Tipalti vs. Brex: Which Is The Best AP Automation Platform?

Tipalti vs Brex: A comparison of features​.

How does Tipalti differ from Brex?

Tipalti’s AP automation and expense management features are similar to Brex’s. However, these are the areas where Tipalti differs from Brex:

• Tipalti integrates with a third-party approval workflow platform to manage accounts payable and procurement workflows. Brex allows admins to define approval flows within the platform.
• Tipalti users are required to open and fund virtual bank accounts to manage remittances. Brex offers the ability to make payments via a Brex business bank account or by connecting existing bank accounts.
• While Brex does not offer procurement capabilities, Tipalti offers customizable intake forms to create purchase requests, automatic PO creation, and approval workflows.
• In terms of vendor management, Tipalti goes beyond Brex to offer contract repository, self-service portal, and contract renewal alerts. However, unlike Brex, Tipalti does not offer travel management tools.
• While both platforms use AI and OCR technology to extract invoice details, Brex can match receipts in any currency or language, a feature that Tipalti lacks.
• Tipalti’s global bill payment platform enables payments across 196 countries and 120 currencies, whereas Brex supports payments in 40 currencies.

Key features: Tipalti.

Let’s take a look at Tipalti’s key features.

Accounting automation.

Tipalti automates the accounts payable processes by capturing invoice details through OCR and populating both header and line-level data. Approvals and PO matching, however, are routed to a third-party approval platform. Admins can create rules to match PO-backed invoices with relevant purchase orders. Tipalti allows users to group invoices for batch payments. To make remittances to vendors, users have to pre-fund a virtual bank account on Tipalti.

Tipalti also offers multi-subsidiary features, such as the ability to create independent branding and unique workflows and payment methods for each entity.

Procurement.

The procurement capabilities of Tipalti include a customizable intake form, approval routing, a branded vendor management portal, contract repository, and PO matching. However, approvals are routed to a third-party software vendor, and once approved the POs are synced via NetSuite to Tipalti.

The platform allows approvals via Slack, email, Jira, and other ticketing systems. Tipalti enables capturing of crucial information at purchase requisition and at vendor registration stages. For instance, vendors can use a tax form selection wizard to fill the correct form.

Expense.

Tipalti’s expense management platform is similar to what most of its competitors offer. It extracts receipt data using OCR and ML and creates expense reports while capturing tax details for each expense. Admins can specify spend limits for various categories while making global reimbursements thanks to Tipalti Expense’s integrations with Tipalti Card, Visa, American Express, and Mastercard. In addition to supporting compliance with tax and other regulations, Tipalti categorizes card transactions automatically by GL type.

Payment solutions.

A unique feature that Tipalti offers is the integration with performance marketing systems, such as Affise and Everflow. Apart from enabling affiliate onboarding and payments to affiliates, Tipalti supports payments to 196 countries in 120 currencies. Payees can choose their preferred payment method and currency, and self-billing options where users can create bills and route them for approvals from internal stakeholders, payees, or both.

Tipalti integrations.

Tipalti offers APIs and pre-built integrations with ERPs, performance marketing platforms, SSO, HRIS, and ticketing systems.

ERP solutions:

• NetSuite
• Xero
• Sage Intacct
• QuickBooks (Online and Desktop)
• Acumatica

Performance marketing:

• Affise
• Everflow
• HitPath
• LinkTrust

Communication:

• Slack

HRIS:

• Bamboo HR
• Bob

Ticketing systems:

• Wrike
• HelpScout
• Asana
• Jira
• Zendesk

Tipalti pricing.

Tipalti pros.

• Fast-tracks invoice processing: Tipalti analyzes invoices and automatically assigns codes based on historical data, expediting bill processing.
• Supports affiliate payments: Offers white-label portal for onboarding partners, suppliers, and affiliates in addition to integration with performance marketing systems.
• APIs and developer tools: In addition to REST API, Tipalti offers sample code, developer tools, and a dedicated sandbox environment.

Tipalti cons.

• Fragmented user experience: Tipalti partners with Approve, a third-party approval software to manage approval workflows that requires multiple log-ins.
• Limited approval workflows: The approval engine lacks advanced features, such as milestone-level routing and approval grouping, and a dashboard that offers a consolidated view.
• Lack of dynamic intake forms: Tipalti’s intake forms offer basic customization with no ability to set dynamic conditions based on responses in the form.
• Outdated UI: Users complain about the cumbersome setup process and the legacy UI that makes navigation challenging.

Key features: Brex.

Here are the core capabilities of Brex.

AP automation.

Similar to Tipalti, Brex uses AI to automate accounting processes. AP teams can leverage AI-powered suggestions on accounting rules for GL coding and find specific expenses and anomalies.

Brex automates field entries, category mapping, and data rules while syncing and updating transactions on an ongoing basis. Brex users can also manage multiple entities within one platform by specifying policies and currencies for each subsidy. Unlike Tipalti, Brex does not offer a vendor management platform. However, admins can invite vendors to enter their payment and other details via a secure email link.

Brex captures invoices sent via email or the web portal and routes them for approvals based on the company’s policy. Users can open a Brex business bank account or connect their existing bank account to trigger payments to vendors in 40 currencies.

Expense management.

Brex uses OCR and AI technology to extract receipt details in any language or currency. The platform offers a unified view of spend across corporate cards, bill pay, travel, and reimbursements. Admins can issue physical and virtual cards in 20 currencies, define budgets, and set spend limits aligned with local market regulations. They can also define recurring and one-time spend controls for different departments, travel, merchants, payment methods, and categories. Employees can be reimbursed in local currencies in 70 countries.

Payments.

Brex’s bill payment platform supports payments via checks, ACH, and wires from Brex business bank accounts to over 115 countries. Users can also connect their existing bank account to make vendor payments. Brex integrates with major ERP systems to fast track reconciliation and month-end closing.

Travel.

Brex allows admins to issue virtual and physical cards and impose restrictions on spend for specific categories and merchants. Brex allows access to an extensive inventory of hotels, flights, and car rentals via travel partners. Employees can book group travel utilizing a shared spend limit while making itinerary changes and tracking their travel bookings and reimbursements on the mobile app.

Brex integrations.

Brex offers both native and CSV integrations with ERP systems, HRIS, and productivity applications.

Accounting/ERP:

• NetSuite ERP
• Sage Intacct
• QuickBooks
• Xero
• Acumatica (via CSV)
• Chrome River (via CSV)
• SAP Concur
• Coupa Pay

HRIS:

• ADP Workforce Now
• Bamboo HR
• Deel
• Gusto
• Justworks
• Paychex

Collaboration:

• Pipedream
• Microsoft Teams
• Zapier
• Slack
• WhatsApp
• Zoom

Security/authentication:

• 1Password
• Google Workspace
• Microsoft Azure AD
• Okta

Brex pricing.

Brex pros.

• AI-powered suggestions: Brex AI offers instant answers to questions on expenses while offering accounting rule suggestions.
• Travel tools: A mobile app to book trips, manage itineraries, and reimbursements.
• Granular spend controls: Brex’s physical and virtual cards can be issued in 20 local currencies with specific spend policies for travel, vendor, purchase, and other categories.
• Zero fees for transfers: There are no fees for global and domestic ACH, or domestic and international wire transfers.

Brex cons.

• No P2P support: Brex lacks procurement features, including intake, PO creation, PO matching, and vendor management tools.
• Low-value rewards: While users can redeem the points they earn for card transactions, there are no direct cash-back rewards.
• Lacks depth of functionality: While Brex caters to SMBs and startups, it lacks the depth of functionality in AP automation and bill payment that global mid-market and early enterprises require.

Which is better: Tipalti or Brex?

It really comes down to your business’s specific needs and priorities.

Tipalti is a suitable option if you have multiple entities across the globe or need to manage onboarding and payments for affiliates and partners. Tipalti is also the right choice if you are looking for procurement features, such as customizable intake forms, vendor portal, and contract management.

Choose Brex if you are looking for a user-friendly travel and expense management software that allows you to manage approvals within the platform. A Brex business account has an added bonus that allows you to make payments to more countries.

Can these two systems be used together?

Using both the platforms to access unique features from each platform can lead to a disintegrated experience. As Tipalti and Brex do not integrate with each other, the additional cost and time involved in setup and usage can make this approach unviable.

An integrated platform, such as Airbase offers all the necessary procure-to-pay features to optimize your ROI.

How Airbase scores over Tipalti and Brex.

As an end-to-end P2P platform, Airbase brings Guided Procurement, AP Automation, Expense Management, and Corporate Cards under one roof. It not only fills the gaps left by Brex and Tipalti in terms of the breadth of features but also offers more advanced and mature capabilities.

The table below gives you a snapshot of how Airbase scores over Tipalti and Brex.

See how Airbase represents the next generation of P2P solutions — book a demo with us!