Best Expense Tracker Apps

Keeping track of expenses can be tricky, especially when running a business. With making so many necessary payments and purchases for your business, you can quickly lose track of paper receipts.

Hoarding papers to enter the data into your computer later manually takes up a lot of time and effort. That’s where expense tracker apps come to save the day, as they're the best and quickest way to stay on top of your finances.

In this article, you'll learn all about expense tracker apps and how they can help you keep on top of your business expenses, and we'll introduce you to the best expense tracker apps on the market.

What Is an Expense Tracker App?

An expense tracker app is accounting software that allows you to monitor your expenses across various bank accounts, investment, and credit card accounts.

Depending on how advanced the expense tracker app is, you may be able to do more than just expense tracking like credit monitoring, expense reports, expense categorising, mileage tracking, receipt monitoring and more.

A tracker can help separate business expenses from personal expenses. Expense tracker apps are designed to save time and manage expenses by streamlining the process. The best expense tracker apps will act as a full-featured investment manager. Or, at the very least, it will allow app integrations so you can keep control of all your accounts in one place.

How much does an expense tracker app cost? There is no signal answer as each platform will have its own plan. Some will have an annual fee, and others have different plans depending on your needs. Anyone can use expense tracking apps to track expenses, from small business owners to the average Joe looking to take control of their finances.

Expense Tracker App Pros and Cons

Expense tracker apps have all sorts of features and uses. With our pros and cons lists, you can determine if an expense tracker will work for you.

Pros

✔️ Free trial: Most expense tracking apps offer a free trial, so you can test out the compatibility of each app before you spend money.

✔️ Easy access: Most expense trackers keep your data in cloud storage so that you can access your financial transactions and log expenses from wherever you want. You can get a tracker app on your smartphone and sometimes a desktop app. Access to a tracker app on the go can be helpful, especially when scanning receipts.

✔️ Minimal manual intervention: Traditional expense management methods are more hands-on than expense tracker apps. Gone are the days of manual data entry, collecting, and verifying receipts. Expense trackers automate the process more.

✔️ Saves time: Expense trackers make the expense reporting processing and verification digital. Finance teams and users can save time switching between Excel sheets and sifting through piles of receipts. As the overall process is automated, you can process faster reimbursements.

✔️ Easy expense reporting: Reporting expenses using an expense tracking app is straightforward. You can upload receipts from your phone gallery or Google Drive and scan crucial data from receipts with OCR technology. You can also send receipts, report expenses from your email inbox and report recurring payments automatically.

✔️ Custom reports and notifications: Most software will give you monthly cash flow reports so you can keep track of incoming and outgoing money. Some tracking apps notify you of pending tasks and any liabilities.

✔️ App integrations: Most expense tracker apps allow integration with other accounting software to ease the job of accountants, so they can directly feed processed expense reports to the necessary software.

✔️ Free apps: Although you may have to pay for most of the best expense tracker apps, some free ones act as budgeting apps and expense tracking and still work brilliantly. Expense tracking doesn't have to be expensive.

Cons

❌️ Subscription plans can be expensive: Depending on your expense tracking needs, plans for an expense tracking app can get expensive. Depending on your chosen app, you can pay up to £50 monthly for a premium version of a platform. However, most tracker apps allow you to participate in a free trial or demo to test the waters.

❌️ Data input isn’t perfect: Errors can still occur, but that's a possibility that can also happen with traditional expense tracking. Although tracking software scans expenses thoroughly, some mistakes can still slip through, so double-check all the details.

❌️ Limited uploads: You're unlikely to find expense tracker apps with unlimited receipt uploads, and depending on the plans offered, you could be limited to how many receipts you can scan and upload within a month. The best way around this is to upgrade to a plan with more uploads and scan your receipts as you get them rather than leaving them to do all at once.

Best Expense Tracker Apps — Reviews

We've compiled a list of 11 best expense tracker apps. Let's dive right in.

1. QuickBooks

• Price: Subscription plans from £5 per month up to £35
• Platform: Android, iOS, and Desktop App
• Free Trial: 30 days
• Receipt Scanner: Yes

Visit QuickBooks

If you're looking for an expense tracker that has it all, consider Quickbooks, a full account software with advanced expense tracking features.

You can sync your bank, credit card, and other online accounts to your QuickBooks account to import all data. You can use a free 30-day trial before committing to a subscription to see if this accounting software fits you.

You have the choice of different tiers of subscriptions. Each plan has a description of who it is best suited for. For example, if you work for yourself, you'll benefit from QuickBooks Self-Employed plan for £5 a month for six months, then the price changes to £10 per month.

If you're a small business owner that needs to manage VAT and Income Tax, you can benefit most from the Simple Start plan. QuickBooks is ideal for tracking expenses no matter what level you or your business is at.

You can take photos of your receipts with the built-in photo tool to help track spending habits and keep on top of your financial accounts. You can also send and track invoices in multiple currencies. There are 750 app integrations, such as inventory management and advanced CRM.

Additional accounting software features include unlimited reports-only and time-tracking users, a built-in clash follow statement, automated recurring expenses and up to 40 tag groups for expenses. You are only allowed a maximum of 25 unique users; reimbursements can only occur through payroll.

2. Zoho Expense

• Price: Up to £6 per month but billed annually
• Platform: Android and iOS
• Free trial: 14 days
• Receipt Scanner: Upload, then the information is scanned

Visit Zoho Expense

With the Zoho Expense tracker app, you can choose from a range of plans, including a free plan with a basic version of the app.

However, the free version limits you to only three users. With the premium plan costing £6, you'll gain access to all features available. You can take advantage of a free demo before you sign up to make the most of this accounting platform.

As well as tracking expenses, Zoho Expense doubles as a travel management and budgeting app. So you can see your cash flow, and your employees can submit their expenses on the go to simplify approvals. There are purchase requests to stay on top of pre-approved spending, while direct deposit reimbursements keep your employees happy.

Zoho Expense has advanced customisation options and custom expense rules you can alter to your business needs. This software is easy to use and integrates with all major accounting solutions and over 30 apps.

Zoho uses all the expense data to create more than 25 reports based on your spending, credit card and other transactions. This expense tracker app is ideal for small businesses or freelancers.

3. FreshBooks

• Price: £9.60 up to £28.00
• Platform: Desktop, iOS and Android devices
• Free trial: 30 days
• Receipt Scanner: Yes

Visit FreshBooks

Expense tracking is more accessible with FreshBooks, the accounting software built for business owners and accountants. This app has easy-to-use account and bookkeeping features, making tracking your expenses more manageable.

Connecting your credit card and bank accounts updates your expenses in real time. You can categorise expenses into 14 different categories and 40 expense subcategories to keep your expenses and transactions organised in a way that suits you best.

A great feature of this software is the invoicing capabilities if you're a freelancer or the person in charge of ensuring you're paid for your services. FreshBooks offers an easy-to-use system that helps you with invoicing.

You can mark an expense as billable, the software will pull it directly into an invoice for clients, and then you can send out automated payment reminders until the invoice is paid. You can add unlimited billable clients, so you don't have to lose track of who you need to send or receive money.

FreeBooks allows free accountant access; you don't need to pay for them as additional members. However, you may need to pay £10 monthly for other team members. Depending on your chosen plan, you can access helpful project management tools, estimate and proposal features, and even business health reports.

4. Expensify

• Price: Up to £14 per month
• Platform: Android and iOs
• Free trial: No, but there's a free plan
• Receipt Scanner: Yes

Visit Expensify

With the Expensify expense management app free plan, as a business, you can benefit from free Expensify Cards for your whole team, reimburse cash, chat with colleagues, send invoices, and pay bills.

Although the free plan is the basic software version, you still get a lot when you use the Expensify Card. You can get a discount. There are two paid plans you can opt for if you wish to utilise more features such as smart limits, accounting sync, expense approval, access control, custom report, expense policies, and more.

If you're seeking help with personal finance or are self-employed, additional free plans allow up to 25 monthly receipt scans. Paid plans for individuals are £3.99 per month.

If your main goal is to keep track of your recipes, this app is ideal because it automatically scans, reads, and imports receipt details for you, even if it's in a foreign currency. You can categorise, group, and tag expenses into a report.

This expense tracker also has tax-tracking capabilities and automatic mileage tracking using GPS. You can integrate apps like Xero, NetSuite, and more.

The most loved Expensify feature is the next-day reimbursement feature, so if your employees are making purchases on behalf of the business, they won't have to wait too long before they get their money back.

5. Rydoo

• Price: £7 to £9
• Platform: iOS and Android
• Free trial: 14 days
• Receipt Scanner: Upload receipts via app or email

Visit Rydoo

With Rydoo, you can approve or deny expenses from the app on your smartphone or set rules to automate the approval flow.

With this expense management app, you can streamline reimbursement cycles, expense tracking in real-time, and track tax deductions and more.

You can snap pictures on the go of your receipts and upload them to the app straight away, so you don't have to keep a hold of them.

You can export reports to PDF and Excel, reconcile card transactions, set up policies and spending rules, and create customisable fields and a custom bank transactions feed. With smart technology, Rydoo can detect duplicate expenses and calculate Auto VAT. You can track your expenses seamlessly with over 35 app integrations.

You can only submit a maximum of 15 pages for PDFs or receipts at a time, so try scanning as you go to save having to do a lot in one go. Rydoo supports multi-currency transactions, and you can track mileage expenses too.

6. Mint

• Price: Free
• Platform: Android and iOS
• Free trial: Not applicable
• Receipt Scanner: No

Visit Mint

If you're looking for an expense tracker app for your own personal finances, then Mint by Intuit may be what you need. It allows you to monitor all your accounts in one place, helps you set savings goals and keep track of your credit and investments.

This app lets you organise your personal finances, save smart with custom budgets and can be integrated with most bank accounts.

Avoid late fees with app notifications that remind you of upcoming bill due dates. You'll even be notified when your bank account balance is running low or if you're close to your credit card limit. Although this is not a paid app, you can subscribe to Mintsights, which provides insights into spending habits and get advice from a financial professional.

You can also keep track of your credit score and credit balance from the app, so you can work towards improving your credit report with the help of Mint. Mint will help you calculate your net worth and help you set financial goals. Setting up your account takes a little while, but once you have, you can enjoy the free app and start taking control of your finances.

7. Shoeboxed

• Price: From £15 up to £43 per month
• Platform: iOS and Android
• Free trial: 30 days
• Receipt Scanner: Yes

Visit Shoeboxed

Receipt scanning is what Shoeboxed does best.

There are multiple options for transferring your paper receipts into digital data. You can fill a ShoeBoxed Magic Envelope full of receipts, paper clutter, business cards and any other essential documents, drop it in the mail, and watch it transform into accessible digital data.

You can capture expenses on the go from anywhere in the world, as the app will accurately and automatically track mileage using your phone's built-in GPS. If you keep your essential data in your inbox, you can auto-import data and receipts from Gmail to Shoeboxed, so you'll never lose another receipt in your inbox again.

You may be inundated with business cards once you've been networking, which can be overwhelming. With the help of Shoeboxed, you can turn business cards into powerful online contact lists. You'll then have a valuable database of your contacts that you can easily access.

You can create comprehensive expense reports from your smartphone and the web with a few clicks and send messages with receipt images from anywhere. If you already use tools like Xero and Quickbooks, these tools can be integrated with Shoeboxed with the Professional and Business subscription plans.

8. Everlance

• Price: Up to £30
• Platform: Android and iOS
• Free trial: Seven days
• Receipt Scanner: Yes

Visit Everlance

The Everlance app automatically tracks mileage and manages expenses.

With Everlance, there is automatic trip detection, manual GPS-based trip tracking, manual trip creation, and more. You can choose from a business or freelance. You can have unlimited users, and reports are downloadable.

Even with the free plan, you can benefit from unlimited receipt uploads which is ideal if you deal with many purchases. You can sync accounts so you can track your credit card spending automatically. A great feature of this app is the tax deduction finder. The app scans all your expenses and creates a list of expenses you can deduct from your tax.

Everlance offers compliance and risk management, reimbursement services, and integrated expense reporting.

9. Emburse Certify

• Price: From £10
• Platform: Android and iOS
• Free trial: 14 days
• Receipt Scanner: Yes

Visit Emburse Certify

The Emburse Certify platform helps with tracking spending and accounts payable automation. Before starting a subscription plan, you can test the waters with a demo to learn how to maximise the platform to help with spending management.

Emburse Certify features built-in policy control, automatic report creation, and streamlined approvals like other expense tracker apps on our list. Your employees can spend based on preset guides, so you don't have to waste time reviewing expenses.

A significant benefit of Emburse Certify is the ability to issue virtual cards for expenses eliminating the need for employees to make purchases with their own money. It also prevents any waiting time for reimbursements.

Certify automatically categorises receipt data by extracting up to 15 expense fields and remembers which businesses you've categorised, so if you use that vendor again, it will automatically fill that data into the correct category.

This tracker app supports over 140 currencies and 64 languages, allows multiple user roles, and gives you access to unlimited cloud receipt storage.

10. Personal Capital: Empower Personal Wealth

• Price: Free
• Platform: iOS and Android
• Free trial: Not applicable
• Receipt Scanner: No

Visit Empower Personal Wealth

Personal Capital recently rebranded to Empower.

With their new rebranding to Empower, they've revamped their free tools to help you manage investments. Empower is a personal finance and wealth management company. The free app gives you a clear overview of your financial health.

If you're seeking help with tax deductions, this platform offers strategies to lower your tax burden. You can utilise investment tools and expense categorisation, which helps you stack on track with upcoming bills and expenses.

This platform includes reporting tools that allow you to view your asset allocation and track the performances of your investments. Empower's recession simulator shows how your investments would have performed in historical recessions.

11. SAP Concur

• Price: Not specified
• Platform: iOS and Android
• Free trial: 15 days
• Receipt Scanner: Yes

Visit SAP Concur

With SAP Concur, you can submit expenses from anywhere, automate and integrate your AP processes for invoicing, and capture travel no matter where it's booked. Concur allows businesses to automate, connect, and simplify their expense process.

Before you commit, you participate in an interactive demo to introduce yourself to the system, and price plans are personalised to the business's needs. You can request a quote from them before you commit.

Concur's cloud-based expense software lets you and your employees capture receipts and submit claims in real-time. You won't need to worry about lost receipts or manual expense reporting. You'll be able to see all your expense data in one place.

You can configure settings based on your needs and easily enforce spending policies. SAP Concur has different elements depending on your needs beyond managing expenses: Concur Expense, Concur Invoice, and Concur Travel. 

Best Expense Tracker Apps: The Verdict

With the best expense tracker apps from our list, you can track expenses seamlessly from the comfort of your smartphone. Gone are the days of saving all your receipts to keep track of your cash flow. You can manage costs from your mobile device. Expense tracker apps take care of your receipts, so you don't have to.

So, once you've chosen the most suited app from our best tracker apps, you can begin managing expenses and save time from manually inputting data. You can use more than one app if you wish; with the power of integration, you can control your finances from one app.

It's nice to have features that work in your favour, and all the apps in our list can make invoicing, mile tracking, and report creating a whole lot easier. All the apps mentioned in this article are available in the app store.

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