Airbase Adds Expense-Reimbursement Tool

Airbase, which calls itself a “comprehensive spend management platform for small and midsize companies,” has added an employee expense-reimbursement tool.

The San Francisco-based company positioned the new product alongside two existing offerings — “a fully automated accounts payable system and software-enabled corporate cards,” a Wednesday (March 31) news release stated.

“Together, they handle all outgoing payments, from employee request and approval to payment and booking to the General Ledger,” the release stated. Airbase said that the new reimbursement tool is fast and efficient for employees and accounting staff.

“It does away with the need for cumbersome employee expense reports by providing a simple rule-based system that routes permissible expenses to approvers for rapid response on each transaction,” the release stated. “Approval workflows automate even the most complex company policy, and once documentation and information conditions are met, payment is automatically made to the employee’s bank account.”

Airbase said that the availability of the new product would let customers “fully consolidate multiple best-of-breed tools into one Airbase platform.”

“I’m very pleased with the momentum so far this year,” Airbase Chief Executive Thejo Kote said in a prepared statement.

Reimbursable expenses tend not to be especially high, and a lag of a few weeks may not seem especially long, by corporate standards, a PYMNTS report noted. Nevertheless, the report stated: “It is important for companies to recognize that even minuscule delays for seemingly small amounts can have harsh, lasting consequences for their employees and operations.”

For companies like Airbase, a major business question is whether — or at what time period — business travel will return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates, for one, says it will never bounce all the way back. Even airline executives who presumably would cheer the return to in-person travel have expressed skepticism.