• Banking

The Best Expense Management Software for Australian Businesses in 2025

14 min. read
By

What is expense management?

Expense management refers to any solution that helps your business track and reconcile business-related expenses. Traditionally, this might have been achieved through petty cash or per diems, but today’s technology affords businesses much more advanced and efficient ways of managing spending including corporate cards and expense management software. These new solutions are designed to simplify the process of paying for and managing business related expenses by reducing employee reimbursements, speeding up the approval process, digitising receipts, and ultimately giving your employees the freedom to pay for what they need, according to pre-approved limits and budgets.

Who offers expense management?

Once upon a time, traditional banks were the main institutions that businesses would turn to to help manage their expenses, primarily through corporate credit card schemes. These solutions, however, are designed for businesses to cover work-related expenses with funds borrowed from the issuing bank and therefore are only available to much larger companies with an established credit history and large annual revenues. To cater to businesses of all sizes wishing to manage their expenses with debit (not credit) a number of new web-based technology or software providers (Zeller, Airwallex, and Volopay to name but a few) have emerged in recent years. These platforms allow businesses to organise and control their spending without the reliance on a bank. While some banks such as Commbank and Westpac have attempted to offer their own equivalent expense management solutions, none of them have been able to compete with these newer tech platforms on pricing or functionality (and it is for this reason that we have not included them in the comparison above).

Use the interactive table below to compare the functionality and pricing of seven of the most popular expense management tools for Australian businesses.

Zeller Expense Management
Airwallex Expense Management
Company Bio

Zeller is an Australian financial services company that helps businesses accept payments (via EFTPOS, invoicing, and more); store and save funds with transaction and savings accounts; and manage expenses with debit and Corporate Cards.

Airwallex is a global payments and financial platform that offers cross-border payment solutions enabling businesses to conduct international transactions, manage multiple currencies, and streamline financial operations.

Budgetly is an Australian-based automated expense accounting platform. It helps users go paperless and capture expenses.

Company Headquarters

Australia

Singapore

Australia

Pricing

Free for your first 60 days

$9 per month, per card thereafter

$14 per card per month

$89 or $240 per month

Tiered monthly subscription

Physical payment cards

Yes

Yes

Yes

Virtual payment cards

Yes

Yes

Yes

Google Pay and Apple Wallet

Yes

Yes

Yes

Integrated transaction account

Yes

Yes

No

Spending limits

Yes

Yes

No

Recurring budgets

Yes

Daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly

Yes

Daily, monthly

Yes

Daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly

Mobile receipt capturing

Yes

Yes

Yes

Mobile app

Yes

Yes

Yes

Transaction filtering

Yes

Yes

Yes

Xero integration

Yes

Yes

Yes

Real-time expense tracking

Yes

Yes

Yes

Automated expense categorisation

Yes

Yes

Yes

Expense analytics & reports

Yes

Yes

No

International payments

Yes

Yes

Yes

Consensus

Zeller Corporate Cards strike the right balance between simplicity, functionality, and price. By allowing businesses to accept payments, store funds, and then spend them all within the one dashboard – you know exactly where your money is coming from and going at all times, for the simple fee of $9 per month (or try them free for your first 60 days.)

While Airwallex is a good solution for international companies that work with multiple currencies, it may be over complicated for many Australian businesses that are looking for a simple expense management solution without the steep learning curve.

Budgetly has an overly complicated and pricey fee structure. On top of the monthly subscription fee (outlined in the table) – each card incurs an issuing fee of $3 for virtual cards and $7 for physical cards, plus postage. In addition, every declined transaction will cost you $1.00.

Not sure what features you need? We explain them all below.

Why is expense management important?

There are five main reasons why we recommend incorporating an expense management system into your business:

1. It saves you time.

Time spent chasing up receipts, reimbursing employees, and manually entering your business’s expenses into spreadsheets is time you can get back simply by adopting an expense management system.

2. It saves you money and keeps projects within budget.

Being able to clearly see what your business is spending in realtime is a surefire way to identify cost-saving opportunities. With expense management tools, you can establish approval processes and set restrictions on spending to ensure that all your expenses remain within budget and align with company policy. What’s more, by eliminating the need to share the company card or give your employees cash, the risk of misuse or theft is greatly reduced.

3. It helps with tax compliance.

Being able to keep accurate and detailed records of all expenses, including receipts, invoices, and any other relevant details or documents makes it much easier to substantiate deductions and comply with tax regulations. What’s more, most expense management tools integrate with accounting software such as Xero or MYOB, which simplifies the process of transferring financial data, and ensuring that the information needed for tax reporting is accurate and up-to-date.

4. It helps manage cash flow.

Unlike traditional processes, which either rely on end-of-month reconciliation or monthly credit card repayments, expense management software allows businesses to track expenses in real-time. This means that as soon as an expense is incurred, it is recorded in the system, providing an up-to-date view of the company's financial situation, eliminating any surprises that could negatively impact your cash flow. What’s more, by creating and monitoring budgets, you can avoid overspending, instead, ensuring that there are always sufficient funds available.

5. It helps manage employee expectations.

By establishing a clear and standardised process for managing and reporting expenses, employees are able to better understand the expectations and limits around business spending, leading to reduced instances of unauthorised expenses, and improved financial responsibility within a business or organisation.

What services do expense management providers offer?

Expense management platforms vary greatly in functionality with some providing the most basic features and others supporting an all-inclusive suite of expense management within their accounting or financial services offering. Below, we outline the most common features:

Payment cards

Corporate Cards, as they are most commonly known, (not to be confused with Corporate Credit Cards or Corporate Debit Cards) are cards that employees can use to pay for business-related expenses. They draw funds either from your external bank account, or in the case of Zeller, from your Zeller Transaction Account. Different providers will offer a combination of physical and/or virtual cards.

Budgets & spending limits

The beauty of the payment cards (above) is the ability to tailor each one with spending controls. Expense management providers allow you to set maximum transaction limits, budgets that reset automatically (for example, daily, weekly or monthly), and other controls that will ensure that employees can only use the cards for transactions that are in line with your business’s budget and policy.

Automated expense categorisation

By analysing receipts and extracting data, expenses can be automatically categorised by type. This saves you from having to examine each expense and then enter its category manually.

Real-time expense tracking

Rather than waiting until the end of the month to reconcile expense reports or pay off a corporate credit card (which can often reveal some unpleasant surprises), expense management software allows you to track business spending as it happens. A huge advantage when it comes to managing your business’s cash flow.

Mobile receipt upload

Gone are the days of pouring over paper receipts. Expense management mobile applications allow employees to capture photos of their receipts and upload them directly onto the platform where they are saved against the transaction itself.

Integration with accounting software

Most expense management software will integrate with one (if not more) types of accounting software, such as Xero or MYOB. Having data flow seamlessly to your company’s accounting system, not only speeds up the reconciliation process, but also reduces the risk of manual error.

Expense analytics

Rather than having to plug expense data into a spreadsheet to examine your business spending patterns, expense management software can pull analysis and reports at the click of a button. This data can offer important insights into opportunities for cost savings or improved budgeting.

Try expense management for free with Zeller.

If you’re not sure whether expense management is right for you, why not try it for free? For you first 60 days following card activation, you will enjoy full access to Zeller Corporate Cards, and it won’t cost you a cent. The best part is you can sign up online in a matter of minutes, open a free Zeller Transaction Account, create a virtual card, and start managing your business expenses today.

Zeller Corporate Cards: A Winning Hand for Managing Business Expenses

The petty cash box is empty, you can’t find the business credit card, and you’re up to your knees in receipts. Thankfully there’s an easier way to manage team and project expenses. Meet Zeller Corporate Cards. If you’ve ever checked your bank balance at the end of the week, you know how quickly incidental expenses can add up. Now imagine a team of employees, each with their own needs: a round of coffees for clients, a flight for an upcoming conference, a grocery order for the office, a software subscription. The list goes on. If you’re not staying on top of these purchases, not only is it going to hurt your bottom line, but it’s also going to cause many a headache when it comes to your end-of-month finance reconciliation. Thankfully, there’s a simple way to track who’s spending what, and it doesn’t involve flashing corporate credit cards or leveraging sophisticated expense management software . Zeller Corporate Cards are designed to help businesses – and finance teams – stay in control of employee and project-related expenses, while also giving staff the freedom to make necessary purchases. Read on to discover how Zeller Corporate Cards will give you back money, time and peace of mind. Introducing corporate cards Not to be confused with corporate credit cards or corporate debit cards ( learn what these are here ), corporate cards are payment cards linked to a business’s transaction account, and are specifically designed for employees or teams to be able to pay for business expenses. A finance team or CFO can easily order multiple cards, assign them to employees, and individually adjust their spending limits. In addition, they typically have built-in expense management features like recurring budgets that reset periodically, set transaction limits, and tools to help cardholders track and manage their expenses. Zeller Corporate Cards can be created from Zeller Dashboard. Simply follow the prompts to create a new Corporate Card, assign the card to an employee, set the spend limits and choose your card colour. It’s as simple as that. Your card can then be added to your employee’s mobile wallet or a physical card can be ordered. What are the benefits of using Zeller Corporate Cards in your business? 1. Flexibility for staff With Zeller’s corporate card program, your staff are empowered to make purchases as they need them. Rather than having to ask your permission every time they need to process a payment, or paying with their own money and submitting an expense report for reimbursement, a corporate card will give them the freedom to pay for expenses, within the limits that you prescribe. 2. Reduced financial admin Without the burden of having to process employee reimbursements, administrative time is greatly reduced. With Zeller Corporate Cards, all your expenses are centralised into one dashboard, where finance teams can easily and efficiently track who has spent what. 3. Improved tracking Every corporate card is assigned to an individual employee, team, or project, meaning that it's easy to track and isolate expenditure into different areas of your business. Employees will know that their spend is being monitored, engendering a greater sense of responsibility and ownership over expense management — as everything will be traced back to them. What’s more, businesses can choose to make it mandatory for employees to provide certain information, such as the expense category (‘travel’ or ‘entertainment’, for example), the receipt, and a note (with additional information or reasons as to why the purchase was made). 4. Receipt reconciliation With Zeller Corporate Cards, employees can log in to their account on Zeller App or Zeller Dashboard, take a photo of multiple receipts, including tax invoices and transaction receipts, and upload them to a transaction processed with a Zeller Corporate Card. Not only does this do away with having to collect paper receipts, which can get lost or damaged, but it also saves a huge amount of time when it comes to reconciling receipts against their transactions. 5. Cash flow management Zeller Corporate Cards draw money directly from Zeller Transaction Account , which means that you can track your business cash flow in real time. Unlike a corporate credit card which draws on borrowed funds that you need to pay back later (with interest), corporate cards ensure you always know your business’s cash balance – with no hidden surprises at the end of the month. What’s more, you can see a visual representation of your cash flow from both Zeller Dashboard and Zeller App. 6. Budget control for projects Instead of assigning a card to an employee, Zeller Corporate Cards can also be assigned to individual projects. This allows all expenses for a specific project to be paid for on one card, ensuring that the budget is adhered to and that finance teams or managers can easily identify costs directly associated with that project. 7. Fraud protection By allocating corporate cards against individual employees, or by teams or projects, you are able to implement a greater level of fraud protection in your business. You’ll know exactly who is using each corporate card, what the card is being used for, and why — meaning any examples of expenses that fall outside of these guidelines can be identified immediately. 8. Mobile management With Zeller App, you can create and manage cards directly from your smartphone. If a team member needs to pay for a large expense above their usual transaction limit, you can quickly log in to the app and make the necessary changes within a few clicks. The same goes for issuing cards, if you’ve got a new employee or volunteer on the team, simply log in to Zeller App to add a new card, which – if you choose the virtual option – they can start using immediately. 9. Instant virtual card creation Zeller Corporate Cards can be created and added to a mobile wallet instantly. Your employees can start using their virtual card within minutes of you setting it up, meanwhile you can have a physical card sent out in the mail, if you wish. This convenient solution is not only fast to set up, but also ensures your employees will never lose their card. 10. Affordability In comparison to corporate credit card schemes which can cost upwards of $25 per card with establishment fees and late payment charges, or expense management software, which is likely to set you back hundreds of dollars a year, Zeller Corporate Cards are an affordable alternative. There are no monthly or annual subscription fees, and no transaction fees on domestic purchases either. The first 60 days are free, after which you will pay one low, flat cost of $9 per corporate card, per month. Whether you’re running a small business with just a few staff or a rapidly growing company: managing your expenses doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to be controlled. Reduce your administrative burden, empower your employees and know where your money is going, all with Zeller Corporate Cards.

How to Play Your Cards Right: Business Credit, Debit & Expense Cards Explained

Issuing payment cards to employees for business-related spending is a great way of simplifying expense management in the workplace. What’s less simple, however, is understanding the different card types available to businesses. From corporate credit cards to business debit cards, prepaid cards, and expense cards, there’s a bit to get your head around. Below we explain the difference between the most common card types and provide a list of pros and cons for each. Business Credit Cards. Business credit cards are designed for businesses to cover work-related expenses with funds borrowed from an issuing bank. They often provide rewards such as cash rebates or a points program and are available to businesses of all sizes, typically without any minimum annual revenue or spending threshold requirements. They do, however, require a credit check and often a personal guarantee, meaning the business owner is liable for all debt. Because of the risk of misuse, business credit cards are usually only held by business owners, or authorised personnel, not employees. Corporate Debit Cards & Business Debit Cards. A corporate debit card, or  business debit card  is linked to a business’s transaction account. When a transaction is made, funds are deducted from the available balance of the company’s bank account. When a business owner  opens a business bank account , they will receive a business debit card. Unlike credit cards, they are not linked to a line of credit, and spending is limited to what is available within the account. Most debit card issuers don’t offer the ability to easily modify spend limits on individual cards, meaning that whoever has access to the debit card, can access all the funds on it. Prepaid Cards & Expense Cards. A  corporate prepaid card, otherwise known as a business expense card, or employee expense card is a payment card that has been preloaded with funds, allowing businesses to control employee spending. These cards are typically very easy to get, with no paperwork or application process required. Prepaid cards are managed by the finance team or CFO, topped up as necessary, and assigned to employees to give them access to company funds. Zeller Corporate Cards. Similar to prepaid cards,  Zeller Corporate Cards  are designed for businesses as a convenient way to track and regulate spending while providing employees with a secure and flexible payment method. These cards are linked to your  Zeller Transaction Accounts , and are managed by the finance team or CFO who can set maximum spend limits per transaction and per day, week, fortnight, month, or quarter. Additional cards are very easy to issue (virtual cards can be issued instantly from Zeller Dashboard, or Zeller App), and can be assigned to employees as necessary. Zeller Corporate Cards: Do not require a credit check to qualify Can be set up in minutes Allow you to set spend limits and recurring budgets, reducing admin time Provide a layer of security if cards are lost or stolen Are accepted anywhere Mastercard is accepted Do not need to be topped up with funds – cards draw funds directly from the transaction account, but only within the card's pre-defined limits. Learn more about the benefits of Zeller Corporate Cards here What card types are best for managing team spending? Although it’s common practice for businesses to share one business credit or debit card, and to pass it around to employees as they need it, this is not recommended. Not only do you run a greater risk of losing the card, but also, company money could be used irresponsibly. When choosing a card type for managing work-related expenses for your team, it’s important to choose one that has been designed for that purpose. Corporate credit cards are a good option, however, given their strict eligibility requirements, they remain largely inaccessible to many businesses.  The best option for managing team spending is either prepaid or expense cards, or even better: Zeller Corporate Cards .  These options give your employees the flexibility to pay for work-related expenses without the risk. You remain entirely in control of how much your employees have access to. With Zeller Corporate Cards, you will benefit from robust expense management features, which allow employees to easily upload receipts against their transactions, and employers to control spending limits and reconcile expenses from their desktop or Zeller's mobile app. Additional cards are easy to order, and Zeller supports virtual cards, which employees can add to their mobile wallets.

Best Business Debit Cards in Australia for 2025

Business spending and tracking should be simple, yet many traditional banks’ business debit cards lack important features while also having unnecessary fees and restrictions. In this article we compare the best business debit cards in Australia for 2025, including those issued by the big-4 banks, and the Zeller Debit Card – our smarter, modern alternative that’s designed to help you better manage your business spending. Compare Zeller Debit Card to the big-4 banks. Say goodbye to monthly debit card fees. Traditional banks may charge account fees of up to $10 per month, just for the benefit of managing your own money the way you want. With Zeller, there are no hidden fees attached to our transaction accounts or business debit cards – just seamless spending online and in-store with a fully featured, cost-free business debit card. Effortless money management via Zeller Dashboard and Zeller App. Unlike traditional banking apps which can be clunky and outdated, Zeller’s intuitive dashboard and app give you full control over your spending. View and manage cards, check balances, track purchases, lock cards and manage security, and set spending limits across multiple Zeller accounts in real-time with ease from either Zeller Dashboard or Zeller App . Powerful reporting and analytics. Unlike traditional banks that provide only basic transaction summaries, Zeller lets you delve deep into your business debit card spending for useful insights into your cash flow. Get an overview across all your cards and filter or export transactions by date, amount, category, vendor, transaction status, and more, giving you a clear financial picture to plan ahead for your business. Advanced security and fraud protection. With scams on the rise, you can put your mind at ease knowing that Zeller Debit Card transactions are processed with multiple layers of secure encryption and authorisation , including multi-factor authentication. Instantly lock or report lost or stolen cards via the Zeller Dashboard or Zeller App, ensuring your funds remain secure. Transaction tracking and reconciliation made easy. Business expenses vary, from buying the essentials like office supplies to recurring payments to suppliers and more. With Zeller, you can attach customer, supplier or vendor profiles to transactions, build a contact directory , attach receipts, and streamline your bookkeeping with direct integration to Xero Bank Feeds, eliminating the need to manually import transaction details. Instantly issue unlimited business debit cards. Many traditional banks limit the number of business debit cards you can have per account or have restrictive requirements when you’re ordering additional cards. With Zeller, you can issue unlimited physical and virtual business debit cards instantly from the Zeller Dashboard or Zeller App. This is perfect for businesses looking to streamline expense management, empower employees with controlled spending, and ensure fast access to funds without needing reimbursements or petty cash. Customise your cards with your brand logo. You can also personalise your Zeller Debit Cards with your brand logo, which is a simple way to reinforce your identity every time you use the card. Whether you order for team members, contractors or different branches, uploading your logo makes each card visibly yours. It adds professionalism, makes your cards easier to spot and reduces mix-ups between personal and business spending. Virtual business debit cards for modern businesses. Once you’ve ordered a new virtual card, you can add it to your Apple or Google Wallet and start spending online or in-store immediately. Using virtual cards adds another level of financial protection because the technology disguises sensitive card data and ensures that your actual card information cannot be used or stored by the payment processor. Managing a large team? Try Zeller Corporate Cards. For businesses with multiple employees, Zeller Corporate Cards provide a streamlined way to manage spending. Issue individual or project-based cards, set custom spending limits, and automate budgets. No manual staff reimbursements, just real-time cash flow tracking. Try it free for 60 days, then it’s just $9 per active card per month thereafter. How to get a Zeller Debit Card. Issuing Zeller Debit Cards and opening a Zeller Transaction Account is free, fast and can be completed online in minutes – no need to wait in line at a bank or fill out lengthy paperwork. You'll just need your ID documents (e.g. driver's licence, passport) and ABN/ACN . Plus, Zeller’s 24/7 support team is always available if you ever need some extra help. Say goodbye to your outdated business bank debit card and hello to cost savings and powerful features the big-4 banks simply can’t match. Switch to Zeller Debit Card today. It’s completely free to open a new account and start using Zeller Debit Card. Say goodbye to your outdated business bank debit card and hello to cost savings and powerful features the big-4 banks simply can’t match.