BT Launches Small Business Expenses Software

Money management for small businesses is a rapidly growing niche for purveyors of what’s become known as ’software as a service’ i.e. software delivered remotely over the web.  Now BT has joined the fray with the launch of BT Web Expenses – web-based expenses management starting from £6.99 a month.

Although not necessarily focused on expenses, other web-based services aimed at helping SMEs handle accounts include Kash-Flow, Business IT Online and FreeAgent.

It’s an increasingly competitive space, which can only be a good thing for small business owners.  You will, of course, have to be happy to have your business’s financial data held by third parties.  These days that shouldn’t be a problem, but you ought to check out the terms and conditions of each service.

It’s also not clear to me how easy it is to migrate data between one online service and another should you wish to switch provider at some point down the line.  Again something worth checking, if you decide to sign up for any of these.

BT’s standard Web Expenses service allows unlimited expense claims to be entered and offers reporting facilities for managers.  Its premium service (£8.99 per month) offers a range of more advanced features, including the ability to upload credit card entries and allow different departments to feed their expenses information into a single central system.