What is spend management?

Business spending includes different types of spend: Strategic spend is usually centralized and managed by C-level executives with dedicated spenders. It can be managed through invoices, wire transfers and purchase orders. Discretionary and operational spend is also centralized, but spending is done by managers and employees during their daily professional lives. It includes card purchases, subscription payments, digital ads, events, office orders, and business travel. Expenses , unlike strategic spend, represent a significant amount of small purchases that can be difficult to track. These include card payments, expense claims, team perks, and travel expenses. Spend management is the process through which companies manage business spending . It takes into account the end-to-end process when someone needs to spend: getting purchase approvals, providing payment methods, submitting and processing invoices, submitting and reimbursing expense claims, chasing receipts and invoices for reconciliation, and assigning the right analytical codes, expense accounts, and VAT rates to all those expenses for bookkeeping. Spend management tools become necessary when the number of employees increases and the need for clear processes, better visibility and control starts to grow for finance teams. Employees need flexible, user-friendly tools, in order to spend easily and be empowered to do their job. That’s when Spendesk can be a good fit.

BlogFinance tools & tech

What are the best tools for streamlining invoice approval and payment processes?

Chris Dunne

Published on February 6, 2026

Finance tools & tech

Invoice approvals and payments should be predictable. But for many finance teams, they still mean chasing stakeholders, re-keying invoice data into an ERP, and rushing payment runs at the end of the month.

The workload is increasing. In 2025, 63% of finance professionals said they spend more than 10 hours per week on invoice processing, and 66% still manually enter invoice data into their ERP (IFOL Accounts Payable Automation Trends 2025).

If you’re evaluating AP tools, the goal is not just “going paperless”. It’s building an invoice-to-payment workflow that scales, improves control, and reduces risk.

Below, we cover what to look for, which tools fit which use cases, and how to choose without turning it into a six-month project.

Where invoice approvals and payments typically break down

Most teams have moved from paper to PDFs, but not from manual work to true automation. A PDF in an inbox still triggers the same chain of tasks: capture, coding, approvals, reconciliation, and payment.

The main bottlenecks are consistent across industries:

Manual effort stays high: manual processing is expensive, with one benchmark putting the manual cost per invoice at around USD 9.40 (Quadient AP automation statistics 2025).
Cycle times drag: best-in-class teams process invoices in 3.1 days vs 17.4 days for others, which affects supplier relationships, late fees, and the ability to capture early payment discounts (Accounts Payable Metrics that Matter).
Visibility arrives too late: when finance only sees spend at invoice receipt, budgets become reactive, and “maverick spend” becomes harder to prevent (IFOL Accounts Payable Automation Trends 2025).

Streamlining means fewer touchpoints, faster routing, and clearer control before a bill becomes a problem.

What to look for in invoice approval and payment software

The “best” tool depends on your size, geography, and payment complexity. But most finance teams should prioritise the same six capability areas.

Capture and coding that reduces touchpoints

At minimum, look for OCR-based invoice capture and configurable coding rules (GL accounts, cost centres, VAT). A good baseline test is whether the tool can get you closer to low-touch processing for repeat suppliers and predictable invoice formats (Quadient AP automation statistics 2025).

Approval workflows that match real governance

The approval engine should support:

conditional rules (amount, department, vendor, entity)
clear audit trails
fast exception handling (missing PO, mismatches, policy violations)

If approvals live in email, you lose speed and traceability. If approvals are too rigid, you create workarounds.

Matching and controls for purchase orders

If you use purchase orders, prioritise two-way or three-way matching and the ability to route mismatches to the right owner. This is one of the quickest ways to improve accuracy and reduce disputes.

Payments that are trackable and reliable

For payment execution, check for supplier onboarding, payment status tracking, and multi-currency support if you operate internationally. The most streamlined payment workflows are the ones AP does not have to manually explain to the rest of the business.

Integrations that prevent new reconciliation work

Automation only works if it integrates cleanly with your accounting system. Validate exports, field mapping, entity handling, and how vendor master data is managed. Many implementations fail because the tool adds a second set of books.

Compliance readiness, especially in Europe

If you have EU entities, validate the vendor’s roadmap for e-invoicing compliance. Timelines are tightening, including Belgium’s mandatory B2B e-invoicing from 1 January 2026, and Germany’s shift to e-invoicing as a standard method from 2025.

The best tools for streamlining invoice approvals and payments

Here are tools that regularly appear in AP automation evaluations, along with the “best for” context that matters in practice.

Spendesk

Spendesk is a complete spend management platform that combines invoice automation with approvals, budget visibility, and payment methods in one place. It’s a strong fit for teams that want unified invoice-to-payment, plus control over wider company spend, with less fragmentation across cards, expenses, and subscriptions.

Best for: growing SMEs and mid-market teams that want invoices, approvals, and broader spend controls in a single system, particularly across multiple entities.
Proof points: browse outcomes and stories from existing customers.

Tipalti

Tipalti is often shortlisted when payments are the hard part, especially for organisations paying large supplier bases across countries. If you operate in a mass payout model, it can be a strong fit.

Best for: complex, high-volume AP with global payment needs.
Less ideal for: teams primarily seeking better visibility and approvals across everyday operational spend.

BILL

BILL (Bill.com) is frequently positioned as a user-friendly entry point for small and medium businesses that need basic invoice approvals and vendor payments. Many comparisons also flag that teams can outgrow simpler workflows as governance and volume increase (Stampli invoice processing software overview).

Best for: smaller finance teams that want to digitise AP quickly.
Watch-outs: workflow flexibility and cost predictability as volume scales.

Payhawk, Ramp, and Airbase

If you’re looking at spend management platforms for smaller businesses rather than larger organisation solutions, these names come up often. In Europe, Payhawk is commonly evaluated alongside Spendesk (Spendesk vs Payhawk comparison). In the US, Ramp and Airbase are often considered by teams that want card-first controls plus AP workflows, especially with a US-centric accounting and compliance setup.

The decision here usually comes down to geography, depth of invoicing features, and how closely the tool matches your approval and entity complexity.

How to choose and roll out the right tool

Start with a simple scoping exercise: invoice volume, approval complexity, payment complexity, and entity structure. Then roll out in stages.

One practical method is to separate suppliers into “personas” and tailor workflows accordingly, a best practice highlighted in AP automation guidance:

Strategic, high-value suppliers: tighter approvals and matching
Recurring suppliers: aim for the most automation
Long-tail, one-off spend: reduce invoice volume where appropriate by using controlled payment methods such as virtual cards when it fits your policy

Finally, measure outcomes with a few clear metrics: cycle time, cost per invoice, and touchless processing rate. Benchmarks show the gap between average and high-performing teams is substantial, especially on cycle time.

Trends to factor in for 2026

Two changes are shaping tool choices right now:

Regulation and e-invoicing mandates in Europe, which can quickly turn “optional” features into requirements (Moody’s EU e-invoicing directive digest).
AI that goes beyond OCR, with analysts highlighting “agentic” capabilities as the next differentiator for exception handling and fraud prevention. Check out Spendesk’s AI Hub.

For a broader view of how finance teams are modernising procurement and spend control, see 9 procurement tools for modern businesses in 2026.

Conclusion

The best tools for streamlining invoice approvals and payments reduce manual touchpoints, speed up approvals without losing governance, and make payment status easy to track. The right fit depends on your organisation’s “invoice DNA”, but the evaluation criteria are consistent: automation depth, workflow flexibility, integrations, and compliance readiness.

If you want to streamline invoice approvals while improving budget visibility and control over wider company spend, explore Spendesk invoice automation.

Finance tools & tech

Chris Dunne

Chris Dunne is our Senior Content Marketing Manager. Based in Derry, he brings over 15 years of marketing experience to our content strategy. Outside of work, Chris loves spending time with his two young children, playing football, and exploring Ireland.

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Business spending includes different types of spend:

Strategic spend is usually centralized and managed by C-level executives with dedicated spenders. It can be managed through invoices, wire transfers and purchase orders.
Discretionary and operational spend is also centralized, but spending is done by managers and employees during their daily professional lives. It includes card purchases, subscription payments, digital ads, events, office orders, and business travel.
Expenses, unlike strategic spend, represent a significant amount of small purchases that can be difficult to track. These include card payments, expense claims, team perks, and travel expenses.

Spend management is the process through which companies manage business spending. It takes into account the end-to-end process when someone needs to spend: getting purchase approvals, providing payment methods, submitting and processing invoices, submitting and reimbursing expense claims, chasing receipts and invoices for reconciliation, and assigning the right analytical codes, expense accounts, and VAT rates to all those expenses for bookkeeping.

Spend management tools become necessary when the number of employees increases and the need for clear processes, better visibility and control starts to grow for finance teams.

Employees need flexible, user-friendly tools, in order to spend easily and be empowered to do their job.

That’s when Spendesk can be a good fit.

Spendesk provides payment methods for modern businesses, and a powerful platform for finance teams to manage spending. This includes debit cards to replace old-fashioned company credit cards, virtual cards for online purchases, and automated expense reports for unexpected payments.

For employees
Employees no longer need to spend out-of-pocket. They request funds for a particular purchase, and can use their Spendesk card or virtual card to execute the payment.

If for any reason the employee can’t use their Spendesk card, they snap a picture of the receipt via the Spendesk mobile app and create an expense claim on the spot. This is sent directly to their manager for validation, and on to the finance team.

For finance teams
Each employee has their own Spendesk profile and debit expense card. So unlike the company credit card, you always know who’s spending company money.

The platform lets controllers create spending limits and pre-approvals. C-Level executives or managers will have a different level of pre-approved spend from other staff. Should a team member need to go over their pre-approved budget, they can make a request to their manager via the mobile app or the platform online.

When an expense is made with a Spendesk card, the employee simply snaps a picture of the receipt at the time of purchase. Which means no more lost receipts.

Finance teams can see real-time company spend and follow up on missing receipts or invoices by sending reminders to employees via the platform.

Reviewing expenses is also easier as finance teams can group expenses and assign them the right VAT rates and expense accounts before exporting everything easily to their accounting tools.

Spendesk streamlines the whole business spending process, making spend management intuitive, simple and efficient.