TL;DR

If you’re searching for an ApprovalMax alternative, you’re usually trying to solve a bigger problem than approvals alone. You want tighter spend control across invoices, cards, expenses, purchase orders, budgets and reporting, ideally in one place.

See how ProSpend can cut AP processing time by over 60%

Introduction

ApprovalMax is a well-known approvals and AP workflow platform, especially for teams running Xero, and it has expanded its ecosystem over time, including optional capture and payments integrations. 

But as Australian mid-market organisations scale, many teams want more than approval routing. They want unified spend management that brings approvals together with invoice automation, corporate cards, purchase orders, expenses and budget visibility. They also want flexibility as their finance stack evolves, including broader ERP support and cleaner reporting across entities and cost centres.

This guide covers six practical ApprovalMax alternatives for Australian businesses, with clear best-fit scenarios for finance leaders, finance managers and revenue driven operators who care about control, speed and visibility.

Why Look for ApprovalMax Alternatives?

ApprovalMax can be a strong fit if your priority is approval controls in an accounting-led workflow, particularly with Xero, and if you are comfortable building a broader stack using add-ons for capture and payments. Teams typically start comparing alternatives when they run into one or more of these realities:

1) You need unified spend control, not another point solution

When invoices, employee spend, purchase orders and budgets live in separate tools, finance loses the single view needed to prevent leakage and reduce month end surprises.

2) You want invoice processing to be faster end to end

Approvals help, but the time drain is often in capture, coding, matching, exceptions and chasing missing context. Some platforms offer end-to-end AP automation as the core product, rather than a bolt-on.

3) Cards and employee spend are now a major part of total spend

Many mid-market teams want corporate cards with controls, policy, reconciliation and reporting in the same environment as invoices, so spend visibility is immediate, not weeks later.

4) Procurement workflows start to matter

As headcount grows, purchase orders, matching and budget guardrails shift from “nice to have” to “must have”. ApprovalMax does offer AP automation features like PO matching and budget control, but some organisations prefer a platform where procurement, cards and expenses are native parts of the same system.

5) Your ERP and integration roadmap is changing

ApprovalMax supports more than just Xero, and includes NetSuite in its ecosystem. Even so, you may still want a spend platform that is designed for broader multi-entity complexity and consolidation, especially if your finance stack is expanding beyond an accounting-first workflow.

How we assessed these alternatives

To keep this useful for decision-makers, we compared platforms against criteria that typically drive outcomes for ANZ finance teams:

• Approval workflow depth (multi-entity, delegation, conditional routing, parallel approvals)
• Invoice automation maturity (capture and extraction, coding support, matching, exceptions)
• Cards and spend controls (limits, merchant controls, real-time visibility)
• Purchase orders and matching (PO lifecycle, 2 way or 3 way matching)
• ERP fit and integration depth (two-way sync, scale beyond Xero and MYOB)
• Reporting and audit trail quality (visibility by entity, project, department)
• Practical rollout and support model (especially for mid-market teams)

1. ProSpend – Unified spend management built for ANZ complexity

Best for: Mid-market businesses (50 to 500 employees) needing approvals, invoices, cards, expenses, and POs in one platform

ProSpend is an Australian-built spend management platform that unifies accounts payable, expenses, cards, purchase orders and budgets with approval workflows. 

The goal is simple: give your team one place to control spend, reduce admin and improve visibility across every dollar.

Key capabilities

• Unified platform: approvals, invoices, expenses, POs, budgets and cards in one workflow
• Advanced approvals: multi-level approvals, delegation, conditional routing, parallel approvals
• AP automation: invoice processing designed to reduce manual work, including fraud and validation controls
• ERP integration: built to support common ANZ stacks and scale with your finance system
• Cards: virtual and physical cards with controls and automated reconciliation
• Procurement: PO lifecycle support and matching workflows
• Visibility: dashboards across entities, departments, projects and spend categories
• Local delivery: onboarding and support aligned to ANZ working hours

Best for: finance teams that want to consolidate tools and tighten control across invoice spend and employee spend, without adding more manual reconciliation.

2. TrailD, AP automation focused on invoice processing

Best for: teams who want AP automation and approvals, without needing full spend consolidation

TrailD is often evaluated by Australian teams looking to streamline invoice capture, processing and approvals.

Key strengths

• Strong AP automation focus
• Approval workflows included
• Suits teams prioritising invoice throughput and visibility

Considerations

• Cards and expenses may not be as central as they are in unified spend platforms
• Procurement and PO lifecycle depth varies by use case

Best for: AP heavy teams that want faster invoice processing as the primary outcome.

3. SAP Concur, enterprise travel and expense with invoice capability

Best for: large enterprises (500+ employees) with global travel and complex policies

SAP Concur is built for organisations that need travel booking, expense management and enterprise grade policy enforcement, plus invoice capabilities depending on configuration.

Key strengths

• Strong travel and expense ecosystem
• Mature policy controls and compliance workflows
• Integrations across large ERP environments

Considerations

• Implementation and change management can be substantial
• Often heavier than what ANZ mid-market teams need if travel is not a major spend category

Best for: enterprises with global travel programs and resources to run enterprise rollouts.

Read more: ProSpend vs SAP Concur - how to select the right platform for your business

4. Medius, enterprise AP automation plus procurement depth

Best for: enterprises with complex procurement operations and multi-entity requirements

Medius is typically considered where AP automation and procurement controls are a major focus.

Key strengths

• AP automation at enterprise scale
• Procurement controls and matching oriented workflows
• Stronger fit for complex enterprise environments

Considerations

• Enterprise pricing and longer rollouts
• Can be overkill for mid-market teams who want fast, practical adoption

Best for: procurement heavy enterprise environments.

5. Tipalti, global supplier payments and onboarding

Best for: businesses making high-volume international supplier payments

Tipalti is designed for mass payments, supplier onboarding and global payout workflows.

Key strengths

• Strong international supplier payments capability
• Supplier onboarding and tax workflow depth
• Scales well with high payout volumes

Considerations

• Less focused on employee spend management
• Procurement and PO workflows are not the central value proposition

Best for: finance teams where global supplier payouts are the dominant requirement.

6. Airwallex, global payments with multi-currency strength and cards

Best for: businesses with significant international vendor payments and FX exposure

Airwallex is commonly chosen for multi-currency wallets, international payments and cards.

Key strengths

• Strong cross-border payments and FX capability
• Corporate cards included
• Useful for teams with international supplier footprint

Considerations

• Procurement and PO depth may be lighter than procurement-first suites
• Approval workflow sophistication varies depending on setup

Best for: teams optimising FX and international payments while still wanting cards.

Comparison Table: ApprovalMax Alternatives

How to choose the best ApprovalMax alternative

Choose ProSpend if:

You want unified spend control across approvals, invoices, cards, expenses and purchase orders, with one view of spend across entities and teams. You also want measurable AP efficiency improvements.

Choose TrailD if:

Your main goal is faster invoice processing and AP automation, and you do not need a single platform for cards, expenses and procurement.

Choose SAP Concur if:

You are running a large travel and expense program, need global policy enforcement, and can support an enterprise rollout.

Choose Medius if:

Procurement controls and matching depth are central, and you need enterprise scale AP automation.

Choose Tipalti if:

Your biggest pain is high volume international supplier payments and onboarding.

Choose Airwallex if:

International payments and FX optimisation matter most, and you want cards alongside payouts.

Key considerations when switching from ApprovalMax

Unified platform vs add-on stack

ApprovalMax supports integrations for capture and payments, for example Capture and Airwallex, which can work well for many teams. If your team is now managing multiple tools, a unified platform can reduce handoffs, reconciliation work and reporting gaps.

Invoice automation depth

ApprovalMax can work with OCR tools and offers capture options, but some organisations want invoice automation as a native, end-to-end workflow, not a collection of connected components. 

Procurement and matching

If purchase orders and matching are critical, verify whether you need 2 way matching, 3 way matching, goods receipting, and budget guardrails, then choose the platform that delivers that workflow with minimal workarounds.

Payments workflows

If payment processing inside the workflow matters, confirm whether you want integrated payments, partner payments, or export only, and how that aligns with your treasury controls. ApprovalMax offers payments via Airwallex integration.

ANZ compliance practicality

At a minimum, ensure your workflow supports GST coding and audit trails. For FBT sensitive categories (like entertainment), you want clean categorisation, approvals, evidence and reporting that makes reviews easier.

FAQs