Airwallex expense management software 101: Features and how it works

Key takeaways

• One in five manual expense reports have errors that cost companies $52 and 18 minutes of work per report to correct, on average.¹

• You can cut the per-report cost down by over 80% and speed up month-end close by shifting from retroactive manual tracking to automated expense software.²

• Airwallex Expense Management automates expense management across currencies and subsidiaries, streamlining payments and reconciliation from one master dashboard. Ramp, Brex, and Expensify run expenses through USD rails and require manual multi-entity workarounds.³

Handling business expenses across borders can be a headache, often leading to mountains of paperwork, errors, and currency conversion fees. That’s where modern expense management software comes in, unifying your card payments, expense claims, and accounting systems in one place.

This guide explains how Airwallex expense management software helps scaling businesses automate receipt matching and enforce spend policies without needing finance headcount.

What is expense management software?

Expense management software automates expense reporting, reviews, approvals, and reconciliation. It digitizes receipts and eliminates manual data entry through the expense lifecycle, from the point of sale to final reconciliation. Most importantly, it gives finance teams a live view of company spend so they can make budget decisions based on accurate data. 

What is Airwallex expense management software?

Airwallex expense management software is a collection of products within the Airwallex platform that are designed to simplify spending, improve compliance, and close your books faster.

It combines global business cards with automated Optical Character Recognition (OCR) receipt capture, and real-time syncing with your accounting platforms, eliminating the need to juggle multiple disconnected tools for payments, tracking, and reimbursements. 

Unlike traditional fintech tools that function as software overlays on top of separate bank accounts, Airwallex is a unified operating system with its own global banking infrastructure. This native integration enables finance teams to manage multi-currency card spending, pay domestic and international bills, and run employee reimbursement programs directly from held multi-currency balances.

Types of expenses Airwallex can manage

Understanding the categories of expense that Airwallex can manage helps you customize limits, rules, and accounting fields correctly to simplify tracking and optimize tax deductions.

Operating expenses

Operating expenses include all your daily costs like SaaS subscriptions, digital ads, and office utilities. Airwallex streamlines these recurring charges with virtual cards, which can have vendor-specific spend limits and merchant restrictions, and automatically capture subscription invoices. If a vendor should charge more than the pre-approved amount, Airwallex will decline the transaction to prevent unauthorized or shadow price increases. 

T&E expenses

Travel and entertainment (T&E) expenses are the costs associated with business travel, including flights, lodging, meals, and transportation. Since keeping track of physical receipts and submitting expense reports in a timely manner is difficult while employees are traveling, Airwallex tracks spend in real time.  

Out-of-pocket reimbursements

Sometimes employees have to use their personal cards for business costs and submit claims to get reimbursed. Airwallex automates the process with a mobile app that eliminates manual verification. Employees upload expenses and Airwallex cross checks them with pre-approved policies, like a per diem daily allowance, and payments are sent on local rails instead of slow international wires. 

Expense management software trends

The global spend management market is projected to reach $29.19 billion in 2026, growing at 13.2% annually, as finance teams prioritize proactive control over reactive reporting.⁴ A key driver of this growth is the rapid integration of artificial intelligence to automate manual coding and compliance checks. 

• Modern automation systems are using AI to interpret vendor invoices regardless of changing formats

• Smart corporate cards with auto-enforced policies are replacing retroactive tracking, so that out-of-policy spend can be blocked at the time of purchase

• “All-in-one” financial ecosystems are replacing fragmented tools to reduce costs and visibility gaps between platforms

How Airwallex Expense Management works

The platform automates the expense lifecycle by replacing manual spreadsheet data entry with an interconnected workflow with these automated stages:

Real-time receipt capture

Employees are prompted at the time of purchase to upload a receipt image via the mobile app or email forwarding, and OCR extracts the details. It attaches these to the card transaction instantly. 

Auto-enforced policies

Admins can integrate policies directly into Airwallex expense software and it automatically checks every expense against those rules, flagging or blocking duplicates, overspending, and unauthorized merchants or categories. Our AI policy agent highlights the part of the policy in violation to make human reviews easier

Multi-level approvals

Custom approval chains based on spend thresholds can be set up to maintain control while avoiding delays. This might look like auto-approvals for small per diem charges, manager approvals for larger purchases like software, and escalations to department heads or the CFO for expenses over $5,000.

Two-way ledger syncing

By integrating with accounting platforms like Xero, QuickBooks, and NetSuite, Airwallex regularly syncs approved expenses directly with your general ledger (GL) to keep changes aligned between both dashboards, without manual CSV uploads. Machine learning will suggest GL categories based on historical data. 

Is Airwallex Expense Management safe and secure?

Airwallex is commited to security with safeguarding protocols that meet or exceed industry standards, including PCI DSS Level 1 compliance and ISO 27001 certifications. We partner with accredited and insured financial institutions, and adhere to regional regulatory requirements in all countries where we operate. 

To protect operational data, the platform uses 256-bit TLS encryption for data in transit and AES-256 for data at rest, operating in read-only mode for connected bank feeds. 

Airwallex Expense Management key features

The platform combines banking rails and software workflows to consolidate financial operations.

Multi-currency business cards

These multi-currency business cards are linked directly to multi-currency balances held in your global business account. They allow teams to spend around the world in multiple currencies with zero transaction fees, completely avoiding foreign transaction markups.

Corporate card

Airwallex Corporate Cards can be used for corporate entertaining, travel, and day-to-day operations. They help eliminate card sharing and streamline business spending under customizable limits.

Virtual card

Airwallex virtual cards can be created instantly for specific vendors or software subscriptions. They offer advanced security controls, such as unique transaction limits and instant deletion, to prevent unwanted charges or subscription price increases.

Reward debit card

This card program offers up to 1.5% cashback on eligible local USD card transactions. These rebates accumulate directly in the business wallet, turning everyday company spending into a source of cash rebate.

Spend management

Airwallex Spend Management combines corporate cards, employee out-of-pocket expenses, domestic and international bill payments, and purchase orders. It provides complete spend visibility across multi-entity teams in 60+ countries.

Bill pay

Bill Pay automates accounts payable with AI-driven data extraction from uploaded invoices. It also routes approvals and schedules payouts in 90+ currencies at competitive interbank FX rates.

Purchase orders

With end-to-end automation, Airwallex Purchase Orders matches incoming invoices to approved purchase orders and goods received, preventing unauthorized vendor spend before payments are processed.

Accounting software integration

With direct, native API connections, Airwallex Accounting Software Integrations connect with major platforms including QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite automatically map transaction data, tax rates, and categories to keep your books accurate and audit-ready.

How to set up Airwallex Expense Management

Transitioning to automated expense tracking is a straightforward process that requires minimal technical resources.

1. Upload policies and set up spend limits

Navigate to the expenses settings to upload your company expense policies. The platform converts this text into AI-friendly logic, which enforces rules automatically as expenses incur. Spending limits and merchant category restrictions are also applied to employee cards to prevent non-compliant purchases at the point of sale.

2. Connect your accounting platform

The next step is to connect your accounting software like QuickBooks or NetSuite via the Airwallex API. You can then map your data and bank feeds, and import your chart of accounts, tax rates, and tracking categories. You can also set up automatic categorization rules for common transaction types, and adjust bill and expense settings to correctly sync card transactions.

3. Issue virtual cards

Finance teams can instantly provision virtual corporate cards to employees or departments for immediate use. Each card is assigned distinct spending limits, expiration dates, and merchant restrictions tailored to the specific business purpose.

4. Enable the AI policy agent and conditional approvals

Activate the AI policy agent to automate the review process. Multi-conditional approval workflows are constructed, establishing automated pathways where compliant routine spend is instantly approved, whereas higher-value or flagged exceptions route directly to specific human managers.

Airwallex Expense Management benefits

Bringing automation and digitization to the expense process brings efficiency gains to every level of the organization. 

Accurate budgeting and planning

CFOs can now see spending patterns in more detail and in real time, which enables more accurate budgeting and planning, and eliminates unnecessary currency conversions. 

Smoother month-end close

Month-end close is transformed from chaotic receipt chasing and manual CSV work to a streamlined, automated process that keeps data in sync with your ERP. Finance can focus more on strategic planning instead of reporting errors and audit prep. 

Faster reviews and approvals

Managers review expenses by exception rather than reviewing every transaction. Automated policy flags make approvals faster, as they call out anomalies and highlight potential issues that require quick human judgment. 

Automated expense reporting

Employees are free from the burden of completing physical expense reports, logging each individual expense. They no longer have to worry about lost receipts as they capture photos at the time of spend, and they receive reimbursements much faster and in local currency — or even better, they use corporate cards instead of their own personal funds. 

Drawbacks of Airwallex Expense Management

Airwallex excels at automating expense workflows but has a few limitations that may not work for every use case or team structure. 

Registered businesses only

Airwallex is designed for registered business entities with official documentation, such as a Certificate of Formation or Incorporation. Given these requirements, Airwallex may not be an option for freelancers or sole proprietors.

Paid plan required for core expense tools

The free Explore plan does not include automated expense tracking, OCR receipt matching, and tiered approvals. These features are subject to Airwallex pricing. 

Initial learning curve

Airwallex expense management is embedded within a global financial infrastructure that includes global accounts, payments, and cards. It may be more than lean teams need if they are looking for basic expense tracking or single-purpose solutions. 

Airwallex Expense Management pricing and cost

Airwallex has subscription plans based on company size and transaction volume.

*The Explore plan costs $0 per month if the account deposits at least $5,000 monthly or holds a minimum balance of $10,000 across combined accounts. Otherwise, it costs $29 per month. 

The monthly cost of the Grow and Accelerate plans is structured around active spend users, and the Grow plan allows a maximum of 250 active spend users — defined as any employee who holds an active card, submits or approves an expense, or processes a bill during that billing cycle.⁵

Where Airwallex outperforms Ramp, Brex, and Expensify

Comparing expense management software, Airwallex differs from Ramp, Brex, and Expensify in the design of our underlying financial infrastructure.

Forced conversions and FX fees

Ramp, Brex, and Expensify operate on top of traditional US banking networks, meaning they run primarily on USD rails. When an employee swipes one of these cards outside the US, the transaction is subjected to a forced currency conversion back to USD, which typically triggers foreign transaction fees or currency exchange markups of 2% to 3%.³ Even if these platforms support international card issuance, they settle transactions back to a single USD base account.

Airwallex bypasses this issue by functioning as both a software platform and a global multi-currency banking network. The platform supports native wallets in 23+ currencies, allowing businesses to hold funds in local balances and settle card transactions directly in the local currency with zero conversion fees. When currency conversions are necessary, Airwallex utilizes interbank exchange rates with a transparent markup of 0.5% for major currencies, saving businesses substantial capital on international expenditures.

Multi-entity tracking

Managing spend across multiple distinct legal entities is a common pain point for international organizations. Here’s how these solutions’ multi-entity capabilities compare: 

• Airwallex supports multi-entity spend management from one master dashboard, with sub-accounts for each subsidiary, and local ledger syncing to simplify intercompany transactions and reporting across regions.

• Ramp mainly serves US-based companies, with limited support for global legal structures. 

• Brex offers international cards but forces payments to be made in USD, which can cause administrative friction and FX losses for subsidiaries in places like Europe or Singapore.

• Expensify acts as a reactive expense tracker, meaning international entities require separate software configurations and manual reconciliation workarounds.

Frequently asked questions about Airwallex expense management software

What is the difference between Airwallex Spend and Expense Management?

Airwallex Spend is a platform that lets you manage cards, expenses, bills, and POs across multi-entity teams in 60+ countries while Airwallex Expense Management is a key part of the Spend product suite and focuses on automating expense reporting for employee spending.

Is there a free version for small businesses and nonprofits?

Yes, the Airwallex Explore plan is free as long as you maintain a minimum balance of $10,000 or deposit $5,000 or more each month, otherwise our pricing structure will apply. The Explore plan includes multi-currency accounts and cards, but automated expense workflows, invoice processing, and the AI policy agent require a higher tier plan. 

How does the Airwallex AI policy agent work?

The Airwallex AI policy agent converts expense policy documents into dynamic spend limits and rules. It also enforces these rules by reviewing employee expenses and cross-checking them with company policies. It can auto-approve compliant expenses and flag out-of-policy spend for human review.

How does Airwallex automate expense reporting?

Airwallex automates expense reporting by eliminating paper receipts and line-by-line reporting. The Airwallex mobile app collects expense information at the time cards are used, and syncs that data with your accounting ledger. No more CSV uploads or tedious reviews. 

How does Airwallex prevent fraud?

Airwallex prevents fraud by enabling finance teams to set spend controls and limits, blocking unauthorized spend at the time of purchase. The AI policy agent also alerts managers to suspicious activity or out-of-policy transactions, like duplicate receipts and unusually high amounts. 

Does Airwallex integrate with my accounting software?

Yes, Airwallex integrates bi-directionally with QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite via our API. Your chart of accounts will automatically be imported to keep your ledger up-to-date.

Can I issue Airwallex cards to employees based outside the US?

Yes, unlike some competitors that restrict card issuance strictly to US residents, Airwallex allows businesses to issue multi-currency cards to employees and contractors globally. Cards can be issued in local currencies like USD, GBP, and SGD, helping international team members spend independently without generating foreign transaction fees.

Sources

1. https://gbta.org/how-much-do-expense-reports-really-cost-a-company/

2. https://www.airwallex.com/us/blog/how-to-eliminate-manual-expense-reports

3. https://www.getkleercard.com/blogs/ramp-vs-brex

4. https://www.airwallex.com/us/blog/spend-management-vs-expense-management

5. https://www.airwallex.com/us/pricing