Whether you are a well-established business owner or a small-scale entrepreneur, having an expense tracker application can reduce your financial burden and simplify the overall process. The best expense-tracking app can organize the receipts, keep track of your expense records, and integrate it with accounting software. No matter where you are, you can have access to your application everywhere, anywhere.
What is An Expense Tracker Application?
Business owners know the significance of keeping receipts, but the problem is keeping paper receipts involves a lot of hassle. However, uploading the receipt in a personal expense tracker app can save space, time, and automate your expense tracking.
The monthly expense tracker streamlines the entire process by tracking and recording every primary and secondary expense. From purchases of food to equipment to office supplies to payments to salaries, you can easily identify areas where your money goes and where it comes from.
Why Should You Use Expense Tracker Applications?
The maintenance of an organized expenditure results in financial stability and encourages responsible decision-making. It’s a simple yet powerful way that supports budgeted spending habits. Knowing your daily, weekly, and monthly expenses is not just to keep track of your money, but also it is an indispensable way to complete your savings and start buying smartly.
5 Best Expense Tracker Applications of 2024
1- QuickBooks Application - Best App For Small Business Owners
Counted among one of the best cloud-based accounting software, QuickBooks Online covers almost everything to complete your accounting needs. This subscription-based accounting software helps in managing the finances of your business with utmost ease and efficiency.
You can check this application with a free-of-cost 30-day trial without the requirement of a credit card or any other type of commitment. From tracking expenses to sending invoices to generating reports, this application does it all.
How QuickBooks Helps in Streamlining The Transactions Of Your Small Business?
- Your credit card and bank account details can be easily connected to QuickBooks which automates the exports and imports of your transactions. It helps you have complete control over your income and expenses and also saves time on data entry.
- The invoices can also be customized. Place your logo and business information there so you can send it to customers all over the world in multiple currencies.
- The status of invoices can also be tracked and you can get your payments instantly with the online payment options.
- You can have a look at the profit/loss reports of your business to know the overall performance of your business.
- The QuickBooks Online application can also be interlinked with 750 other applications that further increase the operational efficiency of your business. Let’s say, inventory management applications can be used for tracking stock levels and CRM applications can be used for the management of customer relationships.
- You can give access of your application to the accountant so that he is able to keep a check on your expenses and prepare your taxes.
- QuickBooks is also used for capturing the images of your receipts. Attach the receipts to your expenses.
- Through this application, you can track the mileage of your route from one place to another by using GPS. It doesn’t even drain the battery.
Pros of QuickBooks
- Easy to use and learn
- Affordable price
- Easy to get access to customer information
- Easy to access from any device
- Integrates well with third-party applications
Cons of QuickBooks
- Instability/System crashes
- Built with a small business mindset
- Lack of industry and business specific features
- Lack of direct professional support
Ratings
- iOS: 4.5/5
- Android: 4.7/5
| Cost | Security Factor | Availability Of Stores | Links To Account | Categorize Your Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Start US$9/mo | Security Sockets Layer ( SSL ) | App Store ( iOS ) | Banks | Business use |
| EssentialsUS$1350/mo | Digital Certificates | Google Play ( Android ) | Credit cards | Personal use |
| Plus US$19/mo | Third-party audits | - | Third-party applications | - |
| - | RSA encryption | - | - | - |
Check out: QuickBooks Online App Review
2. YNAB ( You need a budget ) Best Application for Serious Budgeters
YNAB is an application that plays a crucial role in helping you proactively manage your expenses by allowing you to allocate each and every dollar of your income according to your monthly expenses and budget.
It reports in three different categories including spending, net worth, and income versus expense. Users of this application are actively involved in setting goals, adding expenses, and making use of expenses according to their budgets.
The Four Budgeting Principles of YNAB
- You need to give every penny a job. As soon as the income is added to YNAB application, you need to assign each and every penny to different categories or expenses.
- You can even come up with goals and monthly payments to pay for an expense that’s not a part of your typical budget such as car installments.
- You can even roll the money. Let’s suppose, you have spent an extra amount of money on a certain category, and you can easily move money from one category to another.
- YNAB’s ‘ Age of Money ‘ concept tells users how long they have been using their money. For instance, if the age of money is 21 days that means the money you are spending was earned three weeks ago. Once the age of money reaches 30-50 days, you are living the money of last month's
Pros of YNAB
- Built on effective budgeting philosophy
- Flexibility improves chances of success
- Multiple bank connection points
- Voluminous tutorial and educational material
Cons of YNAB
- Takes time and commitment to understand and use
- Relatively pricey
Ratings
- iOS: 4.8/5
- Android: 4.7/5
| Cost | Security Factor | Availability Of Stores | Links To Account | Categorize Your Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $14.99/month | Encrypted data | App Store ( iOS ) | Banks | Credit card payments |
| $98.99/year | Accredited data centers | Google Play ( Android ) | Credit cards | Debt payments |
| - | Third-party audits | - | - | Bills & frequent expenses |
| - | - | - | - | Subscriptions |
| - | - | - | - | Investments |
Check out: YNAB Budget App Review
3- Expensify - Best Application for business expenses
Get comprehensive insight into your finances by getting an expense management application that encourages growth and scalability. Expensify enables all potential users to manage expenses, pay bills, and have a record of invoices. This is your all-in-one financial platform that makes it easy for you to track personal and business expenses, upload receipts, and have complete access to all your financial information from the comfort of your home.
Say hello to automated uploading, instant payments, and stress-free management. With the highly versatile monthly expense tracker application, every user can have access to the amount they need, and when they need it.
You can avail a minimum seven-day free trial. If you are content with the services of the application you can go for a subscription plan. Expensify gives you the liberty to get your work done while you are on the go, and you can track your expenses and what you have spent without missing out on anything.
The Benefits of the Expensify Application Are:
- You can easily convert domestic currency into foreign currency.
- You can send invoices and pay bills to clients and customers.
- Scanning and auto-categorizing receipts with smart scan become a seamless process.
Pros of Expensify
- Smart improvements to the workflow keep Expensify intuitive
- Offers enhancements like automated reimbursements and GPS mileage capture
Cons of Expensify
- User interface has a steep learning curve
Ratings
- iOS: 4.7/5
- Android: 3.5/5
| Cost | Security Factor | Availability Of Stores | Links To Account | Categorize Your Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4.99 per month for individuals | Two-factor authentication | App Store ( iOS ) | Banks | Yes, users can customize the expenses |
| $5 per month for groups and companies | World-class security | Google Play ( Android ) | Credit cards | - |
Check out: Expensify App Review
4. GoodBudget - Best Application for Beginners
Counted among the best expense tracker applications, GoodBudget makes use of the envelope system for managing your money. It is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to budget and save. It helps you create digital envelopes of different categories like rent, groceries, entertainment, and more. Through this application, you can also pay off your debts or buy a house, and meet all the long-term financial goals.
The graphs and reports are available in this application that can track your income and expenses so that you know what’s your budget and what you’re spending. This application plays a crucial role in managing money while making it feasible for users to have complete control over their expenses.
Pros of GoodBudget
- Free version works the same as paid version, just with fewer capabilities
- Reports to analyze income and spending trends
- App enhancements are announced on the website regularly
- Resources to help users with their budgeting journey ( such as podcasts and courses )
Cons of GoodBudget
- Free version restricts users to one account
- No investing resources or tools
Ratings
- iOS: 4.7/5
- Android: 4.4/5
| Cost | Security Factor | Availability of Stores | Links To Account | Categorize Your Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Version - 20 envelopes | 256- Bit encryption | App Store ( iOS ) | No, users manually create envelopes and input their transactions | Saving, investing, and debt payments |
| GoodBudget Plus - $7 per month | Digital security measures | Google Play ( Android ) | - | Insurance |
| GoodBudget Plus - $60 per month | - | - | - | Utilities |
| - | - | - | - | Miscellaneous |
| - | - | - | - | Personal spending |
Check out: Goodbudget App Review
5. Mint - Best Overall Free Application
Mint is a free-of-cost application that helps in creating and tracking your budget. This best spending tracker app allows you to interlink all of your financial accounts like credit cards, bank accounts, loans, investments, and more.
In addition to that, it becomes easy for you to set up bill reminders, manage the spending habits, and create saving goals. The application can be downloaded within a timeframe of a few minutes, and its user-friendly interface makes it easy to analyze income and expenses.
The budget and transaction areas can also be categorized into various categories according to the requirements and preferences of potential users. If you want to have complete control over your finances, there is no better application than that.
Additionally, for the purpose of sharing financial details with someone such as your spouse or business partner, you can create separate mint accounts, and then sync all the accounts together to view similar information. Neither Mint supports joint accounts, nor multiple users on the same account.
Pros of MintBudget
- Free to use
- Secure
- Syncs to a diverse set of financial accounts
- Alert and reminder tools
- Free credit monitoring services
Cons of MintBudget
- Takes time to set up
- Categories might assign incorrectly
- Occasional account connection issues
Ratings
- iOS: 4.8/5
- Android: 4.2/5
| Cost | Security Factor | Availability Of Stores | Links To Account | Categorize Your Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Version - $0.99 | Multi-factor authentication | App Store ( iOS ) | Bank | Income |
| Premium version - $4.99 | Touch ID mobile access | Google Play ( Android ) | Credit Cards | Miscellaneous |
| - | Verisign scanning | - | - | Entertainment |
| - | - | - | - | Bills and Utilities |
| - | - | - | - | Investment |
Check out: Mint Budgeting App Review
Wrapping Up - Access and Manage Your Finances in a Hassle-Free Manner!
If you want to manage your finances and keep complete track of your spending habits, then the best expense tracker applications are the win-win solution for you. These applications play a pivotal role in helping you set budgets, categorize different areas of your transaction, generate as many reports as you want, and sync with your credit cards and bank accounts.
No matter you want a simple and easy-to-use application that records your income or expenses or a more advanced application with features like bill reminders, tax calculations, and investment tracking, Maven has got you covered.
Count on us to learn more about expense-tracking applications or to create your own application.
