Bill.com – Best Accounting Software

Bill.com (also known as BILL) is a financial operations platform for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). It is a comprehensive, cloud-based software tool that streamlines your cash inflow and outflow processes.

BILL provides an integrated platform for bill payments, invoicing, accounts payable, and receivables—essentially, a place to do all your financial process management in one place.

Two years ago Divvy became part of the BILL portfolio, offering spend and expense management functionality to deliver more capabilities to help SMBs automate their financial operations.

For SMBs, BILL automates accounts receivable, accounts payable, electronic payment processing and billing, credit cards, and expense management to help businesses manage their cash inflows and outflows more efficiently.

Businesses can use BILL’s proprietary member network of millions to pay or get paid faster. It uses AI and machine learning to reduce tedious data entry and manual errors.

The platform also has an end-to-end option that connects businesses with suppliers and clients to assist them in streamlining their accounting process and managing their finances.

Bill.com is a business payment platform where the company provides a simple and secure way to create, review, approve or deny, and even pay bills on the go. It is available on desktops or through its mobile app, making it easier to access your accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivables (AR) from anywhere.

It promises to be a simple way for entrepreneurs and businesses to automate core accounting functions, allowing them to channelize their resources to operations, sales, and marketing.

Bill.com Platform

Bill.com’s purpose-built, artificial-intelligence (AI)-enabled financial software platform creates seamless connections between its customers, suppliers, and clients.

Customers use the Bill.com platform to generate and process invoices, streamline approvals, make and receive payments, manage employee expenses, sync with their accounting systems, manage their cash and much more.

The platform also has an ability to spend and expense management customers to budget for, monitor, and approve employee expenses across organizations of all sizes – all in real time.

Bill.com’s platform enables its customers to pay their suppliers and collect payments from their clients. It acts as a control system for accounts payable, accounts receivable, and spend and expense management activities.

• Accounts Payable Automation:  Bill.com’s accounts payable automation service streamlines the entire payables process from the receipt of a bill through the approvals workflow to the payment and synchronization with the accounting system.

• Accounts Receivable Automation: Bill.com’s accounts receivable service automates the entire process from creating an invoice and delivery to the client to funds collection and synchronization back to the accounting system.

• Spend and Expense Management: With Bill (Divvy), spending businesses gain robust spend and expense management tools, helping them spend smarter. Bill.com provides access to credit lines originated through its card-issuing partner banks and is linked to proactive spend controls: managers control their budgets by assigning individual permissions to the team.

• Payment Services: Using Bill.com’s platform, accounts payable customers can disburse funds to suppliers through multiple payment methods and accounts receivable customers collect funds quickly and efficiently using electronic funds transfers. Bill.com’s suite of comprehensive payment services includes ACH Payments, Card Payments, Real-time Payments (RTP), Checks, and Cross-Border Payments.

• Partner Integrations: Bill.com provides its financial institution partners with a technology platform enabling white-label integration through their existing business banking services. Bill.com’s single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, integrated provisioning, and entitlement of new accounts and integration compliance systems allow businesses to build budgets, manage payments, and eliminate the need for expense reports.

Why Do Businesses Use Bill.com?

Businesses use Bill.com for a variety of reasons, which are as follows:

• Time savings: Bill.com automates many of your time-consuming tasks associated with the accounts payable process, such as data entry, approvals, and payments. This frees up time for business owners and their staff and lets them focus on other tasks.

• Reduced errors: With automation Bill.com reduces the risk of errors such as data entry mistakes, duplicate payments, and missed payments. This can save your money and help to maintain good relationships with vendors.

• Improved cash flow management: Bill.com allows businesses to schedule payments for a specific date, which can help with cash flow management. Businesses can also take advantage of early payment discounts, which can improve their bottom line.

• Enhanced security: Bill.com uses bank-level security and end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive financial information which ultimately reduces the risk of online fraud and data breaches.

• Bill automation: By using Bill.com, businesses can keep all their bills and payment information in one place, making it easier to track expenses and stay up-to-date. It offers businesses a streamlined and efficient way to manage their accounts payable process automatically. 

How Does Bill.com Work?

Bill.com (Divvy) streamlines the entire AP process by allowing cloud access for its users. The interface is very intuitive and makes it very simple to manage billing and payments. The platform provides a variety of benefits such as automating billing, synchronization, multi-currency functionality etc.

When a user signs up, the platform’s services sync to the user’s accounting software and bank accounts. Once logged in, users are able to see an overview of their pending approvals and payments.

Then with one click, users can get current progress updates about incoming payments and with just a few more clicks, you can make payments to your vendors and contractors.

As a result, Bill.com’s platform frees its customers from hectic financial operations and offers the following benefits to them:

• Automated and Efficient: Bill.com’s AI-enabled platform helps its customers to pay their bills efficiently and get paid faster. It provides tools to streamline the transaction lifecycle by automating data capture and entry, routing bills for approval, and detecting duplicate invoices.

• Integrated and Accurate: Bill.com offers an end-to-end platform that connects its customers to their suppliers and clients. The platform can be integrated with accounting software, banks, card issuers, and payment processors, enabling customers to improve their financial health. 

• Digital and Secure: Bill.com has secure connections, storage of sensitive supplier and client information and documents, such as invoices and contracts, making them accessible to authorized users.

• Visible and Transparent: With Bill.com’s solutions, customers can easily view their transaction workflows, create budgets and manage expenses, enabling them to gain deeper insight into their financial operations and improve their cash flows.

Getting Started with Bill.com

If you want to transfer to a new payable automation solution, BILL is the best option for you. Below you’ll get to know how it works faster, answer your queries in just a single click and handle everything for you.

Let’s get started with Bill.com:

• Set up your account: To use Bill.com, you need to create an account and set up your profile appropriately. Then, you’ll need to connect your bank account to Bill.com, which will allow you to make payments directly from your account.

• Add your Bills: Once your account is set up, you can start adding your bills to Bill.com. You can either manually enter the bill details or upload a bill in PDF format. You can also email your bills to Bill.com. Each Bill.com account has a unique email address that you can use to send bills directly to your account.

To find your account’s email address, do the following:

1. Log in to Bill.com and navigate to the “Bills” icon. 
2. Here, click on “New Bill” and then select “Email a Bill.” 
3. After this, you’ll get your account’s email address, which you can use to send bills directly to your account. 

However, you can choose to add your bills Bill.com will extract the relevant information, such as the vendor’s name, due date, and amount, and store it in your account.

• Approve bills: Bill.com allows you to set up a customized approval process for your bills. You can select who needs to approve each bill and in what order. Once a bill is approved, it moves to the “Paid” status.

• Pay bills: Bill.com makes it easier to pay your bills. You can pay by check or by ACH transfer. If you choose to pay by check, Bill.com will print and mail the check on your behalf. But, if you choose to pay by ACH transfer, Bill.com will send the payment directly to the vendor’s bank account.

• Sync with your Accounting Software: Bill.com can be integrated with popular accounting software, such as QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite, allowing you to automatically sync your payments and bills with your accounting software, saving you time and reducing the risk of errors.

Alternatives of Bill.com

Undoubtedly, Bill.com, accounts payable invoice automation solutions (Transitioning to Accounts Payable Applications) is the first choice of users in their purchasing decision.

When evaluating different solutions, many buyers compare its competencies with others in different categories such as evaluation and contracting, integration and deployment, service and support, and specific product capabilities.

Stampli

Stampli is an accounts payable automation solution that streamlines and optimizes AP workflows. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate accounts payable processes and implement unique patterns to simplify tasks like GL coding, approval workflows, and invoice verification.

Stampli provides complete visibility & control over your entire AP program, reducing the risk of errors, fraud, and compliance issues while making AP more efficient.

Plooto

Plooto is a powerful accounts payable and receivable platform that helps a business gain total control and visibility into cash flow management. It supports 120,000+ vendors and suppliers, and 6000+ businesses, with enhanced financial controls that keep operating costs low.

Plooto facilitates faster AR and AP cycles, reduces errors, and lowers costs per transaction.

DocuWare

DocuWare provides cloud document management and workflow automation that enables a company to digitize and secure business documents, then optimize processes.

It also boasts self-learning intelligent indexing to match invoices with related P.O.’s. DocuWare is a great solution to support your mobile workforce and securely archive your critical forms. 

Spendesk

Spendesk is an all-in-one spend management platform for modern accounting teams that helps to easily verify your business and load funds to your Spendesk wallet from any existing bank account.

A one-click feature can export all payments and receipts to your preferred integration.

It offers a 7-in-1 solution that covers corporate cards, expense reimbursements, budgets, approvals, reporting, compliance, and pre-accounting.

Spendesk is designed to make every employee accountable for the company’s financial health where they can request funds, submit receipts, and pay securely with the Spendesk app.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks is a family of powerful SaaS financial management and accounting solutions designed for small and mid-sized businesses owners, stakeholders and entrepreneurs. QuickBooks offers four cloud-based solutions (Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, Advanced) for different company needs.

It is considered as a scalable and flexible accounting platform with a powerful suite of tools such as bookkeeping, analytics, invoicing and payments, receipt capture, expense management, payroll, mileage and time tracking, visual cash flow and much more.

Pros and Cons of Bill.com

Bill.com has an ability to automate the entire accounts payable process. Users have found that they can easily scan vouchers to the website, assign them to vendors, and code them to the appropriate chart of accounts.

The software also offers automated approvals, a voucher image library, and the option to facilitate ACH payments or cut physical checks.

By digitizing the entire AP process, you have successfully moved your entire Accounts Payable function to the cloud using Bill.com, eliminating the need for a physical AP department.

Below are some pros and cons of Bill.com; let’s have a look:

Pros✅	Cons ❌
● User-Friendly Interface-The platform is easy to use on both desktop and mobile, with intuitive features.	● Limited Reporting Options-Bill.com has few built-in reports, and users often rely on external tools like spreadsheets for in-depth analysis, such as comparing monthly expenditures by category.
● Expense Auto-Categorization-Automatically categorizes expenses, making it easy to track and manage them.	● Inadequate Dashboard-The platform lacks a comprehensive dashboard, making it hard to get an at-a-glance view of expenses across various categories.
● Email Reminders-Sends reminders for outstanding expenses, helping users stay organized and timely.	● Challenging Setup for Subsidiaries-Setting up subsidiaries is complicated, with limited options for consolidated views across multiple entities.
● Good Integration with Accounting Software-Integrates smoothly with major accounting software like QuickBooks and NetSuite.	● Limited Invoice Scanning Functionality-The upload process for invoices is cumbersome, and scanned invoices do not always detect vendors automatically.
● Third-Party Compatibility-Works well with third-party systems, such as Hybrent, for additional functionalities like purchase order management.	● Minimal Customer Support Options-Support is limited to chat, with no phone support option, which can be challenging for new users.
● Automated Bill Processing-Automates many parts of bill processing, reducing time spent on manual tasks.	● Phishing Vulnerability-Can be vulnerable to phishing attacks; policies for verifying changes to e-payments are essential to prevent fraud.
● Vendor e-Payment Options-Vendors can sign up to receive electronic payments, simplifying payment processes.	● Complex Document Editing-Limited editing options for uploaded documents, which may hinder users needing to make quick modifications.
● Audit Trail-Offers an audit trail for tracking user activities, helpful for accountability and reconciling transactions.	● Limited Invoice Modification-Modifying invoices within the platform could be improved to allow for more detailed editing.
● Detailed Data Sync-Syncs seamlessly with the general ledger and allows charging to various locations, departments, and types of expenses.	● Higher Learning Curve for New Users-Some users find the platform challenging to learn initially, especially without direct call support.
● Centralized Platform-BILL, Divvy, manages all accounts payable and accounts receivable functions in one place, providing a comprehensive view of cash flow. It has a centralized payment management feature which makes it easier to process the bills and pay the vendors. Also, the software can help you to track and control financial records and perform audits.	● Sync errors-Several customers reported difficulty getting BILL to sync with platforms like QuickBooks Online, Sage Intacct, and NetSuite. When you try to integrate your accounting software, it may mess up your historical client data, leading to a major financial crisis.
● Improved Vendor Relationships-Bill.com automates vendor payments, reduces late fees, and strengthens supplier/vendor relationships. It streamlines invoice processing, approval, and payment, saving time and reducing errors.	● Delayed Payments-Customers complained that the software can take a long time when you make international payments via BILL. It has extremely slow payment processing times and that payment delays are sometimes more than a week for international vendors. Such delays and a lack of visibility into the status of international payments prevent its customers from making timely payments to their suppliers.
● Robust Reporting-BILL provides detailed insights into spending, cash flow management, and vendor performance, enabling you to make informed decisions for your business.	● Limited features for Complex Accounting-Bill.com may not offer advanced features required for complex accounting needs, such as multi-entity consolidation or specialized industry-specific functions.

How Safe is Bill.com?

Bill.com offers enterprise-level fraud protection and protects your data with the same encryption used by banks. As all payments go through a user’s Bill.com account, bank account and routing numbers are not exposed.

The platform also employs firewalls and intrusion-detection devices to prevent unauthorized access to servers. By using Bill.com, you can remove the need for physical checks, which in itself eliminates the possibility of check fraud. So yes, Bill.com takes many important measures to ensure it is a safe and secure option for you & your company.

Plans and Pricing of Bill.com

Here’s a detailed breakdown of Bill.com’s pricing plans and features, explained in simple terms:

Plan	Essentials	Team	Corporate	Enterprise
Monthly Cost	$45 per user	$55 per user	$79 per user	Custom (depends on specific needs)
Best For	Small businesses that only need basic bill pay or invoicing.	Growing teams needing some workflow controls.	Midsize companies with more complex needs.	Large businesses needing tailored solutions.
Accounts Payable	Basic AP tools (pay bills, view records).	More controls (basic approval workflows).	Advanced AP tools (customizable workflows).	Fully customized AP tools with extra controls.
Accounts Receivable	Basic AR tools (send invoices, track payments).	Basic AR + approval options.	Advanced AR workflows, with custom controls.	Fully customized AR with extra features.
Syncing with Accounting Software	Syncs with QuickBooks, Xero.	Also syncs with more platforms.	Extra syncing features for smoother integration.	Custom syncing with in-depth integrations.
Approval Policies	Limited approvals setup.	Standard options for approval flows.	Full approval policy customization.	Fully customizable for complex workflows.
Document Storage	Stores digital copies of bills/invoices.	Stores documents and keeps them organized.	Same as Team, but with more document controls.	Full document control with added customization.
Expense Management	Not available.	Not available.	Optional (can add expense tracking).	Full customization with Divvy integration (expense management).
Audit Trails	Limited history tracking.	Basic tracking of changes and actions.	Full tracking of all actions in the system.	Full tracking plus additional reporting.
Payment Options	ACH (bank transfer), credit card, checks.	Same as Essentials.	Same as Essentials.	Same as Essentials, with more control options.
International Payments	Available (extra fees may apply).	Available (extra fees may apply).	Available (extra fees may apply).	Available, with flexible options.
Customer Support	Basic support	Standard support	Priority support	Dedicated, high-level support.

Benefits of Bill.com for Small Businesses

Here’s a list of some features offered by Bill.com:

• Gain Control: Bill.com allows you to set up approval workflows and custom roles to suit the department and team. You can also check pending approvals, sent invoices and other payment activity from the dashboard. 

• Synchronization: With Bill.com, you can connect with leading accounting and payment tools to speed up reconciliations and keep the books consistent, organized and up-to-date.

• Multi-currency functionality: BILL enables you to pay vendors in multiple countries and log in multiple currencies with ACH payments, international wires, virtual cards or checks.

• Guaranteed Security: The software ensures premium data integrity through Transport Layer Security for data encryption and transmission.

• Boost Efficiency: Bill.com automates all your manual tasks, minimizes the possibility of error or duplicate entry, thereby saves time and improves overall efficiency.

• Quick Account Receivables: Through Bill.com, you can pay clients two times faster with digital invoices, automatic reminders and electronic payments. Set alerts and speed up accounts receivable with electronic payments feature.

• Simplify Accounts Payable: You can save half the time otherwise spent on getting paid from national and international vendors. Gain more control, flexibility and visibility with the variety of payment options. By using Bill.com, you can pay direct bills for the products or services without any need of immediate cash or card transactions and review the notes through pre-determined approval workflows.