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Blog

Must-have expense management software RFP template for small businesses in 2025

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Published

October 14, 2025

Read time

5 MIN

[Blog - Hero Image] Expense management image with magnifying glass

For small businesses, expense management can easily become unmanageable. Manual processes like collecting paper receipts, chasing approvals, and reconciling spend in spreadsheets eat up hours of admin time every month. Errors slip through, employees get frustrated waiting on reimbursements, and finance teams struggle to close the books on time.

The right expense management software should simplify everything: automate receipt capture, enforce spend policies in real time, reimburse employees quickly, and sync seamlessly with your accounting system. It should give finance leaders visibility into spend by team or location, while making the experience effortless for employees.

This guide shows the critical areas small businesses should evaluate in an expense management RFP, what best-in-class looks like, and the RFP questions to ask vendors. Plus, we’ll give you a downloadable template so you can start evaluating expense management software ASAP.

1. Expense capture and automation

Small business finance teams don’t have time to chase receipts. The system should capture expenses automatically, whether through mobile apps, email, or direct card transaction matching, and categorize them correctly without manual entry. 

Rippling makes this seamless by auto-matching receipts to Rippling Corporate Card transactions and scanning out-of-pocket receipts with OCR, so nothing falls through the cracks.

RFP questions to ask

  • How can employees capture receipts (mobile, email, Slack, OCR)?

  • Can receipts be auto-matched to corporate card transactions?

  • Does the system auto-categorize expenses by merchant or department?

  • Do you support mileage and per diem submissions?

2. Policy enforcement and controls

As businesses grow, the risk of inconsistent enforcement increases. Expense policies should be applied automatically at submission, flagging or blocking out-of-policy spend instantly. They should also adapt by role, department, or location to reflect real-world needs. 

Rippling enforces policies directly from HR data, ensuring that as employees move between roles or teams, the right controls follow them automatically.

RFP questions to ask

  • Can policies be customized by role, department, project, or location?

  • Are violations flagged instantly, or can they be blocked at submission?

  • Can rules combine multiple conditions (budget + category + receipt)?

  • Do you support multi-level approval workflows for larger expenses?

3. Reimbursements and card integration

Disconnected reimbursement processes frustrate employees and delay month-end close. A best-in-class system unifies corporate cards, expense submission, and reimbursements in one workflow. Reimbursements should flow directly via payroll or ACH, while transactions are auto-coded to the GL in real time. 

Rippling connects corporate cards, expense Management, and payroll, so finance teams eliminate reconciliation work and employees get reimbursed fast.

RFP questions to ask

  • Do you offer native corporate cards that integrate directly with expense reporting?

  • How quickly are reimbursements processed via payroll or ACH?

  • Can expenses be auto-coded to QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite in real time?

  • Do you support split transactions or partial reimbursements?

4. Real-time visibility and reporting

Small businesses need clear, real-time visibility into where money is going — by team, project, or location. Waiting until the books close isn’t an option when cash flow is tight. 

Rippling provides live dashboards that consolidate spend across cards, reimbursements, and payroll, with the ability to segment by team, project, or vendor and export to Excel, Google Sheets, or BI tools for analysis.

RFP questions to ask

  • Do you provide real-time dashboards that track spend by team, project, or location?

  • Can reports be segmented by department, manager, or cost center?

  • Do you support anomaly detection for duplicate or unusual spend?

  • Can reports be scheduled automatically for finance leaders?

  • Can data export easily to Excel, Sheets, or BI tools?

5. Employee experience

If expense reporting is clunky, employees delay submissions, receipts are lost, and reimbursements take too long. A modern solution should make submitting expenses effortless with mobile-first tools and integrations into daily workflows like Slack or Gmail. 

Rippling gives employees a one-click experience: capture receipts on mobile, forward them by email, and track reimbursement status in real time — all from the same app they use for HR and payroll.

RFP questions to ask

  • How easy is it for employees to capture and submit receipts?

  • Can employees track reimbursement status in real time?

  • Is there a self-service portal for employees to view expense history?

  • Do you support integrations with Slack, Gmail, or Outlook for quick submissions?

6. Security and fraud prevention

Expense systems handle sensitive financial data, and small businesses can’t afford fraud or compliance failures. The right system enforces security by default, with enterprise-grade encryption, SOC 2 and ISO certifications, and fraud detection that flags suspicious or duplicate spend. Rippling secures all data in transit and at rest, enforces MFA for admins, and lets finance leaders freeze cards or block transactions instantly.

RFP questions to ask

  • What fraud detection and anomaly monitoring is built in?

  • What compliance certifications do you hold (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR)?

  • Can admins freeze cards or block suspicious activity instantly?

  • How is financial data encrypted at rest and in transit?

  • Do you provide immutable audit logs of all spend and approvals?

How Rippling helps small businesses

Rippling Expense Management is designed to help small businesses save time, reduce manual work, and keep costs under control. Employees capture receipts instantly with Slack, email, or mobile, and expenses are auto-matched to card transactions. Policies are enforced at submission, reimbursements flow seamlessly via payroll or ACH, and all transactions sync directly into QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite.

Finance teams get real-time dashboards to track spend by department, location, or vendor, while employees enjoy fast reimbursements and an intuitive mobile experience. With fraud detection and enterprise-grade security built in, small businesses can confidently manage expenses without extra headcount or risk.

With Rippling, small businesses can:

  • Capture and auto-match receipts instantly

  • Enforce policies tied directly to HR and employee data

  • Reimburse employees quickly via payroll or ACH

  • Sync spend into QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite automatically

  • Gain real-time visibility into spend by team, project, or location

  • Protect against fraud with anomaly detection and SOC 2/ISO certifications

Rippling RFP for expense management software for small businesses example

Section

Question to ask

Rippling Answer

Expense capture and automation

How can employees capture receipts (mobile, email, Slack, OCR)?

Rippling supports receipt capture via mobile app, email forwarding, Slack, and OCR scanning for out-of-pocket expenses.

Can receipts be auto-matched to corporate card transactions?

Yes — Rippling automatically matches receipts to Rippling Corporate Card transactions in real time.

Does the system auto-categorize expenses by merchant or department?

Yes — Rippling auto-categorizes expenses based on merchant data and employee attributes like role, department, or project.

Do you support mileage and per diem submissions?

Yes — Rippling supports mileage and per diem submissions with automated calculation and policy enforcement.

Policy enforcement and controls

Can policies be customized by role, department, project, or location?

Yes — Rippling ties expense policies directly to HRIS data, allowing customization by role, department, project, or location.

Are violations flagged instantly, or can they be blocked at submission?

Yes — Rippling flags or blocks out-of-policy expenses at submission, preventing violations before they reach finance.

Can rules combine multiple conditions (budget + category + receipt)?

Yes — Rippling supports layered policy conditions such as category limits, budgets, and receipt requirements.

Do you support multi-level approval workflows for larger expenses?

Yes — Rippling supports multi-level approval workflows, routed automatically by spend thresholds or policy rules.

Reimbursements and card integration

Do you offer native corporate cards that integrate directly with expense reporting?

Yes — Rippling Corporate Cards integrate natively with Expense Management, auto-matching transactions to receipts and policies.

How quickly are reimbursements processed via payroll or ACH?

Reimbursements are processed automatically via payroll or ACH, with funds delivered on the next available cycle.

Can expenses be auto-coded to QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite in real time?

Yes — Rippling auto-codes expenses to GL accounts in QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite in real time.

Do you support split transactions or partial reimbursements?

Yes — Rippling supports split transactions and partial reimbursements, assigning each portion to the correct GL code or project.

Real-time visibility and reporting

Do you provide real-time dashboards that track spend by team, project, or location?

Yes — Rippling provides real-time dashboards that track spend across departments, teams, projects, and vendors.

Can reports be segmented by department, manager, or cost center?

Yes — Rippling supports segmentation of reports by department, manager, cost center, or location.

Do you support anomaly detection for duplicate or unusual spend?

Yes — Rippling surfaces duplicate or unusual spend with built-in anomaly detection.

Can reports be scheduled automatically for finance leaders?

Yes — Rippling allows reports to be scheduled and sent to finance leaders on a recurring basis.

Can data export easily to Excel, Sheets, or BI tools?

Yes — Rippling supports exports into Excel, Google Sheets, and BI tools for further analysis.

Employee experience

How easy is it for employees to capture and submit receipts?

Employees can submit expenses instantly by snapping a photo in the mobile app, forwarding an email, or uploading via Slack — no training required.

Can employees track reimbursement status in real time?

Yes — employees can track reimbursement status in real time in Rippling, with transparency into payroll or ACH delivery.

Is there a self-service portal for employees to view expense history?

Yes — Rippling provides a unified self-service portal for employees to view and manage expense history alongside payroll and HR tasks.

Do you support integrations with Slack, Gmail, or Outlook for quick submissions?

Yes — Rippling integrates with Slack, Gmail, and Outlook, allowing expenses to be submitted directly from existing workflows.

Security and fraud prevention

What fraud detection and anomaly monitoring is built in?

Rippling uses anomaly detection to flag duplicate or suspicious expenses and alerts admins in real time.

What compliance certifications do you hold (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR)?

Rippling is SOC 2 Type II certified, ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant.

Can admins freeze cards or block suspicious activity instantly?

Yes — admins can freeze Rippling Corporate Cards or block transactions instantly from the admin console.

How is financial data encrypted at rest and in transit?

All financial data in Rippling is encrypted at rest and in transit with enterprise-grade standards.

Do you provide immutable audit logs of all spend and approvals?

Yes — Rippling maintains immutable audit logs of all expense submissions, approvals, and reimbursements.

Ready to evaluate vendors?

Expense management software RFP tempalte for small businesses
Download our comprehensive Expense Management Software RFP Template for Small Businesses

Disclaimer

Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.

Author

The Rippling Team

Global HR, IT, and Finance know-how directly from the Rippling team.

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