minimal effort, and the system does a great job of auto-filling key fields. I liked how approvers were looped in automatically, which sped up turnaround time. Even with high volumes, everything feels easy to manage.
Customer support stood out in a good way. Anytime I had questions, whether it was setup-related or about specific workflows, I got helpful responses quickly. I never felt stuck waiting for a fix, which gave me more confidence in the tool overall. The support team clearly knows the platform inside and out.
The interface is simple, modern, and easy to learn. I didn’t need much training to get started. The navigation is intuitive, and common tasks are just a click or two away. For a finance tool, it’s refreshingly straightforward.
One limitation I ran into was around payments. Stampli doesn’t handle all payment scenarios, and depending on your industry, there may be restrictions. This meant I still had to rely on other systems for the final payment step, which broke the flow a bit.
Exporting processed invoices came with its own set of challenges. Once something is exported or marked complete, editing becomes difficult. That rigidity led to a few do-overs when I caught small errors too late. A bit more flexibility here would go a long way.
“Stampli provides a full cycle AP solution that gives us instant access to our invoices at every stage of the AP cycle. We're no longer hunting down invoice copies or emailing, calling, or running to offices for invoice approvals. We're no longer dropping a stack of checks to be signed on anyone's desk on a Friday afternoon. Implementation was incredibly fast, and our team was up and running after a single-hour training session. Customer support is available within the app, and our dedicated specialist is very responsive. Stampli has an API with our ERP, so there are no clunky uploads or downloads.”
- Stampli Review, Colin M.
“There are some features that my team is waiting for Stampli to implement, and some things aren't as smooth as I'd like. For example, I'd love to see payment information directly on the invoice page or, at the very least, have a link from the invoice page to the payment page, similar to how bill.com does it. This would make things so much smoother when checking on the status of invoices and providing remittance information for vendors. Additionally, ACH payments take longer than other systems like bill.com. A new expedited payment option has been released recently, but it costs money and has a cap on the payment amounts allowed to be expedited. Would love to see faster payments overall and eventually no cap on expedited payments."
- Stampli Review, Laura B.
Airbase is a spend management platform that combines expense tracking, approvals, reimbursements, and virtual cards into one centralized system. It’s designed to help finance teams gain more control over company spending while improving visibility across departments.
Airbase’s spend management features gave me more real-time control than I expected. The virtual cards make assigning budgets and monitoring usage easy and reduce last-minute surprises during reconciliations. I also liked how spending limits and policies could be set upfront, helping prevent overspending before it happens.
The mobile app adds a lot of flexibility. I could upload receipts, submit reimbursements, and approve expenses while on the go. It came in handy during travel, and the quick photo upload feature meant I didn’t have to save piles of paper receipts. It made keeping things up to date feel less like a chore.
Overall, the interface is clean and intuitive. The layout makes it easy to find key features without needing a walkthrough, and most actions, like creating a new request or submitting a report, take just a few clicks. It feels like a platform built to remove friction from everyday tasks.
That said, the mobile app experience wasn’t always consistent. Occasionally, receipt uploads stalled or didn’t go through the first time. I double-checked submissions much more than I'd like when relying on mobile.
There were also some hiccups with how receipts were matched to transactions. In a few cases, the auto-matching didn’t work, and I had to re-attach files manually. It wasn’t difficult to fix, but I could see it slowing things down for users handling large volumes of expenses.
The approval process worked well overall but lacked some flexibility in more complex workflows. If a request needed rerouting or had to go through multiple layers, it wasn’t always clear how to adjust the flow. It got the job done, but it felt a bit rigid in edge cases.
“Invoice reconciliation is made amazingly easy and quick. Before my team was using outdated tools and processes to reconcile invoices. Airbase has transformed this process and made it easier to request virtual cards and POs for certain paid marketing channels and vendors.”
- Airbase Review, Naor V.
“While Airbase is fantastic, there are a couple of minor things I'd like to see improved. Occasionally, the automatic categorization of expenses isn't perfect, and I have to manually adjust it. It's not a huge deal, but it would be even better if the AI was a bit more accurate. Also, while the mobile app is great, I've noticed that sometimes it can be a little slow to load, especially when I have a lot of receipts to upload. These are just minor inconveniences, though, and they certainly don't outweigh the many benefits of using Airbase.”
- Airbase Review, Kyle C.
While SAP Concur is best known for expense and travel management, it also plays an important role in automating parts of the accounts payable process—especially when it comes to employee reimbursements and non-PO spending. For companies with high volumes of travel expenses or decentralized spending, Concur helps structure approval workflows and keeps reimbursement cycles moving. It’s not your typical AP solution but fills a critical gap in broader spend control.
The mobile app is one of Concur’s most helpful features. I could snap a picture of a receipt, assign it to an expense, and submit it without needing to open my laptop. It comes in handy during work trips when you need to keep things moving. For teams on the go, the app really helps reduce delays in reimbursement.
Expense management feels structured and scalable. I could break out categories, track spending by department, and attach documentation with just a few clicks. The automated reminders helped me avoid missing receipts or leaving reports in draft. It can make monthly closeouts far less chaotic.
The approval workflow was another strong point. Requests move smoothly through the chain, and notifications make it easy for managers to review and sign off. I liked that you could customize roles and set up multi-layer approvals. That flexibility is a plus for finance teams trying to maintain control.
That said, the mobile experience wasn’t always flawless. Occasionally, receipts wouldn’t sync with the right expense, or I had to re-upload images that didn’t process properly. It wasn’t frequent, but enough to make me double-check submissions.
The desktop interface could use a refresh. Some menus feel buried, and I had to click around to find historical reports or view pending tasks. It's fine once you know where things live, but the initial learning curve is steeper than expected.
There were also moments when the system felt slow or unresponsive, especially when submitting reports with many attachments. Nothing crashed, but load times added up when managing multiple entries. It’s not a dealbreaker, just something that requires patience.
“SAP Concur has been a lifesaver for organizing and managing business travel and expenses. What I genuinely love is how easy it is to integrate with other tools and systems we already use everything feels connected. The mobile app is a great thing, letting me snap a photo of a receipt and upload it instantly, which has saved me countless hours of manual entry. It is also very intuitive to use once you get the hang of it, and the detailed reports it generates are a goldmine for tracking company spending. For a global team like ours, its multi-currency and multi-language support has been useful and helps us maintain consistency no matter where we are.”
- SAP Concur Review, Shubham K.
"User interface! It is really bad. Things are too descriptive, nothing icon-based. If the GUI is made more graphical, the dashboard would look cool and would avoid us to keep searching for things, and it helps us to explore things easily rather than someone teaching us to navigate.”
- SAP Concur Review, Adarsh S.
Ramp automates expense workflows for businesses, enhancing control over spending. While it is not a comprehensive accounts payable system, Ramp manages a significant portion of the daily expenses that finance teams oversee.
Ramp’s card management system is one of the most efficient I’ve tried. With just a few clicks, I could issue virtual cards instantly, set spending limits, and assign cards to departments or projects. It helps provide real-time visibility and prevent unauthorized purchases, making managing recurring or one-off expenses much easier.
Receipt management is also a major strength. I can text or email receipts, and Ramp auto-matches them to the right transaction. This simple process reduces the usual follow-up emails and keeps teams ahead during the monthly close.
I was impressed by how efficient the whole platform felt. From approvals to categorization to syncing with accounting tools, everything moved quickly and without friction.
The only real limitation I noticed was international usage. Ramp works great for U.S.-based teams, but using cards abroad or with international vendors introduced a few hiccups. It’s something global teams will want to plan around if they’re hoping for seamless coverage.
Exporting data for accounting was sometimes trickier. While most of the reports were available, formatting them for more complex use cases took extra effort. I occasionally had to adjust columns or manually organize fields before importing elsewhere.
“Ramp gives the ultimate power to our employees - to spend as needed, efficiently add a receipt, code the transaction for our budget, and give a memo for the purchase. This keeps the accounting office from having to hunt down receipts and try to guess where the employee wants to charge the item.”
- Ramp Review, Alison H.
“Downsides for me are not being able to pay international wires in foreign transactions, and some better dashboards for spend over time would help.”
- Ramp Review, Gabriel F.
Tipalti is a global payables automation platform that handles everything from invoice intake and approvals to vendor onboarding and cross-border payments. The platform integrates with common ERPs and also includes built-in fraud prevention.
Tipalti really shines in the invoice processing workflow. It automatically routes approvals, flags duplicate invoices, and helps standardize formatting across vendors. I can easily monitor progress at each step, which helps avoid bottlenecks later on. The time saved here is immediately noticeable.
Vendor onboarding is fast and structured. I found it easy to collect tax forms, banking details, and compliance documents all in one portal, so vendors don’t have to email information back and forth. Once they’re in the system, everything runs more smoothly. It reduces manual errors and saves a lot of follow-up time.
Customer support was also consistently helpful. Whether it was walking through an integration issue or answering specific reporting questions, the Tipalti support team felt accessible and responsive. I didn't have to wait long for a reply, which made the learning curve easier to manage.
That said, the reporting tools are functional but limited. I found it tricky to create custom reports or export data in precisely the desired format. It worked well for basic overviews, but deeper analysis often required manual cleanup in spreadsheets.
Search functionality could also be improved. When looking for specific payments or vendor records, the results weren’t always intuitive or complete. It slowed me down when answering quick internal questions or pulling up past activities.
“The system is easy to navigate and I am able to download the reports that I need. Annually, when we send 1099s to our domestic video owner licensees and 1042s to our international video owner licensees I am able to effectively gather the data that we need to send to licensees and to report to the IRS for tax purposes.”
- Tipalti Review, Abhi B.
“There are some more complex payout rules I'd like to incorporate into our payout routine, but it's not yet possible. In a perfect world, Tipalti could do pay-ins and payouts, so I wouldn't need another PSP for this, but maybe one day.”
- Tipalti Review, Kristi H.
The best AP automation software depends on your business size and workflow complexity. Stampli stands out for teams that need real-time invoice collaboration and communication between departments. Tipalti is excellent for companies managing global payables, offering strong tax compliance and mass payment features. Airbase is a top choice for finance teams that want to bring AP, card spend, and procurement into one automated platform.
For small businesses, ease of use and affordability matter most. BILL AP/AR is a great fit, with straightforward invoice capture, approval routing, and QuickBooks integration. Ramp is another solid choice, especially for startups that want to automate payments while managing cards and spend policies in one place. Stampli also works well for smaller teams that handle frequent vendor invoices and need a more collaborative approach to invoice approvals without jumping into an enterprise-grade system.
Larger companies typically need more than just invoice automation. They require robust controls, scalability, and international capabilities. Tipalti is built for high-volume AP teams and easily handles global payments, tax compliance, and fraud prevention. Sage Intacct offers strong financial reporting, multi-entity support, and integration with other enterprise systems. SAP Concur is best suited for companies already using SAP products, offering a seamless experience for managing both AP and travel-related expenses.
If automation is the priority, Tipalti, Stampli, and Airbase rise to the top. Tipalti automates the entire AP lifecycle from invoice ingestion and validation to supplier payments and tax form collection. Stampli uses AI to auto-fill invoice fields, detect duplicates, and simplify multi-person approvals. Airbase offers a unified workflow that automates everything from purchase orders to invoice matching and payment scheduling, with granular spend controls layered in.
All the tools in this listicle are cloud-based, which means they can be accessed from anywhere and updated in real time. Cloud-native platforms like Airbase and Ramp are especially modern, with sleek UIs and fast setup times. Stampli and Tipalti offer deep AP functionality in a fully cloud-based format, while Sage Intacct and SAP Concur provide enterprise-grade cloud solutions with tight integrations for finance and accounting.
Manufacturing companies typically need tools that can handle high invoice volume, track vendor payments accurately, and integrate with inventory or ERP systems. Sage Intacct is a strong candidate, especially for manufacturers looking for cost tracking and real-time reporting across departments. Tipalti supports global supplier payments, which is a big plus for manufacturers with international sourcing. Stampli is also useful for AP teams that need to coordinate invoice approvals across operations, procurement, and finance quickly and efficiently.
Managing payables doesn’t have to be a headache. These seven AP automation tools bring serious muscle to the table, whether you’re chasing faster approvals, cleaner audit trails, or global payment capabilities. From AI-driven invoice capture to multi-entity support and seamless ERP integration, there’s something here for every finance team.
What stood out to me most was how each platform tackles different pain points. Some shine at spend control, others excel at cross-border compliance, and a few wrap it all up into a beautifully intuitive dashboard. Personally, I lean toward tools that reduce manual entry and help teams stay ahead of deadlines without needing a finance degree to operate.
I dug into each one to uncover the real strengths and limitations so you don’t have to. Now it’s your turn to explore, compare, and find the AP automation software that will actually make your month-end close a little less painful.
Searching for an invoicing tool instead? Check out this list of the 8 best free invoicing software for 2025, ranked and reviewed by my colleague.
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