If you could automate anything in finance, what would it be? The answer probably relies on a few factors like needs, industry, staffing, performance—you get the idea. In this article, we compare Tipalti vs Airbase, but if you have questions about digitizing AP, check out our Ultimate Payables Survival Guide.
DocuPhase is a customizable, document management software that’s built to scan, store, share, and retrieve documents, with 360-degree visibility at all times. The platform was designed to eliminate paper processes and help a business gain control over operations.
The DocuPhase system enables you to streamline accounts payable, strengthen cash flow, and tighten up approval processes. A company can get paid faster by providing customers with frictionless payment options that increase sales and strengthen business relationships.
Replace manual file-sharing with rule-based, drag-and-drop workflows
Capture and validate incoming documents with OCR (optical character recognition) technology
All forms and PDFs can be replaced with an easy-to-use, no-code web form builder
DocuPhase can serve all industries and sectors. Many users are in HR, accounting, and manufacturing.
DocuPhase is known for its strong customer service support that’s available 24/7.
Complete system versatility with the ability to create or change a process with little time and expertise.
Pricing for DocuPhase starts at $500, and there is no free plan or trial available.
PairSoft
PairSoft was formed in March 2021 with the merger of PaperSave and Paramount Workplace. It’s an AP automation platform that helps small businesses, medium-sized companies, and enterprise corporations with procurement, purchasing processes, and document management. It eliminates inefficiencies and teaches teams to work smarter—not harder.
Reduce costs and elevate AP staff above routine, transactional work with a system that closely integrates with brands like Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, SAP, and Sage ERP.
Automate the entire P2P process with speed and accuracy
Find anything you need with a few clicks and “staple” documents together in the system
Better decision-making with a 360-degree view of all data and a mobile app
The PairSoft accounting software can be used by a business of any size, but is particularly useful for mid-market and enterprise companies.
Easily automate the creation of purchase orders, invoice capture, and approval workflows while managing purchases and vendor relationships with PunchOut catalogs.
Automated invoice processing and workflows that integrate directly with your ERP and legacy systems.
Pricing is quote-based with no obligation. You only pay for what you need, with unlimited users, storage, free integration, and support.
Kyriba
Kyriba streamlines global payment processing with an API-enabled platform that offers risk management, treasury, payments, and working capital solutions. Eliminate costs and unlock the value of real-time payments.
Gain the visibility and reporting needed to forecast and mobilize liquidity and cash; enterprise-wide. Kyriba helps to realize greater strategic decision-making with features like contract management, dynamic discounting, travel management, expense tracking, and more.
Delivers treasury management and expense reporting SaaS for over a decade, with a singular focus
Connectivity to banks, ERPs, portals, and apps to automate processes and unify data
Commodity and expense management solution with forecasting and fraud detection
Kyriba is recognized as a global cash management platform designed for financial service providers.
Backed by market-leading technology, delivering one of the most comprehensive partner programs in the industry.
Empowers treasurers and CFOs with analytics to protect balance sheets, accelerate processes, and improve cash returns.
All pricing for Kyriba is quote-based.
Paymerang
Paymerang provides a streamlined payment and invoice automation platform that allows accounts payable to control business spend while improving accuracy and visibility across the enterprise.
Their payment automation solution allows a business to automate the entire payment process, from secure vendor enrollment to payment delivery and reconciliation.
Automated invoice capture and electronic routing that reduces time spent approving and posting invoices
Easy-to-use interface with automated remittance, reconciliation, and seamless implementation that takes just hours to set up
Virtual credit cards earn cash-back rewards for every payment made
Paymerang is built to bring AP teams into the modern age and is applicable to a business of any size. The brand has found particular success in the hospitality industry.
The invoice automation and expense management software uses AI to capture, read, and route invoices to the appropriate parties, giving you a fail-safe digital paper trail.
Streamline the whole payments process and double down on security with a tool that turns your payments into profit.
Pricing depends on the estimated dollar volume of the card. The pricing model is a one-time license.
Tipalti
Tipalti offers an end-to-end, top-tier payments experience that allows a business to handle everything from supplier onboarding through to cross-border payments and reconciliation. Solutions include sophisticated invoice management, tax compliance, 2/3-way PO matching, corporate cards, and much more. The holistic cloud solution prioritizes efficiency, streamlines cash flow management, and delivers a global white-label experience.
Automated invoice capture, approvals, payments, and reconciliation in a single end-to-end AP platform that eliminates 80% of manual payables workloads
PO Management lets you streamline your purchase requisition and PO approval process while gaining greater control over spending.
Manage and reconcile spend, gain visibility, and receive cash-back with Tipalti Card
Tipalti works great for any business looking to make the AP process faster, safer, and more efficient through automation. Whether a startup or a large enterprise, Tipalti works with high velocity businesses of all sizes and industries.
Dynamic, brandable, and self-service supplier portal helps you guide suppliers through submitting, banking details, and tax information with built-in validations
Global payments capabilities offering 12 payment methods to +196 countries in +120 currencies, plus advanced FX features like hedging
Multi-entity capabilities with the ability to handle different AP processes and workflows per entity, yet still provide a consolidated view to executives
Tipalti offers two separate plans for businesses; Tipalti Express and Tipalti Pro. Tipalti uses a subscription-based pricing model starting at $149 per month.
Do you know what complete AP automation looks like?
It’s more than just eliminating paper and scanning invoices. There’s a holistic approach waiting to be discovered, and the possibilities are endless.
Tipalti provides an award-winning AP automation and corporate card solution across your entire enterprise. The software provides granular control over the payable process to protect your business from fraud and boasts features like:
Tipalti Detect prevents fraud with detailed payee monitoring
Tipalti Product Capabilities Overview
Tipalti software improves efficiency and offers scalability while minimizing extra headcount. The software saves your company money, processing transactions with six different payment methods, across 196 countries, in 120 currencies.
Tipalti is a simple setup, and implementation can be completed in as little as a few weeks.
Tipalti Pricing
Tipalti uses a SaaS subscription pricing model starting at $149 per month for the platform fee. To upgrade from the basic plan, you can add advanced functionality, like multi-entity payables, as your business grows.
What Does Airbase Do?
Headquartered in San Francisco, Airbase is a spend management platform for corporate cards, employee expense reimbursement, and bill payments. The brand targets venture-funded, mid-market companies, typically in the software and technology sector.
Airbase Product Capabilities Overview
Airbase oversees spend and integrates with third-party card programs, ERPs, and HRIS systems. The cloud-based platform manages card spend management, supplier payments, and employee reimbursements, centralizing a company’s spending into one dashboard.
The main products include:
Corporate Cards
Reimbursements
Bill Payments
Additional add-ons include:
Advanced Approvals
User Management
Amortization
Purchase Orders
Workflow Builder (Requisition Forms)
NetSuite Custom Fields
Airbase Pricing
Airbase offers three packages:
Standard
Premium
Enterprise
Certain features are only available in higher-tier plans, including multi-subsidiary support, purchase orders, customizable approval workflow forms, etc.
There’s a flat annual fee for access to the Airbase platform. It includes a certain level of bandwidth for individual features (like Bill Pay for up to 100 bills per month). Overage fees apply, and products can be purchased modularly. Customers can also add bandwidth or additional products as needed.
Features of Tipalti vs. Airbase
The Airbase platform was initially focused on corporate cards, and later added bill payments and reimbursements to the roster. Tipalti started with AP automation and global payments. Afterward, procurement was added with the acquisition of Approve, as well as corporate cards with the introduction of the Tipalti Card.
Although both platforms automate AP processes, each system offers different features and solutions for finance teams. Here’s a quick glance at some of the key differences between Tipalti and Airbase:
*Limited functionality
Cards
Card spend management and reconciliation, enhanced visibility, cash back capabilities through automatic reconciliation.
Card spend management and cash back capabilities through automatic reconciliation.
Global Payments
6 unique payment methods across 196 countries in 120 different currencies.
Similar country and currency availability, lacks prepaid debit, PayPal and global ACH payment methods. Payment approval workflows unavailable.
Reliable Payment Infrastructure
Regulated MSB with MTLs. Blue-chip bank partners Citi, JP Morgan Chase & Wells Fargo (plus Visa & PayPal) with built-in redundancy for quick fund disbursement.
No regulatory licenses or MTLs. Partnership with SVB has led to slowed bill payments and reimbursements due to the recent crisis.
PO Management
PO and payables management tightens spend controls, trims AP processing time and streamlines company purchases. Slack integration helps speed up approvals.
Expense request workflows and purchase requisitions follow the same routines, where the requester must note a PO will accompany the transaction. Additional cost for workflow builder feature.
Touchless Invoice Processing & PO-Matching
OCR (Header and line level scan and capture), Machine Learning capabilities, managed services, PO matching (2&3-way), approval workflows direct from email (no additional approval costs or login required).
OCR capabilities, no managed services or machine learning. 2&3-way matching only available in Netsuite (without tolerance thresholds). Login needed for viewing invoice details, $9-12 / month per approver.
Supplier Onboarding and Vetting
Painless vendor management through client-branded supplier onboarding portal, preferred currency, payment method and payment thresholds. Optional ability to split payments, validate payments and screen against OFAC/SDN lists with over 26K rules.
Supplier portal with 3-day validation process. 26K+ validation rules are not built-in, suppliers are not screened against OFAC/SDN lists. Fee splitting capabilities unavailable, thus less incentive for suppliers to adopt more streamlined and secure payment methods.
Multi-Entity Payable Reconciliation
Consolidated viewing capabilities allow for management of multiple entities in one instance. Instantaneous reconciliation across payables workflows and entities.
Only available in Netsuite; no controls over payment types, independent branding, tax onboarding flows, partner communications, reporting, reconciliation, etc. per entity.
ERP Integrations
Integration with all other ERPs via pre-built connectors using no-code, drag-and-drop interface. Native API integrations with major ERPs (NetSuite, Intacct, and QuickBooks Online & Xero).
ERP integrations available with Intacct, Netsuite, QuickBooks, and Xero.
Customer Support
US-based customer support teams (email & phone) with
Philippines-based customer support teams.
Tax Compliance
Cover all tax bases with KPMG approved tax engine that validates against 3,000+ rules. Allows for collection of W9 & W8 tax forms, IRS and VAT tax IDs (and validation), 1042 & 1099 prep reports, auto-calculated withholdings, and eFiling capabilities.
Collect W-9s only. No validation of uploaded documents. No W-8s. No KPMG-approved tax compliance capability. No digital tax form capture, validation and withholdings calculations. No 1099 & 1042-s tax prep reports and eFiling.
FX Solutions
Intercompany bank transfers, FX hedging, payee FX, Advanced FX solutions.
Advanced FX solutions unavailable.
Which Solution Works Best for Your Business (and Why)
Selecting an AP automation solution is an important choice for growing teams needing to quickly scale. Consider some of these common scenarios when choosing between Tipalti and Airbase:
When to Choose Tipalti?
Tipalti offers a totally touchless invoice processing workflow in which machine learning (ML) powers optical character recognition (OCR) to scan the invoice for header and line-level details. Predictive smart logic uses AI to auto-fill custom fields and expense accounts.
PO Matching
2-way/3-way PO matching allows for automated syncing of POs and GRNs. This completes the PO match flow, helping to eliminate overspending and strengthening financial controls.
Invoice Workflow
When an invoice is submitted for approval, Tipalti’s Advanced Approval workflow starts the bill approval sequence, referencing patterns from past invoices. This includes different approval assignments per entity, department, location, etc. Specific approval rules can also be configured in the system, even at the entity level.
Email approval notifications are automatically routed to the right parties who can approve the invoice, update the General Ledger account, send it back to AP, or dispute the invoice directly from the email— all without the need to log in to any platform.
Built-in Messaging
If questions arise, AP staff can send messages, attach relevant documents, and tag users via Tipalti’s built-in messaging. This enhances collaboration and reduces processing times.
Payable teams can also reply to messages directly from the notification emails to accelerate communication.
Tipalti has been perfecting invoice management since 2016, adding over 150 new features and improvements each year. Airbase is a spend management platform centered around cards. It launched its bill payments product as a standalone offering in June 2021.
Tipalti offers a self-service supplier portal to streamline the onboarding process, enabling faster (and more accurate) payee data collection and verification.
The Tipalti platform validates supplier payment data in real-time using 26,000 global banking rules, reducing payment errors by up to 66%. The automated supplier portal is accessible 24/7, in multiple languages.
Suppliers access the portal to check on invoice and payment status. Tipalti also sends payment status emails to reduce supplier inquiries. With Airbase, supplier validation takes 3 days, and there are no built-in payment validation rules.
Tipalti has advanced global tax compliance capabilities like:
Collecting, validating, and maintaining W-9, and W-8 series forms and VAT details
Calculating any necessary withholdings
Generating 1099/1042-S preparation reports
eFiling services and integrations
Our tax capability meets IRS requirements as prescribed by KPMG. In comparison, Airbase only collects W-9 forms during onboarding.
Whether your business is growing domestically or globally, you need software with scalability to future-proof payables. As a company expands, AP workflow complexities increase. This involves paying global suppliers, handling multi-subsidiary payables, and processing an increasing number of payments.
A company must also offer a wide range of localized payment methods to pay suppliers in their preferred methods and currencies.
Multiple Entities
Tipalti’s end-to-end AP solution future-proofs your operations, so there’s no need to keep investing resources as you grow. With the Tipalti Multi-Entity feature, manage several business entities with different AP processes, within a single instance.
The multi-entity capabilities help your business centralize financial controls while providing visibility at both the entity and consolidated business levels.
In contrast, Airbase offers multi-entity capabilities only in NetSuite. It does not have features like custom branding and unique onboarding workflows per entity.
Global Payments
Tipalti executes fast global payments to 196 countries in 120 currencies, supporting multiple payment methods, like:
Wire transfer
Global ACH
Prepaid debit card
PayPal
Check
You can also streamline FX conversion workflow with advanced capabilities like Multi-FX, FX hedging, and Payee FX optimization. Airbase does not currently offer any advanced FX capabilities.
When to Choose Airbase
Airbase is a cards-centric spend management platform, and its the core competency is corporate cards. The company charges SaaS subscription fees for its spend management software and returns some most interchange fees from card-based spend back to customers via cash-back rewards. Despite its strengths in corporate cards, Airbase has recently been reducing the cashback rates it offers to customers and it also deprecated its charge card program and now only offers pre-funded cards to its customers.
Alternatively, Tipalti offers a virtual card solution that complements its core AP automation and procurementPO management offerings. The Tipalti Card is a simple, convenient, flexible, and secure virtual credit (charge) and debit (pre-funded) card solution, offering cash-back rebates. It is integrated into the most comprehensive global payables automation platform bringing complete financial controls into card spend with automatic reconciliation.
Tipalti Card is completely free to use for customers using other Tipalti solutions.
Both Airbase and Tipalti have strong security policies. Airbase is in SOC 2 Type II and SOC 1 Type II compliance. Tipalti is SSAE 18 and ISAE 3402 SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type I certified, and GDPR compliant.
Between the two platforms, Tipalti offers much stronger financial controls.
Validating Supplier Data
Airbase has a 3-day validation process for supplier payment data, while Tipalti has 26,000 payment validation rules built into the supplier onboarding engine. This can reduce payment errors by up to 66%.
The Airbase system collects W-9 forms without any validation. On the other hand, Tipalti has KPMG-approved digital tax form collection (W-9s, W-8s, etc.) and TIN validation, 1099 and 1042-S prep reports, automatic withholdings calculations, and eFiling services to help with tax compliance.
Fraud Prevention
Airbase does not screen any suppliers against OFAC/SDN lists like Tipalti. Tipalti Detect is built to prevent fraud with detailed payee monitoring. As of this writing, Airbase does not have any proactive fraud prevention available for non-card payments.
Role-Based Permissions
Tipalti offers over 20 role-based permissions to enforce the segregation of duties. It configures who can fund accounts, initiate disbursements, run reports, create approval flows, etc.
Airbase has duty segregation challenges. For example, all GL accounts are visible to administrators, and there is no way to change that.
Airbase partnered with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) for ACH payments and corporate card integrations. As a result, its customers experienced delays in bill payments to their suppliers & reimbursements to their employees amidst the crisis at SVB. Can you afford the same risk?
Money transmission is a highly regulated activity under both federal and state laws. Tipalti is regulated as a money services business (MSB) and has its US money transmitter licenses (MTLs) in every state that requires them. Businesses must be aware of the risks involved in partnering with a single bank or non-regulated payments provider, as this can jeopardize their funds, reputation, and operations. Being a licensed Money Transmitter is an important distinction between Tipalti and other payout providers like Airbase. We partner with blue-chip banks Citi, JP Morgan Chase & Wells Fargo and have redundancy built-in facilitating quick fund disbursement around the globe.
Tipalti’s MTLs help to ensure there are not any disruptions to your payout operations, to provide you with the best customer experience possible, and to eliminate the risk of fines and penalties for improper payouts. As a licensed money transmitter, Tipalti also controls the compliance review process. This means the brand can approve you in days once provided the appropriate documentation. Payout providers without MTLs, like Airbase, are at the mercy of the bank’s timeline for the due diligence process. Sometimes this can take months.
Tipalti is a credible and reliable partner you can trust to handle all of your payment needs!
What Our Customers Say
Save Time & Money with Accounts Payable Automation
In Tipalti’s recent global accounts payable teams survey (based on IFOL research), it was discovered that nearly 50% of the participants spend 5+ days each month processing invoices manually, while 41% of all respondents plan to automate their AP processes within a year.
A business can shift a significant amount of time from data entry to strategic finance by using accounts payable automation, contributing value, cost reduction, and business growth.
Although both Tipalti and Airbase offer user-friendly AP automation and global payment solutions, this is the lifeblood of Tipalti and its core competency.
An in-depth evaluation of Tipalti vs Airbase is required to decide which AP automation solution is the better fit for your business needs and budget. No matter what system you choose, it’s important to conduct thorough research – whether you’re comparing Tipalti vs Airbase, Tipalti vs Stampli, Tipalti vs Bill.com or Tipalti vs Concur, it’s about juxtaposing the top brands.
Tipalti can handle the requirements of any sized company and will scale with you as you grow.
Brianna Blaney began her career as a fintech writer in Boston for a major media corporation, later progressing to digital media marketing with platforms in San Francisco.
She has worked as a financial writer for Tipalti for 7+years, keeping a close eye on shifting trends and reporting on the ever-evolving landscape of financial automation.
She prides herself on reverse-engineering the logistics of successful content and implementing techniques centered around people (not campaigns).
In her spare time, she loves to cook and take care of her pet squirrel, Marshmallow.
