Expense management for small business: the stack that actually works
For a business with 5-50 employees, the gap between "receipts in a shoebox" and "mature finance ops" can close for under €200/month with the right stack.
Small businesses waste more time on expense reporting than almost any other category of administrative work. For a 20-person company, poorly-managed expenses easily cost 1-2 full working days per month of someone's time. The good news: the stack to fix this is small, affordable, and well-understood.
Core components
Business bank account with per-employee cards (and spending limits). Receipt-capture app with OCR. Accounting software that imports both. Reimbursement workflow for the (rare) out-of-pocket cases.
The bank layer
Issue a dedicated card per employee or per department. Set per-card limits that match actual spending needs. Freeze or burn cards instantly when someone leaves. Modern business accounts (Nedsom, Qonto, Pleo, Spendesk) handle all this natively. The old model of one shared card is a security and audit nightmare.
Receipt capture
At the moment of purchase, the employee photographs the receipt in the mobile app. OCR extracts amount, merchant, date, VAT. The transaction is matched to the matching card charge automatically. No end-of-month shoebox session. Dext, Pleo, Spendesk, and most modern business banks include this.
Accounting integration
The receipt + card transaction flow directly into your accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks, Exact, e-boekhouden depending on country). Monthly book-close happens with 90% of transactions already categorised; the finance person reviews rather than inputs.
VAT handling
EU VAT compliance requires per-transaction VAT breakdown. The OCR should extract VAT separately so your quarterly return is a report rather than an archaeological dig.
Reimbursements
Occasional: an employee pays out-of-pocket. In the app, they upload the receipt and the reimbursement is approved by their manager, paid by SEPA Instant to their personal account same-day. No chasing finance for a cheque.
Policy enforcement
Set spending categories per card. "Marketing card" can spend on ads and software but not restaurants. Alerts fire when a card is used outside its category — not necessarily blocked, just flagged for review. This catches both fraud and well-intentioned mistakes early.
What to budget
For a 20-person team: expect €150-€300/month for the full stack (bank + receipts + reimbursements + accounting integration). Compared to the person-days saved and the reduced error rate, payback is weeks, not months.