Why we're moving from Bill.com to Ramp

We've used Bill.com for accounts payable and spend management for years, and it's done the job. We're now in the process of moving clients over to Ramp instead. The switch isn't finished, so consider this the reasoning behind it rather than a finished verdict.

The cost structure fits small teams better

Bill.com's accounts payable plans are priced per user: Essentials at $45/user/month, Team at $55/user/month, Corporate at $79/user/month. For a client with two or three people touching bills, that adds up fast, on top of per-transaction fees for ACH, check, and wire payments.

Ramp's free tier includes unlimited cards, expense management, bill pay, accounting integrations, and vendor management, with no per-user fee. Ramp Plus runs $15/user/month and adds procurement workflows and more advanced policy controls, but most of our clients don't need that tier to get real value. Ramp does charge per-transaction fees on ACH and check payments too, so the comparison isn't zero fees versus fees. It's fewer fixed monthly costs stacked on top of them.

Spend controls happen before the purchase, not after

Bill.com's spend and expense tools work the way most expense software works: an employee spends money, then someone reconciles it later. Ramp's cards let you set limits by merchant, category, or time period before a card is ever used, so overspending gets prevented instead of caught after the fact.

That matters most for teams with several people spending money day to day: marketing, ops, whoever's buying software. We spend less time chasing down "what was this $340 charge for" three weeks after the fact.

One platform instead of several

Ramp bundles corporate cards, expense tracking, and bill pay into one dashboard with receipt capture through text, email, Slack, or the mobile app. Fewer logins, fewer places for a transaction to get lost between systems.

Ramp also connects to QuickBooks Online, which is where nearly all of our clients' books live, so transactions land in the right place without a manual export and import step.

What we're still working through

We're not pretending this is a finished decision. A few things we're still evaluating before every client moves over:

• Historical vendor data. Migrating vendor records and payment history without gaps takes care, and we're doing it client by client rather than all at once.
• New per-transaction fees. Ramp's ACH and check fees are changing this year, and depending on a client's payment mix, the math might land differently than it does today.
• Team habits. Any new system means retraining whoever approves and enters bills on the client side. That's real time, even when the new system is better.

If you're a current client, we'll walk you through your specific timeline before anything changes on your end.

Want to see if Ramp fits your business now?

You can check out Ramp here if you want a look before we talk.

Not sure what your current setup is costing you?

A Vibe Check is a good place to start. We'll look at what you're using now and whether it's serving you. No pressure, just a clear picture. Schedule yours here.

Keep reading

• Why we use QuickBooks Online (and when we don't) — the accounting platform Ramp and most of our other tools connect back to.
• Bookkeeping basics: what you need to track — the records every small business needs, regardless of what software you use.

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