Business, Startups & Finance

Top Free Expense Reporting Software with Custom Approval Workflows

Curated list of the top free (or freemium) expense reporting tools that let you design custom approval processes, capture receipts, and integrate with accounting systems.

ID: 2468
Items: 35
Total Votes: 0
Forks: 0
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Zoho Expense

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Free plan for up to 3 users; offers automated receipt capture, policy enforcement, and configurable multi‑level approval workflows.

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Expensify

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Free for individuals; includes SmartScan receipt OCR, policy rules, and customizable approval routing for small teams.

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Wave Accounting

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Fully free accounting suite with expense tracking; lets you set up simple approval steps via custom tags and manual review.

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Odoo Expense (Community Edition)

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Open‑source ERP module; supports expense submission, receipt upload, and configurable approval hierarchies.

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ERPNext

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Free, open‑source ERP; includes an Expense Claim doctype with role‑based approval flows and email notifications.

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Dolibarr ERP & CRM

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Open‑source suite; expense module lets users submit claims and managers define custom approval chains.

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Firefly III

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Self‑hosted, open‑source personal finance manager; supports expense entry, receipt attachment, and admin‑defined approval steps.

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SutiExpense

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Free tier for up to 5 users; offers receipt capture, policy rules, and drag‑and‑drop approval workflow builder.

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Zoho Creator (Expense App Template)

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Free low‑code platform; deploy the pre‑built expense app with customizable approval workflow logic.

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Bitrix24

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Free CRM & collaboration suite; includes expense tracking with multi‑level approval rules and automated notifications.

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Kashoo

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Free plan for freelancers; simple expense entry with optional manager approval via custom tags.

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Zoho Books (Free Tier for Small Businesses)

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Free for businesses with annual revenue < $50K; expense entry, receipt upload, and rule‑based approval routing.

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Xero (Free Trial with Approval Add‑on)

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30‑day free trial; expense claims can be routed through custom approval steps using Xero’s workflow settings.

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Sage Business Cloud Accounting (Free Trial)

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Free 30‑day trial; expense capture with configurable approval hierarchies for trial users.

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Zoho Flow (Free Integration)

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Free tier integration platform; connect Google Forms expense submissions to Zoho Expense with custom approval logic.

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Google Forms + Apps Script

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DIY solution; free Google Forms for expense entry and Apps Script to build multi‑level approval email workflow.

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Microsoft Power Automate (Free Plan)

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Create automated expense approval flows using Power Automate templates; integrates with SharePoint lists or Excel.

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Zoho Invoice (Free for ≤ 5 Clients)

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Free invoicing tool that also tracks expenses; includes simple approval routing via custom status fields.

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TMetric (Free Plan)

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Free time‑tracking tool with expense module; allows managers to set up approval steps for submitted expenses.

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Kimai (Open‑Source)

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Primarily a time tracker, but can be extended with plugins to capture expenses and define approval workflows.

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Bento for Teams (Free Tier)

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Free collaboration hub; includes expense request forms with customizable approval routing via built‑in automations.

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Zoho People (Free for ≤ 5 Employees)

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HR suite with expense claim module; supports multi‑level approvals, policy checks, and email alerts.

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Payhawk (Free for Startups)

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Free tier for early‑stage startups; expense capture, receipt OCR, and rule‑based approval pipelines.

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Budgets & Expenses (Open‑Source) – GitHub

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Self‑hosted Laravel app; lets employees submit expenses and managers configure approval chains via admin UI.

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Fyle (Free for Individuals)

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Free personal expense manager; offers receipt auto‑capture and a simple one‑level approval for shared expenses.

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Zoho Projects (Free for ≤ 3 Users)

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Project management tool with expense tracking module; custom approval workflows can be built using task statuses.

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Jibble (Free Plan)

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Free time‑tracking platform that includes expense logging; managers can set up approval steps via Jibble’s workflow settings.

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KashFlow (Free Trial)

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30‑day free trial; expense entry with configurable approval routes for trial users.

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Invoice Ninja (Free Plan)

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Free invoicing & expense tool; supports expense submission and custom approval via status changes and email notifications.

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Zoho Creator (Expense Approval App – Free Template)

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Free community‑shared template; provides a ready‑made expense form with drag‑and‑drop approval workflow builder.

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OpenProject (Community Edition)

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Open‑source project management; expense work packages can be created and approved through custom workflow states.

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Zoho Sheet + Automation

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Free spreadsheet tool; combine with Zoho Flow to build a lightweight expense approval system using sheet rows as requests.

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LibreOffice Base (Free Template)

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Open‑source database; community templates exist for expense tracking with VBA‑style approval macros.

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Caspio (Free Plan – Up to 10,000 Records)

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No‑code cloud database; use the expense management app template with built‑in multi‑level approval workflow.

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Zoho Desk (Free for ≤ 3 Agents)

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Help‑desk platform that can be repurposed for expense tickets; custom ticket statuses act as approval steps.