The AI-powered spend management suite

Bring your expenses, supplier invoices, and corporate card payments into one fully integrated platform, powered by AI technology. 

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Take control of your global spend ​

Yokoy Invoice

Process invoices automatically​

Consolidate your accounts payable process, manage invoices at scale, automate approvals with custom workflows, and pay on time with Yokoy’s AI-powered invoice management solution.

  • AI-based invoice data capture, extraction, and approval

  • Automated matching of invoices, POs, and good receipts data

  • Custom approval workflows for true AP automation

  • Real-time spend visibility and full spend control for global organizations

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Yokoy Expense

Manage expenses effortlessly​

Automate your expense management, simplify expense reporting, and prevent fraud and reimbursement delays with Yokoy’s AI-driven expense management solution.

  • Fully digital business expense reporting via web and mobile app

  • Automated matching of receipts and card transactions for real-time visibility

  • Real-time expense tracking and granular control over employee spending

  • Custom workflows and approval flows for fast reimbursements

Yokoy Pay

Streamline your business payments​

Gain real-time control of your global card spend and automatically match card transactions with receipts with Yokoy’s smart payment solutions.

  • Issue physical and virtual cards on the go and easily freeze them via the Yokoy app

  • Granular spend controls and individual spending limits to prevent overspending

  • Automated transaction matching and real-time compliance checks

  • Real-time spend data analysis for simple reporting and cost savings insights

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“This tool is so invaluable for us that it’s hard to put a number on it. It saves us so much time and energy, and embodies in financial terms the level of freedom we want our employees to live at work.​”

Martin Hoffmann
Martin Hoffmann

CFO & CO-CEO, On Running

Find out how Yokoy can help you achieve financial excellence

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Stadler manages their global spend with Yokoy

“At Stadler Rail, we’ve automated our global expense management process with Yokoy. This means Yokoy’s Artificial Intelligence does the repetitive work for us and we only check outliers and exceptions manually, which saves us time and money.”

Raphael Widmer, CFO at Stadler Rail

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Main features

Get to know our spend management solution.

AI-based automation

Eliminate manual work from your T&E and AP processes. Yokoy’s AI captures, extracts, validates, and approves employee expense and supplier invoices automatically.

End-to-end automation​

Improve efficiency with AI automation and streamline operations by bringing all your processes into one central platform, fully integrated into your tech stack.

Custom approval flows​

Map out your end-to-end approval workflows, customize them per entity, and define how exceptions should be handled, to reach full spend management automation.

Built-in compliance​

Prevent overspending and fraud and ensure compliance with company policies and country-specific regulations through built-in rules and pre-approval flows.

Real-time reporting​

Track expenses as they happen, extract spending patterns and insights from your analytics dashboards, and gain real-time visibility into your spending for accurate forecasts.

Simple audit trails

Detect errors and fraud with ease and ensure accurate audit trails by safely storing all your expense receipts, card transaction history, and vendor invoices in the Yokoy platform.

Multi entity support

Streamline complex AP and T&E processes across entities and subsidiaries, and standardize your workflows for increased efficiency and control with a central spend management platform. 

World-class service and support

Get answers to your questions right away, troubleshoot issues with help from our experts, and improve your knowledge with in-depth live and self-guided Academy trainings.

Streamline your
IT landscape

Yokoy’s API facilitates seamless integrations with enterprise-level systems for end-to-end automation across entities and geographies.

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Stay safe, with the highest security standards

Yokoy is engineered for security and committed to information protection. We are ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, and GoBD compliant, as well as GDPR certified. 

Yokoy API

API by developers, for developers

Yokoy’s engineers have created a free open API for you to build on top of Yokoy’s software and to connect your favorite tools and databases to the Yokoy platform.

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“Automated expense management with Yokoy is efficient, economical, sustainable and compliant.”

Claudio Krättli
Claudio Krättli

Justice and Security Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, Switzerland

Find out how Yokoy can help you achieve financial excellence

What our customers say

4.5 based on 124 reviews
4.5/5
Raphael WidmerCFO, Stadler Rail
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"At Stadler Rail, we’ve automated our global expense management process with Yokoy. This means Yokoy’s Artificial Intelligence does the repetitive work for us and we only check outliers and exceptions manually, which saves us time and money."
Enver SirucicCFO BAWAG Group
Read More
"Yokoy stands out as a visionary company that offers a truly unique solution. Their customer success team has played a pivotal role in automating our spend management processes."
Christoph KühneGroup Finance, On
Read More
"Yokoy has played a pivotal role in revolutionizing our expense management as we experience rapid global growth. The automation rate of nearly 90% is impressive, allowing us to handle a vast number of expenses with ease and export them within a day."
Christoph JennyCo-founder, Planted
Read More
"A corporate card should be secure and uncomplicated - and this is exactly what the Yokoy Mastercard offers. In addition, the card is smart, saving us significant time."
Yvonne GrossVP of Finance & Operations, Daedalean
Read More
"Yokoy and Travelperk helped us with end-to-end travel expense management automation. Now employees easily book trips in TravelPerk, and all data is sent to Yokoy in real time, with all compliance checks and VAT validation already in place."
Marianne SchluepHead of Finance and Accounting, Fenaco
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"With Yokoy, we have opted for a uniform and group-wide expense management solution that unifies our different expense processes on one platform and automates them across organizations. This guarantees company-wide compliance and increased efficiency."
Michael Kultscher-BurgerTeamlead Accounts Payable & Receivable, DO & CO
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"One unified process for the entire DO & CO Group. Yokoy enables us to collaborate optimally across all locations and entities."
Peter GrausgruberFormer CFO, Bitpanda
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"For the long term, we are interested in an all-in-one solution that covers all spend processes in the company. With Yokoy, we have the perfect solution for that."
Mirko BrudermannCFO, FC Basel
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"The expense process before Yokoy was extremely laborious. It's great to have a solution with which we can record and submit expenses anytime and anywhere."
Tania ThiebachFormer CFO, Sherpany
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"Before Yokoy, our expense process was mostly manual and time consuming. Now, we've standardized and streamlined it. The AI magic is truly doing most of the work."
Vivian MohrFormer CFO, Comparis
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"Yokoy is very easy to use, which saves us time and makes it efficient. The connection to the ERP works smoothly and provides real-time data for credit card transactions."
Benjamin KasumiSAP Consultant, Bawag
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"With their guidance and automation capabilities, we streamlined our finance processes, resulting in a remarkable 70% faster book closure. Yokoy has truly transformed our financial management, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.”
Ebru AricanFormer Head of Group Controlling & Accounting, Ameropa
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"We were impressed by Yokoy’s ease of use and seamless integration with our credit card provider."
Herbert SablotnyCFO, Beekeeper
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"We had an aha-moment when we realized that with Yokoy it only takes a few seconds to create a report compared to the many hours in the past."
Rafael SayaSenior Finance Manager, ITA
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"Before, when a receipt was missing, our Finance team had to chase after it. Now, it's Yokoy doing it automatically - pre-filling all the information with high accuracy."
Nilgün Kilit Former Team Lead Accounting and Patient Billing, Bellikon Rehabilitation Clinic
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"We had the Yokoy software demonstrated to us and it was clear that we had to have it. This is how software has to be today, as intuitive as a smartphone app."
Marcel P. de BoniManaging Director, ECOVIS
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"We’ve tested other expense tools before, but Yokoy represents a new level of automation thanks to the tool’s artificial intelligence and well-designed interface."
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White paper

Spend Management Transformation in the AI Era: A Framework

In the era of AI-driven digital transformation, traditional finance processes are becoming obsolete. As companies grapple with increasing complexities and rising competition, they must recognise the transformative potential of artificial intelligence to stay ahead of the curve.

spend-management-transformation-AI-framework-whitepaper

The Yokoy impact

See how we contribute to our customers’ success stories.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can buy each Yokoy module separately. However, using the full suite provides greater benefits, as you can manage your expenses, invoices, and card payments in one central platform, and you can reduce system and data silos by simplifying ERP integrations.

Yes, Yokoy integrates with more than 50 solutions, automating your entire spend management process from end to end. At the same time, our API makes it easy to build custom integrations, if you can’t find what you’re looking for. Check our Integrations page for more details.

Yes, although we serve both midsize and large customers, Yokoy’s added value is best experience by global enterprise customers. Our suite is built for complex, global multi-entity configurations, and integrates with most enterprise ERP & HRM tools such as SAP R3/S4 and Successfactors, among others.

This depends on your IT landscape and the required configurations and integrations. For example, a global implementation with 2 legal entities, an ERP system integration, credit card integrations, and SSO setup takes about 2 months. The projects are carried out either by the Yokoy Services team or a certified Implementation Partner.

Yes, our Implementation team will lead the project from planning to implementation and testing, and will coordinate training workshops for your team. Global enterprise customers benefit from a dedicated Key Account Manager and financial process consulting from our in-house finance experts.

We use modern data encryption standards for both stored data and data in transit. Additionally, we work with external penetration testers (hackers) to constantly challenge our platform’s vulnerabilities. We adhere to local regulations such as GDPR in the EU or the Swiss Data Protection Act, to deliver the best data protection standards.

Given that no two setups are the same, we’ll discuss your specific needs during the sales process, and provide you with a tailored offer that ensures you’ll get the most out of our spend management suite.

Spend Management Software for Global Companies: What Top Solutions Have in Common

Lars Mangelsdorf
Lars Mangelsdorf

Co-founder & CCO, Yokoy

As a CFO, you might question the reliance on enterprise spend management software as the ultimate solution for streamlining financial processes and maximizing cost savings.

Contrary to the growing popularity of business spend management solutions, there are voices that challenge their effectiveness in tackling the complexities of spend management.

 

These differing views suggest that such tools may not deliver the comprehensive solutions they promise, and they may not be the magical fix for all the financial challenges faced by the finance department and procurement teams.

 

In this article, we’ll examine the key features of top spend management solutions, as well as their suitability for addressing the unique needs of global organizations.

Table of Contents

What does spend management software do?

Spend management and expense management are often used interchangeably, but they refer to distinct aspects of financial management within an organization.

 

Expense management primarily focuses on the control and tracking of individual employee expenses, such as travel expenses or meal reimbursements. It involves processes like expense reporting, reimbursement approvals, and ensuring policy compliance.

 

On the other hand, spend management takes a broader view, and includes the management and optimization of an organization’s overall spending across various categories.

 

Its objective is to help companies gain visibility into and effectively manage all types of spending to maximize cost savings, negotiate better supplier contracts, and make data-driven decisions when allocating resources.

 

While expense management is a component of spend management, spend management takes a more holistic approach, covering a wider range of financial processes and focusing on the organization’s overall spending strategy.

 

Understanding this distinction is important for businesses to ensure they have the right tools and processes in place to effectively manage both expense and spend management aspects of their financial operations.

 

When it comes to software, although the specifics may vary between tools, most spend management providers for global enterprises focus on automating three functional areas of spend management:

 

 

We’ve detailed the topic of spend management in the article below.

Blog article

What Is Spend Management? Fundamentals and How It Works

In today’s competitive market, companies that can effectively manage their spending are better positioned to grow and remain profitable.

Lars Mangelsdorf

CCO at Yokoy

Key features of top spend management software

PwC’s CFP Pulse Survey conducted in 2022 showed that nearly half of CFOs (48%) were planning to intensify their focus on digital transformation initiatives, with the objective of achieving operational efficiency and fostering long-term revenue growth.

 

Having the right tools is key in facilitating transformation projects, and according to the same survey, 53% of finance chiefs were looking to accelerate digital transformation using data analytics, AI, automation, and cloud solutions.

CFO's priorities in 2022

By bringing expenses, invoices, and card payments into one central platform, AI-powered spend management software such as Yokoy can support these objectives, as it helps drive standardization and automate manual processes for operational efficiency, as well as improve spend visibility and control across departments and geographies.

 

So let’s take a look at the key features of spend management solutions that can support these goals.

1. Process and workflow automation for improved process efficiency

One of the key features of top spend management software is the automation of workflows and processes. 

 

With enterprise spend management solutions, manual and time-consuming tasks, such as data entry, reconciliation, and approvals are replaced with streamlined automated processes. This automation eliminates human errors, reduces processing time, and enhances overall efficiency.

 

With automated workflows, organizations can establish predefined rules and approval flows, ensuring consistent adherence to spending policies and minimizing maverick spending.

 

Automated processes also enable real-time visibility into the status of requests, invoices, and payments, allowing finance departments and procurement teams to track progress and take timely actions.

Accounts payable automation

Accounts payable automation streamlines and automates the invoice processing and payment workflows, improving efficiency, reducing manual errors, and enhancing visibility into financial transactions.

 

For example, Yokoy enables global enterprises to automate their invoice processing from end to end. Our software uses AI-powered automation to capture data, validate it, match it, and book it, removing the need for human intervention almost fully.

 

This leads to improved accuracy in financial records and eliminates the need for manual reconciliation. Additionally, automated workflows and pre-approval flows accelerate payment cycles, ensuring that suppliers are paid on time.

 

We’ve explained how Yokoy’s Invoice module works here: AP Automation: How to Accelerate the Accounts Payable Process with AI Software.

Travel and expense management automation

Another valuable feature of top spend management software is the automation of travel and expense management processes.

 

Manual tracking and reimbursement of employee expenses can be time-consuming and prone to errors. However, with automation, employees can easily submit digital expense reports, including receipts and relevant documentation.

 

Automated travel and expense management solutions streamline the entire process, from expense submission to approval and reimbursement. Moreover, they make it easy for organizations to enforce expense policies, ensure compliance with spending limits, and automate reimbursement calculations.

 

By automating travel and expense management, organizations can gain better control over employee spending, enforce policy compliance, and gain real-time visibility into expenses. This enables finance departments to analyze spending patterns, identify cost-saving opportunities, and make informed decisions to optimize travel and expense-related expenditures.

 

In the white paper below, you can learn more about Yokoy’s travel and expense management automation capabilities.

White paper

Spend Management Transformation in the AI Era: A Framework

In the era of AI-driven digital transformation, traditional finance processes are becoming obsolete. As companies grapple with increasing complexities and rising competition, they must recognise the transformative potential of artificial intelligence to stay ahead of the curve.

Corporate card payment automation

Top spend management providers offer corporate cards – debit cards, credit cards, and virtual cards, as part of their offering. This feature is essential for global enterprises, as it connects expenses, invoices, and payments across departments and geographies, offering full visibility and real-time control over business spend. 

 

Yokoy’s smart cards, for example, can be configured with built-in spend limits for specific payments, employees, or entire company departments, for full control of company spending.

 

In addition, they fully integrate with finance software such as the Yokoy spend management solution, enabling seamless finance automation. Thanks to this integration, every transaction with a smart corporate card is fed directly into Yokoy, making it easy for you to track them.

Moreover, transactions are automatically reconciled with stored receipts. As a result, your finance team is able to maintain control over the entire card portfolio and all associated transactions, providing an unprecedented level of oversight.

 

To see how Yokoy’s smart corporate cards automate global business payments, read the article here: Why Smart Corporate Cards Are a Must for Businesses.

2. Spend controls

Top spend management platforms allow for a unified view of spending across departments and locations, eliminating silos and providing a comprehensive understanding of the organization’s financial landscape, for enhanced spend control.

 

Such solutions enable organizations to establish and enforce spending policies, ensuring that expenditures align with predetermined guidelines and budgetary constraints. By defining spending limits, categories, and other policy parameters, organizations can better control spending, minimizing the risk of overspending and encouraging responsible financial behavior.

 

Approval workflows further enhance spend control. Organizations can implement predefined approval hierarchies and routing mechanisms to ensure that all spending requests go through the appropriate channels and receive the necessary approvals.

 

Moreover, spend management tools provide real-time visibility into spending activities, helping organizations to monitor their spend, track it against planned expenditures, and take corrective actions if necessary. This helps prevent unauthorized spending and promotes accountability.

Planted keeps spend under control with Yokoy

“A corporate card should be secure and uncomplicated – and this is exactly what the Yokoy Mastercard offers. In addition, the card is smart, saving us significant time.”

Christoph Jenny, Co-founder Planted

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3. Real-time spend analysis

Real-time spend analysis is a key feature of spend management solutions that enables organizations to monitor and analyze their expenditures in real-time. It provides up-to-date and accurate data, allowing for proactive identification of potential issues such as budget overruns or excessive spending in specific categories. 

 

Spend management apps offer customizable reports and interactive dashboards that allow users to visualize and analyze spending data in real-time, enabling stakeholders to gain a comprehensive view of their organization’s spending landscape. 

 

Real-time expense tracking and in-depth spend reporting capabilities enable finance departments and procurement teams to identify areas of overspending, negotiate better terms with suppliers, and ensure compliance with internal policies and external regulations. 

 

By consolidating and analyzing spend data, enterprise spend management software generates valuable business intelligence, enabling organizations to gain actionable insights into spending patterns, supplier performance, and market trends.

 

With this information, finance departments and procurement teams can make informed decisions, identify opportunities for cost optimization, and drive strategic initiatives.

4. Automated compliance checks

Compliance tracking is another vital aspect of risk management offered by spend management tools.

 

Through configurable rules and automated checks, spend management systems helps ensure that business expenses adhere to established guidelines – internal policies and external regulations alike. This reduces the risk of non-compliance, regulatory fines, and reputational damage.

 

For example, Yokoy’s AI technology and automation helps detect policy breaches and fraudulent spend in real time, flagging outliers and exceptions and notifying stakeholders when manual revision is needed.

 

This functionality ensures efficiency through automation while maintaining compliance standards.

5. Fully integrated software environment

Another essential feature of top spend management systems is the ability to integrate seamlessly within existing tech stacks, ideally through API. This removes data and system silos, ensuring true end-to-end automation as well as full transparency and visibility into processes and spend.


A fully integrated software environment improves data accuracy and consistency by eliminating manual data entry and reducing the risk of errors.


Moreover, integrations facilitate collaboration among different departments involved in spend management, as all stakeholders can access and work with the same up-to-date information. This collaborative environment promotes transparency, reduces communication gaps, and enhances overall efficiency and effectiveness.


Although each spend management provider comes with its preferred integrations, top solutions make it easy to integrate with ERP and accounting software, travel management software, HR, procurement and contract management, and VAT reclaim systems.

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DO & CO standardized their global spend management with Yokoy

“One unified process for the entire DO & CO Group. Yokoy enables us to collaborate optimally across all locations and entities.”

Michael Kultscher-Burger, Teamlead Accounts Payable & Receivable

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6. Budgeting and forecasting

Budgeting and forecasting are essential processes for finance departments as they provide a roadmap for financial planning and decision-making.

 

Accurate budgeting enables organizations to allocate resources effectively, set financial targets, and monitor performance against planned expenditures. At the same time, it allows finance departments to anticipate future financial outcomes based on current data and market trends, helping organizations make informed strategic decisions.

 

Top solutions for spend management recognize the significance of accurate budgeting and forecasting and offer capabilities to support these processes.

 

For example, Yokoy offers real-time tracking of invoice payments, card payments, and employee expenses against targets, allowing finance departments to monitor spending activities closely.

 

By having access to up-to-date data, finance teams can identify variances, analyze the reasons behind them, and take corrective actions promptly.

Best spend management software for global enterprises

Now that you know what to look for in a spend management tool, let’s see which are the best options on the market for large companies with global presence.

Yokoy - Spend Management Suite

Yokoy is purpose-built for global companies with multiple entities and complex accounts payable and travel and expense processes. The AI-powered spend management suite takes a best-of-breed approach, offering ready-to-use integrations with major ERPs, as well as API-based integrations for travel, accounting, and HR systems. 

 

Yokoy enables companies to bring all their expenses, invoices, and card transactions in one central platform, and automates both the processes and the logic behind them, using powerful machine learning and AI technology. 

 

You can learn more about our spend management suite below.

The AI-powered spend management suite

Bring your expenses, supplier invoices, and corporate card payments into one fully integrated platform, powered by AI technology. 

Coupa

Coupa is an established player in the spend management market, offering a comprehensive platform that enables companies to manage expenses, card payments, as well as accounts payable processes from one central dashboard. Coupa serves all industries and aims to help organization maximize visibility and control of spend, while creating sustainable business practices. The tool might be too complex for midsize companies and scaleups.

Airbase

Airbase started as a tool for midsize companies, but serves large enterprises too. The platform enables organizations to automate their accounts payable and accounts receivable operations. It focuses on controlling business expenses, streamlining bill payments, and optimizing the traditionally manual tasks associated with invoice, expense, and cash flow management.

Simfoni

Simfoni is a spend management solution that focuses on procurement processes. It provides spend analytics, eSourcing and spend automation functionalities, the analytics part being the platform’s strongest differentiator.

Spendesk

Spendesk is a 7-in-1 platform that combines expense management, invoice management, and corporate card payments into one tool. It serves both midsize and large companies, and comes with flexible integrations that help streamline processes from end to end.

Next steps

In conclusion, an effective spend management process is critical for companies who aim to streamline their operations and achieve financial excellence. By implementing spend management software, organizations can streamline their spending processes, gain better control over expenditures, and make informed financial decisions.

 

Spend management solutions offer a range of benefits, including improved efficiency, spend control, real-time spend analysis, accounts payable automation, improved risk management, a fully integrated software environment, and stronger business intelligence.

 

If you’d like to see how Yokoy compares to other top spend management providers, and what makes our AI-powered spend management suite different, you can book a demo below.

See Yokoy in action

Bring your expenses, supplier invoices, and corporate card payments into one fully integrated platform, powered by AI technology. 

Simplify your spend management

Related content

If you enjoyed this article, you might find the resources below useful.

Frequently asked questions

Enterprise spend refers to the total expenses and financial outlays incurred by a business or organization to support its operations, including costs related to procurement, expenses, and other expenditures.

Spend management is the methodical approach to control, monitor, and optimize an organization’s expenditures. It includes budgeting, procurement process, approval workflows, and expense tracking to ensure cost efficiency.

A spend management tool is software designed to assist businesses in managing and overseeing their expenses, procurement, and financial transactions. These tools enhance control, visibility into spend and cash flow, and automation in financial processes. In general, business spend management platforms cover both procure-to-pay and accounts payable processes, although procurement software is a distinct SaaS category and usually covers strategic sourcing and supplier management as well. Most spend management tools are cloud-based.