Best Free Expense Management Software in 2024

The management of spending is crucial to every business. While there are expense management software for medium to large enterprises that offer advanced systems, there are also available solutions for freelance professionals, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. Since expense management entails following strict accounting standards and governance policies, using these tools ensures that specific guidelines and regulations are met in expense reporting. These free expense management software are designed to streamline and automate the management of spending, giving the user more time to work on things that will drive growth. This guide on free expense management software will help you choose the best solution for your business so you can manage spending more efficiently.

Free expense management software offers you firsthand experience to determine if the full solution matches your particular workflow. It is important to spend time appraising the strong points of the product, including checking customer reviews to be able to choose the best free software for your business. For your evaluation of free expense management software, you may start checking the reviews and customer ratings for Gusto, Zoho Books, Zoho Expense, Tradogram, Wave, Rydoo, Everlance, Shoeboxed, TripGain, dash and Melio.

Using expense management software can significantly reduce time spent on tracking spending. For instance, small business owners and freelancers who typically work alone can rely on an expense management solution to deliver much-needed support to everyday workflow. Free expense management software, in particular, can address the needs of the increasing number of freelance professionals and small business owners. Other users that can reap the advantages that this type of software has to offer are:

• Freelance professionals that require business automation. Doing freelance work involves dealing with multiple projects and multiple client requirements. Keeping track of expenses for each project is important for transparency. A free expense management software offers tools that can simplify and streamline the expense management process.
• Small businesses that require an efficient reporting system. Expenses need to be monitored, regardless of the size of your business. Accurate and timely reporting ensures efficient management of spending. The ideal expense management software for small businesses is one that can provide a robust system for expense monitoring.
• Entrepreneurs that need an efficient way to track spending. Typically, entrepreneurs focus their time and energy on creative endeavors. Expense management, however, also requires proper management. This is where an expense management application can be very useful.
• Contractors that single-handedly manage business operations. Contractors have very specialized skills and need help when it comes to proper expense accounting. Instead of outsourcing this aspect of the business, using expense management software can provide the contractor with a system that can monitor and properly record spending.

• Zoho Expense is an expense reporting and monitoring software that facilitates efficient expense management. Based on the preferences of the user, expense recording can be customized and reports can be generated anytime, helping the user stay on top of all transactions, and promoting efficient expense management.
• Gusto is a payroll management software that is ideal for businesses that employ both W2 workers and 1099 contractors. This expense management software offers a subscription-free plan that lets the user pay per contractor only at $6 per month. The contractor plan is exclusive to small businesses that avail of the services of 1099 contractors. For W2 workers, Gusto offers paid plans.
• Zoho Books is a software that offers expense management as part of a suite of accounting tools designed for the growing business. As a complete end-to-end solution, Zoho Books automates the process of balancing entries and lets you do accounting processes in one platform. The free version of this software also easily integrates with other accounting management tools.
• Tradogram is a cloud-based electronic procurement platform that streamlines the purchasing process. The Basic Plan is free but limited to one user and 10 purchase orders (POs) per month. The free plan allows for an unlimited number of suppliers, categories, and items. Among the free features are contract management, RFQ and RFP management, delivery tracking, invoice matching, project management, inventory management, and knowledge base support.
• Wave is a free accounting and invoicing software that offers more than the essential features needed to run an accounting system. There is no limit to income and expense tracking, and you can even track sales tax on income and expenses. Unlike other free expense management software, Wave allows the user to add an unlimited number of partners, collaborators, and accountants. There is also a fully-functional double-entry system that facilitates the generation of complete reports that include cash flow, P&L, invoices, and more. Income and expenses can also be organized into tax categories.
• Tripgain is a cloud-based expense management app and travel marketplace in one. Designed for corporates, travel administrators, as well as travelers, Tripgain helps users find the best-priced transport and accommodation through the AI-based recommendation engine. Companies can set spending limits and enforce travel policies using this software. This expense management system also features an approval workflow and generates reports in real-time.
• dash is a free expense management solution that uses a prepaid Mastercard to manage expenses. Using the prepaid card, team members get access to funds whenever and wherever they need it. Requests for additional funds may also be approved remotely, and in the same manner, managers can also suspend users or remove funds using the app. dash offers customizable categories of purchases, automatic fund reloading, and paperless receipts.
• Melio is an expense management software that offers the simplest way to pay vendors and contractors. This free software enables the user to add bill details and choose a payment method and includes a payment approval workflow. Melio allows the payment of multiple bills at once, and the splitting of bills into multiple payments. For credit card payments, a 2.9% fee is charged per transaction.
• Everlance is built for freelancers, independent contractors, and even large businesses. This expense management software offers seamless expense tracking and synchronizes your bank and credit card transactions for automatic expense tracking. Everlance also provides tools for organizing spending and automating recurring expenses.

When it comes to business expenses management software, the typical classification is based on the type of deployment. Most of the free expense management software on the market today is cloud-based. Since the management of spending requires anytime, anywhere access, the cloud-hosted feature provides a significant advantage to users that need to record and track spending on the go.

• On-premise expense management system. For this type of deployment, the free expense management software is installed on your local server. This is the traditional way of deploying software, which also means that you have to perform maintenance and updates on your own as software is being run on-site.
• Cloud-hosted or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) expense management systems. This type of deployment is ideal for freelance professionals and small teams as it will not require software management on site. Expense management software that are offered as SaaS means that the user will have access to a complete end-to-end solution as provided by the vendor. Our post on SaaS software trends provides a comprehensive view of the latest developments in this field.

The features of free expense management software include the essential tools for the management of spending, plus, other add-ons that provide the user additional functionalities.

• Expense Tracking. The core feature of expense management software, this feature allows you to keep tabs on all transactions involving company resources and keeps all spending accounted for. The organization and customization provided by the expense management software help the business make estimations and projections, and at the same time make a budget for future expenses.
• Payment Approval Workflow. The payment approval feature of the expense management software ensures that there is control in every stage of the spending process. Even the remote approval and fund reload features have specific control systems to ensure secure transactions.
• Receipt Management. Receipt digitization in expense management is important to the proper recording of transactions, as well as document storage. Organizing receipts also through synchronizing bank and credit card statements for automatic expense tracking is an important feature. For your other document management requirements, you may also check our list of 15 best document management software.
• Automated Payroll Management. Although freelance professionals and small business owners may not require extensive payroll management, they still have to pay contractors that deliver services. This makes the automated payroll management feature important in tracking expenses in this category.
• Automated Procurement Management. Purchasing entails spending, and the automated procurement management feature ensures that all transactions are recorded in the right category. This feature makes expense tracking easier and will generate valuable insights when it comes to analyzing the spending activities of the company.
• Contract Management. Every contract stipulates specific taxation standards on income and expenses. The contract management feature ensures that all transactions comply with the generally accepted standards. You may also take a look at our list of the best cloud-based contract management software for your additional contract management requirements.

There are a number of benefits that await you once you choose to adopt an expense management software. Using online expense tracking software can deliver advantages to your business operations. The following are the benefits of free expense management software:

• Seamless expense management. The efficient use of resources is a key factor in business management. Using free expense management software will give you the tools to effectively manage your spending, without any cost. While only the most basic tools are offered in the free plan, it would still make a huge difference in terms of overall cost savings.
• Organized documentation system. From receipt digitization to having customized categories of payments and expenses, the free expense management software will keep all your transactions in one platform. Data from these records can be used to evaluate the spending trajectory of your company at any given period and will let you adjust strategies as needed. For your digitized paperwork requirements, you may check our post on forms automation software.
• Straightforward implementation of spending policies. Every system has a set of policies that define and set important boundaries. In using a free expense management software, spending will be regulated based on company policies, and expenses that are not within the allowed parameters will be automatically rejected. This will guarantee that control is implemented at every stage of the spending process.
• Expense channels are integrated into one platform. The free expense management software allows the user to connect bank and credit cards for automatic expense tracking. Since all transactions are recorded in a single platform, key information may be accessed anytime with the corresponding audit trail. This gives management key insights on operations and helps in strategy formulation.
• Provides analytical tools. Keeping track of expenses organizes your workflow and promotes efficient operations. At the same time, these tools can also gather crucial data that provide an overall picture of your company’s spending process. By analyzing these data, you can identify key processes that can be further streamlined or payment schedules that can be adjusted to make way for optimized expense management.
• Integrates with other systems such as ERP and accounting systems. Integration is a key benefit in every software because it ensures that your current tools can seamlessly integrate with other apps. The free expense management software on the market can be connected to other systems and together deliver your company’s required support services for efficient operations.

In the expense management software market, the unfolding trends are brought about by advancements in AI and the increased adoption of online tools. While expense management solutions have been around for quite some time now, it is only recently that companies started automating processes. The following trends show how freelancers, entrepreneurs, contractors, and small business owners stand to gain from technological advancements in the area of expense management:

• Increased adoption of tools. In 2020, 43% of CFOs agreed that streamlining the company’s spending process with data and automation is a key to long-term success. The increased adoption of tools came after companies experienced significant improvements in financial performance with the use of expense management software. Finance teams have started to use spend data analytics in analyzing cash flow, forecasting and budgeting, invoice management, and even fraud and compliance management.
• More integrated dashboards. Expense management is just one area of financial management, thus, integrated dashboards will be key to increasing efficiency in business operations. Data visualizations have been identified as more effective than spreadsheets, with MIT research saying that the human brain can process images the eye sees in as little as 13 milliseconds. This means that access to integrated dashboards can aid decision-making quickly, compared to browsing through reports. Having all the data related to spending in one platform also prevents fraud as a result of increased visibility.
• Data automation will drive growth. As more companies adopt expense management tools, both the historical and real-time data that will be collected over time can be used to gather insights towards optimizing spending. Research shows that 97% of practitioners in spend management and AP teams consider data and intelligence as two critical components of business success. As businesses harness the intelligence from the data that they have in their expense management platform, it will drive growth and increase ROI.
• Spend management will be data-driven. Businesses will be able to extract actionable insights from spending data. This can also lead to improved cash flows. Data will drive strategies in expense management and will boost profitability. Backed by insights from data, spend management teams will be able to negotiate better with suppliers, identify where policy compliance needs to be enforced, and reduce fraud and risk vectors.

There are many types of free expense management software available in the market today. Each product offers a specific set of features that address the unique requirements of freelance professionals, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and even mid-sized companies. In determining the best free expense management software, always look for the value that will be created in using a particular set of tools.

There are key functionalities that you should look for, such as robust document management to establish audit trails, a simple and customizable approval process, the capability to integrate expense policies that can effectively monitor compliance, mobile accessibility, report generation feature with dashboard visualization, and integration capabilities.

Getting free software does not mean that you will have limited access to essential features. If you spend time evaluating each solution, you will be surprised that there are free expense management software that offers more than the bare minimum. Adopting expense management tools to efficiently manage your spending can help you take your business to the next level.