The 14 best accounts payable software platforms

Accounts payable is changing fast.

Digital technologies like AI and machine learning are automating AP invoice processes and allowing businesses to save money and manage cash flow. At the same time, those technologies provide a wealth of real-time data and analytics that drive informed strategic decisions.

The challenge facing CFOs is harnessing the transformative power of accounts payable automation. In a 2022 survey by PYMNTS.com, 57% of CFOs reported that automation is about doing things in new and better ways, and 43% said it was about achieving greater efficiency and cost savings.

It’s important to strike a good balance between these two objectives – and find the perfect automation solution to make it happen. To help you decide, we’ll explore the leading AP automation solutions available today.

1. Stampli
2. AvidXchange
3. Tipalti
4. Mineraltree
5. Quadient AP Automation (formerly Beanworks)
6. Yooz
7. Sage Intacct
8. NetSuite
9. SAP ERP
10. Acumatica
11. QuickBooks
12. FreshBooks
13. Airbase
14. BILL

What is accounts payable automation software?

Accounts payable automation software streamlines the accounts payable workflow – the steps AP teams follow to process and pay vendor invoices. AP software automates tasks from invoice receipt to payment, including invoice data entry, GL coding, verification, approval, and payment. 

By automating your entire AP process, AP automation software improves the efficiency, transparency, and accountability of your accounts payable process.

The more efficient your workflow is, the quicker you have visibility into spend and supplier invoice liabilities. Transparency is key as it lets you see every outstanding liability or transaction – in addition to preventing any mistakes, fraud, or duplicate invoices before you pay suppliers. Plus, you can use your AP data to analyze your spending and make more informed purchasing decisions. Lastly, controls prevent fraud and accountability ensures that each stakeholder does their part.

What are the key features of AP automation?

Most AP automation solutions offer a core set of invoice processing and payments features, including:

• Invoice scanning and data capture with OCR technology
• Invoice verification (two and three-way matching)
• Approval routing
• Vendor payments

The leading AP solution providers add advanced features such as supplier onboarding, tax compliance, fraud detection, electronic document management, integration with ERPs and accounting systems, international payments, centralized communications, employee expense management, corporate cards, and payments reconciliation.

What are the benefits of AP software?

The primary benefit of automating your entire AP process is that it helps your business save on labor and indirect costs by improving workflow efficiency and reducing errors, late payments, and duplicate invoices.

Here are some of the other benefits you can achieve:

Streamlined invoice management improves cash flow

AP automation decreases the time it takes to process invoices so you can avoid late payments and improve cash flow management.

Three-way matching to reduce errors and fraud

By automatically matching invoice details against shipping receipts and purchase orders, AP automation software helps detect errors and signs of fraudulent activity.

ERP integration provides accurate data and improves efficiency

Many AP solutions integrate with ERPs, accounting systems, and other business applications to share accurate transaction data across your organization. Data sharing improves process efficiency by ensuring everyone is working from the same information.

Improve supplier relationships through better communication

Accounts payable software solutions with integrated vendor portals centralize communications and information sharing with suppliers. Some providers also offer self-serve onboarding, invoice uploads, and vendor document management to further enhance supplier relationships.

Scalable solutions to support business growth

As your business grows, so does the volume of invoices you receive. Scalable accounts payable solutions maintain process efficiency by growing when your business grows. 

Enforce internal controls and prevent fraud

AP automation platforms can help enforce internal controls to ensure regulatory compliance and prevent fraudulent activity.

It’s much easier to achieve these benefits by selecting the right AP automation provider. Let’s explore your options. 

Accounts Payable automation solutions

1. Stampli

Stampli is a cloud-based AP automation solution that is purpose-built for Accounts Payable. It streamlines and automates the end-to-end accounts payable process – without disrupting the ERP or business systems. Stampli enters communication, documentation, and workflows on top of each invoice to eliminate the need for workarounds and external communications channels. It logs all user activity to simplify month-end close and AP audits and provides AP teams full visibility into every invoice and payment status.

Stampli supports AP teams by streamlining and automating core tasks through key features such as:

• Invoice processing: Stampli automates paper invoice capture, coding, and approvals to improve processing efficiency and accuracy.
• Centralized collaboration: Invoice collaboration, interactions, documentation, and workflows are centered on top of each invoice.
• Advanced artificial intelligence: Stampli’s AI (Billy the Bot) adapts to your AP processes and business structure to automate manual processes and eliminate manual work in your ERP. 
• Purchase orders: Stampli offers automated two- and three-way matching, processing for partial amounts, adjusting line items, and adding new ones.
• Multi-subsidiary support: Stampli helps you process and pay invoices across companies, offices, departments, or locations.
• AP reporting: Track payments, invoices, employee productivity, and AP processes with dashboards, analytics, and financial reporting tools.

Stampli supports native functionality for over 70 ERPs, including Microsoft Dynamics, Sage Intacct, SAP, Oracle NetSuite, and Quickbooks Online. Their pre-built integrations allow you to deploy in days with no coding.

Customer reviews position Stampli as a leader in the G2 Grid for Accounts Payable and #1 for Implementation and Relationships for its quality of support, ease of doing business, and the likelihood that customers would recommend Stampli as an AP Automation solution.

Stampli also offers solutions for customers seeking more flexibility and control in managing accounts payable functions. 

• Stampli Direct Pay: A unified platform to manage domestic and international vendor payments.
• Stampli Card: A physical and virtual card program with AP-specific spend management features.
• Advanced Vendor Management: An enhanced vendor portal that facilitates onboarding and automated vendor document management.
• Stampli Expenses: Automated employee expense management.

Best for: Mid-market and enterprise companies that want to improve AP processing efficiency, transparency, and control without reworking their ERP or AP processes.

2. AvidXchange

AvidXchange is a cloud-based accounting software solution designed to streamline and optimize the accounts payable workflow for mid-market companies. Their goal is to “Transform the way middle market companies receive, manage, and pay their bills.”

To automate AP tasks, AvidXchange offers separate modules such as AvidPay for vendor payments, AvidStrongroom for AP automation, and AvidInvoice for invoice processing. They also provide specialized modules for finance functions, including spend analytics, utility cost management, and purchase order management.

AvidXchange provides flexible solutions for mid-sized businesses seeking end-to-end automation of their procure-to-pay process. They offer tailored accounts payable solutions and modules that cater to the unique requirements of various industries, including finance (AvidAccess), construction (TimberScan), and real estate.

3. Tipalti

Tipalti is a cloud-based accounts payable platform that automates the accounts payable process and provides a wide range of invoice automation and payment features. It’s designed to meet the needs of businesses looking to streamline their financial processes. Tipalti prioritizes efficiency and helps manage cash flow, and also provides bill payment, tax compliance, and fraud detection services to help businesses stay compliant. 

Tipalti is a good solution for mid-market businesses seeking to enhance their accounts payable and payment processing with a customizable, end-to-end automation platform. Its user-friendly interface, internal financial controls, and streamlined payment process can improve efficiency and lead to cost savings.

4. MineralTree

MineralTree is a centralized platform for automating the accounts payable process. It can help companies reduce processing costs while increasing transaction visibility and control. MineralTree offers TotalAP, a complete suite of AP solutions, including invoice processing, validation, approval routing, and payment automation. The software is designed around four key steps: invoice capture, invoice approval, payment authorization, and payment completion, with automation tools that simplify and streamline each step. 

Owned by Global Payments, MineralTree primarily serves the mid-market.. MineralTree also provides its clients with the TotalPay payment solution and SilverPay corporate credit cards.

5. Quadient AP Automation (formerly Beanworks)

Beanworks was acquired by Quadient in 2021 and rebranded as Quadient Accounts Payable by Beanworks. It uses custom business rules to automate AP workflows and route purchase orders, invoices, and payment approvals to improve efficiency. Beanwork’s AP automation solution consists of four modules: Invoice process automation, Expenses, Payments, and Purchase orders. Customers can choose the mix of modules that suits their needs.

6. Yooz

Yooz provides a purchase-to-pay (P2P) automation solution. It features real-time visibility and control over the AP process and KPIs through customizable reporting tools and dashboards. Yooz leverages AI and Big Data-based technologies to automate invoice processing, GL coding, and purchase order matching. It also features Yooz Stamp, a proprietary technology that separates invoices and documents automatically. 

Yooz offers a no-fee 15-day trial subscription and a “Gold Edition” monthly subscription with unlimited users. The custom pricing for the monthly subscription is based on the number of documents processed.

ERPs

Most enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems offer integrated accounts payable and payment processing modules. Many standalone AP automation solutions, such as Stampli, integrate with ERPs to provide additional flexibility and functionality, however, this can require substantial rework to your ERP. Stampli is unique because it offers pre-built integrations with over 70 ERPs with no need for rework or IT changes.

7. Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct is a cloud-based ERP accounting software system. It includes an accounts payable module with automated payables workflows. The AP module and added features automate workflows like document capture, data entry and coding, invoice verification, PO matching, approvals, vendor management, expense management, and supplier payments. Intacct uses optical character recognition and AI to automate scanning and data entry from paper invoices and purchase orders to speed up invoice verification and approval processes. 

Sage Intacct also offers Open API, a unique integration that facilitates and simplifies data sharing between Intacct modules and third-party software. Open API expands Intacct’s AP functionality by opening the door to a portfolio of tailored AP automation platforms. It lets software developers customize their workspaces without add-ons or extras.

8. NetSuite

NetSuite is a cloud-based ERP system that offers numerous modules, known as Suites, to cater to various business functions, including accounts payable. NetSuite seamlessly integrates with popularly used AP automation platforms, increasing its core product’s efficiency. 

With NetSuite, you can access real-time insights into customer invoicing and payment details, as well as reporting and analytics, without running new reports for every query. This level of accuracy and flexibility makes NetSuite an ideal tool for companies that need to make swift decisions to grow their business, such as startups in their early stages.

9. SAP ERP

SAP is the largest ERP provider in the world, providing a wide range of services to automate business processes. SAP’s various ERP and spend management products (S4/HANA, SAP ECC, SAP Concur) include accounts payable modules for enterprise businesses. Although their capabilities differ from product to product, these modules generally provide integrated solutions that streamline spend management, enhance efficiency, automate payment processing and simplify AP processes. 

By automating expenses and expediting invoice approvals, SAP eliminates time-consuming tasks and reduces the risk of manual errors. With real-time data integration and AI-driven transaction analysis, businesses gain insights into spending, improve compliance, and prevent budgetary oversights. Its finance capabilities include support for AI-driven financial insights and automated accounts payables matching. 

10. Acumatica

Acumatica is a cloud-based ERP system simplifying small and medium business accounting and accounts payable tasks. Its accounts payable module helps Acumatica customers streamline cross-functional workflows and facilitate collaboration among finance teams. 

Acumatica’s Accounts Payable software is designed to streamline accounts payable processes and keep outgoing cash flow timely and accurate. The Accounts Payable module automates the steps for receiving vendor invoices and keeps track of payment obligations.

Accounting and payment automation platforms

Many off-the-shelf accounting systems and payment automation platforms offer basic AP functionality. Here are some of the leading solutions.

11. QuickBooks 

QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop are accounting software solutions made by Intuit. They are targeted at small and medium-sized businesses.

QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based accounting solution for small businesses. It offers seamless integration with AP automation solutions, such as Stampli. QuickBooks customers can also opt for Intuit Merchant Services to process vendor payments, allowing them to accept various payment methods such as credit card payments, PayPal, Apple Pay, wire transfers, and ACH electronic bank transfers. 

QuickBooks Desktop is an on-premise accounting solution that services up to 40 users. It provides some advanced services not provided by QuickBooks Online, such as the ability to handle multiple currencies for vendor payments. It does lack some of QuickBooks Online’s key features. For example, it can’t automatically import bank account information, and it can’t be used on mobile devices.

12. FreshBooks

FreshBooks is an easy-to-use small business accounting platform with accounts payable and payments features. It’s an attractive tool for small business owners needing a basic accounts payable solution.

13. Airbase

Airbase is a spend management platform designed for mid-sized to enterprise-level businesses. The platform offers accounts payable automation, expense management, and corporate cards in a unified platform. 

Although traditionally focused on employee expense management, it has added accounts payable and procurement management capabilities to its core spend management solution. Airbase helps companies control spending, accelerate financial tasks, and manage risks by simplifying business and accounting processes. It offers a user-friendly interface, spend management capabilities, a comprehensive corporate card program, and flexible service packages.

14. BILL

BILL (formerly Bill.com) provides solutions that simplify and automate financial processes for small and mid-sized businesses. These solutions are designed to manage cash inflows and outflows and include features such as approval workflows, payment processing, integration with accounting software, and cash management.

BILL is a budget-friendly accounting and basic accounts payable and accounts receivable automation solution that is both functional and user-friendly. With a variety of electronic payment options and flexible, scalable service options, BILL allows small businesses to add functionality as they grow and their needs evolve.

How to choose the best Accounts Payable automation solution

Do you want to save money or gain strategic insights?

When choosing an AP automation platform, it’s important to consider your company’s long-term strategy and requirements. For most businesses, the ideal solution lies somewhere in the middle, balancing streamlining AP processes with providing actionable insights.

To achieve this, you need to find a platform that offers the flexibility and functionality to automate AP processes and increase efficiency, along with the analytical power and data transparency to provide visibility and control over data and communications. 

Here are four factors to consider when making your decision.

Is the AP automation solution easy to use?

While automation can simplify and streamline Purchase-to-Pay (P2P) processes and workflows, it is important to remember that the platform still needs to be used by actual employees. The easiest-to-use AP automation solutions require minimal training to get up and running, have a simple and intuitive interface, and provide friendly and effective user support. 

It’s best to try a demo to assess an AP solution usability.  Allow your AP team and stakeholders to test the interface and functionality and look for these indicators:

• The training required to get AP and finance teams up and running.
• If vendors need training to use the vendor platform.
• How intuitive the platform is to use and where users get frustrated.

How well does the AP solution support collaboration?

Effective communication and collaboration between Accounts Payable (AP) teams, stakeholders, and vendors significantly enhances process efficiency, attention to detail, and enforcement of internal controls. Therefore, centralizing these functions and making them easily accessible to everyone involved in the AP workflow is crucial for efficient AP management.

The best AP solutions integrate communication and collaboration tools to streamline interactions between AP teams, vendors, and stakeholders. These solutions also seamlessly integrate with ERP and accounting systems for smooth organizational communication.

Does the platform provide invoice approval confidence?

When it comes to Accounts Payable (AP) automation, approval confidence is crucial. CFOs and Controllers can trust that the platform follows the AP process and enforces internal controls, ensuring that approvals are valid and the business can make legitimate vendor payments. 

The best AP automation platforms efficiently and effectively handle invoice processing and validation. They capture the right transaction information and automatically detect and address human error and fraud. By providing approval confidence, these platforms also free up AP team members to work on value-added projects instead of chasing down approvals.

Look for vendors who can provide customer testimonials and case studies that prove their solution is efficient, minimizes errors, and is trusted by other CFOs. 

How well does the AP software solution perform?

A solution’s performance is the ultimate measure of its effectiveness. Even if a platform is incredibly user-friendly, it won’t make a difference if it fails to deliver results. 

The best accounts payable solutions consistently provide measurable results like reduced processing times, labor savings, lower error and fraud rates, and improved days payable outstanding (DPO).

Review each vendor’s track record to determine whether their clients have seen consistent and measurable results. A good AP solution provider should be able to provide case studies that demonstrate their product’s performance in the real world.

It’s also important to ask the following questions:

• What is the average reduction in invoice processing time, and what cost savings resulted from using the solution?
• What are the common issues existing clients have found in the solution, and what steps has the vendor taken to address their concerns?
• How well does the solution integrate with ERPs and accounting systems?

You can make a well-informed decision by establishing your needs upfront and evaluating potential accounts payable automation vendors based on these criteria. Additionally, software rating sites like G2 can be a valuable source of user reviews and feedback on AP platforms.

Stampli: The industry leader in AP automation

Stampli understands that accounts payable automation needs to be designed for humans first. As the leading accounts payable solution for ease of use, relationships, implementation, and getting results, Stampli is the natural choice for any business looking to get the most out of their accounts payable investment.

Walking the Walk instead of Talking the Talk

One of the surest tests of a company’s quality is how well they treat their employees. Comparably has recognized Stampli for employee satisfaction in several areas, notably diversity, leadership, company culture, and employee happiness.

Stampli’s combination of proven results, innovation, and people-first design has made us the leading accounts payable automation provider and a strong partner for any organization that wants to get the most out of accounts payable.

Contact our sales team today to set up a free demo.