Exploring the 5 Best Accounts Payable Software for Small Businesses

It's rare to find a business that doesn't struggle with keeping vendors and suppliers paid on time. 

For small businesses, AP usually ranks as the second biggest expense after payroll. It's also a massive fraud target. Purchasing, accounting, and finance fraud make up roughly 24% of all workplace fraud cases globally. I've even seen cases where trusted employees stole staggering amounts through AP loopholes, like the Texas family-owned rig company that lost nearly $1 million because one employee had unchecked access to their payable system. 

Also, when payments are delayed, vendors push out terms. That makes cash flow forecasting almost impossible. And when you can't forecast, you don't know when you'll need cash or how much it will cost. That cycle slowly eats away at profitability. 

Most of these issues come from outdated processes such as paper invoices, handwritten checks, scattered spreadsheets, and manual recordkeeping. Research from Ardent Partners shows that almost half of invoices are still sent and processed manually. That leads to late payments, errors, missed bills, and duplicate checks. And once that happens, costs rise, spending gets harder to track, and vendor relationships suffer. 

The good news is you don't have to live with these problems. AP automation software solves these challenges. I'll walk you through the pain small businesses go through in their AP processes, and then explore the 5 best accounts payable software that can help solve those pain points.  

Exploring the 5 Best Accounts Payable Software for Small Businesses

AP software is a digital system that automates your entire payable process, from invoice capture and approval to payments and reconciliation. Instead of relying on paper or typing numbers into spreadsheets, everything is digitized and synced in real time in one centralized system. That means fewer mistakes, less duplication, and much stronger protection against fraud. 

However, not every AP platform is the same. Some solutions are built for massive enterprises with complex accounting needs. Others are tailored for smaller firms that need simplicity and flexibility. Certain tools serve industries like healthcare, finance, and IT. Others are built specifically for real estate and property management firms, where compliance, owner reporting, and vendor trust are key. 

Today, we'll explore the 5 best accounts payable software for small businesses. But first, let's look at the unique challenges small property management firms face. 

Pain Points Unique to Small PM Firms

Accounting drives everything in property management, from maintenance requests and rent collection to HOA fees and keeping community projects moving. If the money isn't managed well, a condo or HOA can unravel fast. Small firms feel this pressure every day. You're juggling multiple clients, high-volume transactions, and constant movement of assets, income, and expenses. And with that volume comes plenty of room for expensive mistakes. Here are some of the biggest challenges we see small PM firms face. 

Getting Checks to Vendors on Time

You know exactly when vendors expect payment, but somehow, checks never make it out on time. This creates angry service providers, damaged relationships, and lost opportunities for discounts. The problem is your workflow. Physical invoices need to be reviewed and approved before a check can be cut. If two or three people are involved, that process can take weeks. And you're left scrambling if an invoice goes missing along the way. By the time everything's approved, you might only have days left to meet your vendor's deadline. 

Relying on Paper

Paper-based accounting is still common in smaller firms, but it's risky. Purchase orders, invoices, and receipts can get lost, misfiled, or fade and deteriorate over time. You also have to be physically near the paper to use it. That slows down approvals and leaves you vulnerable to both mistakes and disputes.  

Utility Bill Processing 

With properties spread across different locations, utility bills come in all routes and formats. For example, some are in the mail, some are by email, and others need to be downloaded from provider portals. Without a centralized system, it's a nightmare to keep track. Payments get delayed, and in some cases, services are interrupted. 

Returning Security Deposits On Time

Every state has rules for when and how security deposits must be returned. Missing security deposit deadlines can trigger costly legal fees and regulatory trouble. The tricky part is timing payments correctly to make sure tenants only get their deposit once they've met all move-out requirements. Many small firms struggle to balance compliance with day-to-day workload, which leaves them exposed.

HOA Payments 

HOA dues are another headache. If your firm falls behind, local HOAs will slam you with steep fines. Some HOAs move straight to lawsuits, and those fines can easily cripple a small property management company. 

Duplicate Bills 

As we've already pointed out, paper invoices can cause chaos in your books. One of the most common mistakes we see in small property management firms is duplicate billing. A vendor sends the same bill twice, forgetting they already submitted it last week, or uses a different route. For example, one invoice is sent by mail, and the other by email. Sometimes the vendor changes the invoice date or number. Without a strong system in place, both invoices get processed, and the vendor gets paid twice. The problem is, duplicate payments don't always show up right away, and most firms don't catch them until reconciliation. By then, it's often too late to recover the money, especially if you're dealing with a one-off contract vendor or a former tenant.

Choosing the Right Accounting Software

We've talked a lot about automation, but the real challenge is choosing the right system for your business. In my experience, too many small PM firms just grab the first accounting program they come across, or go with something a friend in another industry recommended. The problem is that property management accounting isn't like other industries. It's unique. Using a generic platform will leave you frustrated when the software can't handle owner reporting, HOA payments, or the high-volume utility processing that PM firms deal with every month. 

Profiles

With these pain points in mind, especially the risks of picking the wrong tool, let's look at five accounts payable automation platforms that can help small businesses solve these problems.  

LeapAP

LeapAP is an AP automation platform built specifically for property and community management companies - condos, HOAs, commercial, and residential properties. That's what makes it stand out right away: it's designed for the PM industry, not a generic automation platform. 

Vendors submit invoices by email or upload them directly. LeapAP then extracts all the key details automatically, which removes the risk of typos and manual data entry errors. From there, invoices move through a paperless workflow of coding, approval, posting, and payment, all from the different modules of the same system. 

But what makes this software exceptional is the auto-download feature. The software logs into utility portals and downloads bills for you. This solves the utility bill processing challenge completely. You can even set the system so you only see invoices that need your attention, making approvals a one-click process. 

Once approved, the invoice syncs directly with your accounting system, like Xero, QuickBooks, and Yardi Voyager, so you don't have to retype the data in your ERP. LeapAP also offers multiple payment methods such as automated checks, EFT/ACH, and virtual credit cards. This eliminates the pain and delays of signing and mailing checks. That way, LeapAP cuts your AP costs by as much as 80%.  

QuickBooks + Melio

If you already use QuickBooks Online to manage your accounting, you'll still need a reliable way to handle bill payments. That's where the QuickBooks + Melio combo comes in. Melio is a B2B payments platform that syncs directly with QuickBooks Online, giving you a simple, cost-effective way to manage bills and invoices, schedule payments, and improve cash flow in the process. When you sign in using your Intuit credentials, your bills, vendor details, and payments stay in sync between Melio and QuickBooks. For instance, when you pay a bill in Melio, it's automatically marked as paid in QuickBooks. 

Melio has an excellent mobile app for both iOS and Android that makes tracking and paying bills simple while you're out in the field. Just open the app, scan your invoice or add PDF or JPG files, and make the payment. The app uses AI to extract invoice data automatically after scanning, and everything appears in your bills tab. You can also add invoices by having vendors send them directly to your Melio email address. Once received, bills appear in Melio automatically so you can schedule payments. 

Xero + Plooto

Plooto is a comprehensive payment automation solution that streamlines cash management for businesses, accounting firms, and finance teams. It's not a full accounting program. It's more of a payment automation tool, but paired with Xero, it becomes a powerful AP solution. Here's how it works. Plooto handles bill uploads, data extraction, approval routing, payments, and reconciliation. You can set rules so invoices automatically route to the right person for approval, which saves you from chasing down managers. 

Once approved, payments go out through the Plooto Network, which already connects with more than 150,000 vendors. Then you have two-way sync with Xero. You log into Xero through Plooto, and bills import instantly. When you make a payment in Plooto, it reconciles automatically in Xero. That keeps your books accurate and up to date. Plooto supports ACH, e-checks, credit cards, and even old-fashioned paper checks. The platform prints and mails checks on your behalf for a small fee and reconciles the transaction with Xero.

Airbase

Airbase is a comprehensive spend management platform that centralizes expense tracking, accounts payable, and corporate card reconciliation in one cloud-based system. Paylocity, known for its HR and payroll solutions, acquired Airbase in October 2024. So, the platform now sits under Paylocity's umbrella. The integration combines Airbase's finance solutions with Paylocity's HCM platform, letting companies manage all payroll and non-payroll spend through a single dashboard.

From an AP standpoint, Airbase handles invoices, approvals, and payments with impressive automation. Vendors can submit invoices through email or a secure portal, and the system uses OCR, rules, and AI to extract the details. Bills get coded and categorized automatically. Then, Airbase runs 2-way and 3-way matches against purchase orders and receipts to prevent errors and fraud. Approval workflows automatically route bills to the right approvers based on department, vendor, amount, GL category, and organization structure. Managers can approve invoices from anywhere, through desktop, mobile, Slack, or even email. Vendors also get a self-service portal where they can upload invoices and check payment statuses in real time. Another strong point is compliance. The AI-powered W-9 collection validates tax data with the IRS, so 1099 reporting becomes painless. 

When it comes time to pay, Airbase supports ACH, checks, international wires, virtual cards, and vendor credits. The system intelligently selects the optimal payment method for each vendor and highlights opportunities to earn cash back through virtual card payments. From request to approval to payment, every action gets automatically recorded in a centralized audit trail. 

FreshBooks Combo

FreshBooks is cloud-based accounting software designed primarily for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small businesses, especially those in service-based industries like consulting, marketing, and IT. FreshBooks prioritizes simplicity, making it one of the easiest accounting software options for small business owners. 

However, unlike other platforms we've reviewed, FreshBooks started as invoicing software. Accounts receivable remains its strongest feature. You can create professional, branded invoices in seconds. Features include automated payment reminders, recurring invoices, and online payment options via credit cards, ACH transfers, Stripe, and PayPal. You can track expenses by connecting bank accounts for automatic imports or uploading receipts via the mobile app. Expenses can be categorized, marked as billable, or set as recurring, which simplifies reimbursement and tax preparation. However, one standout feature is the billable hours. You can log billable hours, assign them to projects, and turn them into invoices with a click. 

The platform offers basic reports like profit-and-loss, expense summaries, and tax summaries. Advanced reporting, such as custom reports, is limited to the Premium plan, and there's no option to create reports from scratch. Generally, reporting is more basic compared to the other platforms we've looked at. 

Pricing Ranges & Ease-Of-Use Focus

Decision Checklist

From my experience, the best AP software isn't just the one with the most features. It's the one that matches your firm's workflow and industry needs. For instance, some of the above automated AP options are tailored for service-based industries, others for finance and accounting, and others for firms already tied to QuickBooks or Xero. 

For small property management firms dealing with utility bills spread across multiple properties, security deposit deadlines, HOA dues, and a constant stream of vendor invoices, I suggest you go for LeapAP as it's specifically tailored for these things.