In today's fast-paced world, managing business expenses manually can be a huge headache for companies of every size. That's why many businesses are turning to automated expense management software. Two names that come up again and again in this space are Expensify and Divvy. Both platforms offer robust expense management solutions, but they differ in several key areas. In this blog post, we'll dive deep into the comparison of Expensify vs Divvy, helping you understand their similarities, differences, and how each solution may fit your business needs.

Why Expense Management Software Matters

Before we look at the specifics, it's important to understand why streamlining your expense management is critical. Manual expense tracking leads to time-consuming administrative tasks, human error, policy non-compliance, and delayed reimbursements. These issues can significantly impact a company's efficiency and employee morale.

Automated solutions like Expensify and Divvy address these problems by offering a range of features. They provide mobile receipt capture using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, automatic expense categorization, and real-time visibility into budgets and spending. Additionally, these platforms offer customizable approval workflows and seamless integration with popular accounting tools like QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite.

By implementing an expense management solution, businesses can save time, reduce errors, and gain better control over their finances. This allows employees to focus on more important tasks and improves overall financial health.

Overview of Expensify and Divvy

Expensify, founded in 2008, has evolved from a simple receipt management tool into a comprehensive expense management platform. It features SmartScan for receipt capture, integration with various accounting systems, and corporate card management. The platform's focus on automation and flexibility makes it a popular choice for businesses of all sizes.

On the other hand, Divvy positions itself as an all-in-one solution that combines expense management with corporate card issuance. With Divvy, expenses are directly tied to a corporate card, enabling real-time budget tracking and stricter spend controls. This approach appeals to companies looking for a more centralized and controlled expense management system.

Both tools aim to simplify spend management, but they follow different approaches. Expensify leans more on advanced automated features, while Divvy centers its offering around a corporate card and control over spending. Understanding these fundamental differences is crucial in determining which platform aligns best with your company's needs and financial management style.

Key Features and Similarities

Despite their different approaches, Expensify and Divvy share several key features that make them appealing to businesses looking for expense management solutions. These shared features include:

• Mobile and desktop apps for Android and iOS
• Robust expense tracking for various categories
• Receipt capture through mobile upload
• Integration with popular accounting software
• User-friendly interfaces suitable for various business sizes
• Budget and spend control capabilities

Both platforms are designed to streamline the expense management process, making it easier for employees to submit expenses and for managers to approve them. They also provide valuable insights into company spending, helping businesses make informed financial decisions.

However, the way these features are implemented and the additional functionalities offered by each platform can vary significantly. Let's delve deeper into the key differences between Expensify and Divvy to help you make an informed decision.

Corporate Card Integration and Flexibility

One of the most significant differences between Expensify and Divvy lies in their approach to corporate card integration and overall flexibility in expense management.

Divvy requires the use of their corporate card for all transactions. This means every expense is directly tied to the card, making real-time tracking easier. It does not connect with other third-party credit cards, keeping spending centralized in the Divvy system. This approach emphasizes spend control because funds are allocated based on budgets set within the platform.

Expensify, on the other hand, offers more flexibility. While it also provides its own corporate card in some programs, it allows users to manage expenses from various sources, including connections to a range of third-party credit cards. This flexibility can be particularly beneficial for businesses with existing credit card relationships or those that prefer to use multiple payment methods.

Expensify's SmartScan feature automatically captures and categorizes receipts, reducing manual work even when expenses come from non-corporate card sources. This automation can save significant time and reduce errors in expense reporting.

Travel and Reimbursement Services

Another area where Expensify and Divvy differ is in their approach to travel and reimbursement services.

Divvy does not provide travel services, focusing strictly on managing expenses through the corporate card and ensuring that budgets are adhered to. However, it's worth noting that Divvy has been known to charge high fees for late payments in some cases, which can be a concern for businesses sensitive to cash flow.

Expensify, in contrast, offers integrated travel services through a feature known as Expensify Travel. This can be extremely helpful for companies with high travel expenses. The platform supports next-day reimbursements, ensuring that employees do not wait long periods to be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses. Additionally, Expensify can integrate with ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, automatically capturing travel expenses as they occur.

These differences in travel and reimbursement services can significantly impact the user experience and the overall efficiency of expense management, especially for businesses with frequent travel needs.

Automation and Expense Entry

The level of automation and ease of expense entry is another crucial factor to consider when choosing between Expensify and Divvy.

Divvy requires users to manually enter out-of-pocket and reimbursable expenses, which can be time-consuming for those who do not regularly use the corporate card. Additionally, bulk editing of expense rules is not supported, potentially creating bottlenecks for organizations that process a high volume of expenses regularly.

Expensify, however, uses SmartScan technology to automatically input detailed information from receipts. This minimizes manual entry and speeds up the creation of expense reports. The platform allows for custom expense rules to be set, which helps automate the submission and approval process. Expensify also sends out reminder emails to approvers for expense reports, reducing delays in approval cycles.

For businesses looking to minimize manual data entry and streamline their expense reporting process, Expensify's advanced automation features may be particularly appealing.

Pricing Structures and Hidden Fees

When considering any business solution, pricing is always a crucial factor. Both Expensify and Divvy have different approaches to their pricing structures, each with its own advantages and potential drawbacks.

Divvy offers a free plan with limited functionalities that are well-suited for startups and small businesses. This plan focuses primarily on budget tracking and spend control without additional advanced features. However, it's important to be aware of potential hidden fees, such as foreign transaction fees and high late payment fees, which can add up over time.

Expensify, on the other hand, offers free trials as well as pricing plans that range from $5 to $18 per month per user. The cost can be significantly reduced when you commit to an annual plan and use the Expensify corporate card. Expensify's pricing is generally more transparent, with fewer unexpected charges compared to Divvy. The company emphasizes that the price you see is the final price, with no hidden fees.

When evaluating the pricing of these platforms, consider not just the upfront costs but also any potential additional fees and the value of the features provided. It's also worth considering how the pricing structure aligns with your business's growth plans and financial management needs.

Receipt Management and Scanning

Efficient receipt management and scanning capabilities are crucial for streamlining the expense reporting process. Both Expensify and Divvy offer these features, but with notable differences in their implementation and effectiveness.

Expensify uses advanced OCR technology via its SmartScan feature. This technology automatically extracts data such as:

• Merchant name
• Date
• Amount
• Expense category

This level of automation minimizes manual errors and significantly speeds up the expense report generation process. The accuracy and efficiency of Expensify's SmartScan technology are often highlighted as one of its strongest features.

Divvy, while providing mobile receipt upload and management, lacks the level of automation seen in Expensify. Users might spend more time reconciling receipts with expenses, especially for non-corporate card transactions that require manual input. This can be more time-consuming, particularly for businesses with a high volume of expenses or those that frequently deal with receipts from various sources.

Spend Control and Approval Workflows

Effective spend control and streamlined approval workflows are essential for maintaining financial discipline and efficiency in any organization. Both Expensify and Divvy offer features in this area, but their approaches differ significantly.

Expensify provides highly customizable approval workflows that can be tailored to fit complex internal processes. This flexibility allows businesses to design approval chains that match their organizational structure and policies. The platform also sends reminder emails to approvers, ensuring that expense reports are processed in a timely manner. Additionally, Expensify supports bulk editing of expense coding, which is particularly useful for businesses processing large volumes of expense data.

Divvy, on the other hand, focuses on spend control primarily through its corporate card's real-time tracking capabilities. The platform allows for setting up individual cardholder limits, providing immediate control over spending. However, it lacks some of the more advanced features found in Expensify, such as bulk editing of expense coding and automated reminder emails for expense approvals.

For businesses that prioritize detailed control over approval processes and the ability to handle complex workflows, Expensify's features may be more suitable. However, if real-time spend control through corporate card management is the primary concern, Divvy's approach could be more appealing.

Mobile and Web Experience

In today's mobile-first world, the quality of a platform's mobile and web experience can significantly impact user adoption and overall satisfaction. Both Expensify and Divvy have invested in developing user-friendly interfaces, but there are some differences in their approaches.

Expensify's mobile app provides an experience that closely mirrors its web platform. It offers:

1. Real-time alerts for expense-related activities
2. Easy receipt capturing using the device's camera
3. The ability to freeze corporate cards if suspicious activity is detected
4. Access to all major features available on the web version

The interface is designed to be intuitive, allowing even non-technical users to navigate the system with relative ease. This consistency between mobile and web platforms can be particularly beneficial for businesses with employees who frequently switch between devices.

Divvy is known for its modern and easy-to-use mobile app, which provides users with real-time visibility into their spending via the corporate card. The overall experience might appeal more to small and medium-sized businesses that benefit from the simple interface and straightforward budgeting functions. However, some users might find that certain advanced features are more accessible on the web platform compared to the mobile app.

Integration with Accounting Platforms

Seamless integration with accounting and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is crucial for many businesses when choosing an expense management solution. Both Expensify and Divvy offer integrations with popular accounting platforms, but there are some differences in their capabilities.

Expensify boasts dozens of integrations with accounting and ERP systems like QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite. Its rules-based expense categorization makes it simpler to synchronize entries with your accounting software. This wide range of integrations can be particularly beneficial for businesses that use multiple financial management tools or those that may need to switch or add new systems in the future.

Divvy also integrates with popular accounting systems, but generally offers a more limited range of integration options compared to Expensify. While this may be sufficient for many businesses, it could be a limiting factor for companies with more complex financial ecosystems or those that require specialized integrations.

It's worth noting that Expensify's travel and advanced expense management features tend to have broader accounting compatibility. This can be particularly useful for businesses that need to track and categorize a wide variety of expense types across different accounting categories.

Choosing the Right Solution for Your Business

When deciding between Expensify and Divvy, it's crucial to consider your business model, spending patterns, and internal processes. Here are some factors to consider when making your choice:

Consider Expensify if you:

• Need advanced receipt scanning technology with minimal manual entry
• Face frequent employee travel or global expenses
• Require robust approval workflows and bulk editing capabilities
• Value transparent pricing with fewer unexpected charges
• Use multiple types of payment methods and need integration with various third-party credit cards

Consider Divvy if you:

• Prefer a streamlined spend management process centered around a corporate card
• Focus on real-time budget tracking and want to leverage a free plan for basic spend control
• Appreciate a system that enforces spending limits automatically via the corporate card
• Want a simple mobile experience that immediately tracks expenses as they happen
• Are comfortable with potential additional fees for certain transactions

Remember, the right choice will depend on your specific business needs and priorities. Consider conducting a trial of both platforms if possible to see which one aligns best with your workflows and financial management style.

Streamline Your Expense Management Today

Choosing the right expense management solution can significantly impact your business's efficiency and financial health. Whether you lean towards Expensify's robust automation and flexibility or Divvy's real-time spend control and corporate card-centric approach, the key is to select a platform that aligns with your specific needs and processes.

Consider factors such as the level of automation you require, the importance of travel expense management, your preferred approach to corporate cards, and the complexity of your approval workflows. Don't forget to factor in pricing structures and potential hidden fees when making your decision.

Remember, transitioning to a digital expense management solution is more than just a tech upgrade—it's a strategic move that can save time, reduce errors, ensure compliance, and empower your team to manage expenses with confidence. By carefully weighing the features and benefits of both Expensify and Divvy, you can make an informed decision that will support your organization's growth and financial management goals.

Are you ready to take the next step in simplifying your expense management process? Start by evaluating your current pain points and priorities, then explore how Expensify and Divvy can address these needs. With the right solution in place, you'll be well on your way to more streamlined, efficient, and insightful financial management.