Airbase
Cards, expenses, and vendor bills that sync coded spend to QuickBooks Online, Desktop, NetSuite, or Sage Intacct.
Best for
US mid-market finance teams that want cards, expenses, and vendor bills on one login and will sync the trail to QuickBooks Online, Desktop, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or Dynamics.
Not ideal if
A 5-person US shop that wants a published per-seat price and a free charge card. Airbase is quote-only, sold as Paylocity for Finance, and a poor fit if you only need Xero (Xero is not on the current official connector list).
Standout
One suite for Paylocity or existing cards, receipt reimbursements, vendor AP, and optional procurement, with a named QuickBooks Online and Desktop sync.
About Airbase
Airbase is a spend platform, not a ledger. Paylocity bought it in October 2024 and now sells it as Airbase by Paylocity, inside Paylocity for Finance. Employees swipe a Paylocity Visa (Sutton Bank) or an existing Visa or Mastercard, snap a receipt for out-of-pocket spend, or send a vendor invoice to the AP inbox. Finance codes the lines, routes approvals, and pays by ACH, check, virtual card, or wire. Approved spend syncs to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or Dynamics Business Central. Virtual card lines sync in real time; other transactions sync after payment. You still close those books.
It does not replace QuickBooks Online or Xero. Ramp is the free US charge-card program with SMS receipt chase. BILL is the priced US AP and AR seat product with 1099 e-file in the same app. Expensify is the phone camera if people still pay out of pocket. Tipalti is global vendor payouts. Airbase's extra is cards, expenses, AP, and procurement on one login, sold next to Paylocity payroll.
People who stick usually already run Paylocity payroll, or they want one suite for bills, cards, and reimbursements instead of Ramp plus BILL. Month-end is review and a GL sync, not a statement hunt. They accept a sales quote and they can add modules later.
What people who used it say
What they tend to like
Employee-side cards and receipts are easy
Controllers who stay say the phone app is good enough that they have not pushed a rip-and-replace, even when finance-side reporting annoys them.
NetSuite sync is why some controllers pick it
r/Netsuite users call the Airbase connector more straightforward than BILL, with usable error reporting when a sync fails.
AP, cards, and expenses on one login
Shops that outgrew a card-only tool stay for vendor invoices and purchase requests next to the cards.
What they hesitate about
Approval routing is rigid
r/Accounting: you cannot set approver A or B. If the named person is out, you rewrite the flow. One shop said a paid advanced-approvals add-on was quoted around $7k.
Reporting makes the Airbase bank rec harder
Same thread: reporting is weak enough that reconciling the Airbase account is needlessly complicated.
Quote-only after the Paylocity buy
Public pricing is a demo form. A 2023 r/Accounting comment said Airbase had started kicking small businesses off. The 2025 Paylocity for Finance launch is aimed at HCM plus ERP, not a 5-person DIY shop.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- No
- QuickBooks Online
- Yes
- Multi-entity
- Yes
- Inventory
- No
- 1099s
- Partial
- Payroll
- No
You approve cards, expenses, and bills in Airbase, then sync. Virtual card lines post in real time; other transactions sync after payment. Lock the period in QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or Dynamics. Amortization can post monthly journal entries. The Airbase card or wallet statement still needs a rec.
Invite the accountant to QuickBooks Online, Desktop, or the ERP, or send that file. Receipts and approvals sit on the synced lines. Airbase does not produce a year-end tax package. W-9 collection and 1099 reporting are documented; 1099 e-file was not.
Images
Features
Issue Paylocity cards or attach the cards you have
Issue physical and virtual Paylocity Visa cards (Sutton Bank) with policy controls, or attach existing Visa and Mastercard corporate cards. Card swipes attach to an expense report with receipt matching. Virtual card lines sync to the ledger in real time. Cash back is advertised; the rate is not published.
Snap receipts and reimburse on the phone
Employees photograph a receipt in the iOS or Android app. The report is coded, checked against warning or blocking policies, and routed. Reimbursements can go to the employee's bank in local currency. Mileage is a start-and-end-point calculation. TravelPerk can feed bookings into the same expense module.
Capture, match, and pay vendor bills
Invoices land by email, bulk upload, or the vendor portal. OCR fills the fields. 2-way and 3-way PO matching is available. Approvers get the bill in Slack, email, or the phone. You pay in 200+ countries and 145+ currencies by ACH, check, virtual card, international wire, or vendor credits. W-9 collection is built in for 1099 reporting.
Sync coded spend to the ledger
Official FAQ (fetched 12 Sep 2026): Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. Virtual card transactions sync automatically in real time; other transactions sync after payment. Machine learning suggests vendor, category, line, and tags. Straight-line amortization can post monthly journal entries. Xero was listed in 2021 and is not on the current FAQ.
Request a purchase before money leaves
Guided Procurement is a separate module. Employees submit a purchase request. Finance, Legal, IT, or Procurement approve it. The request can become a PO that later matches the invoice. Not included just because you turned on cards or expenses.
Approvals that follow the employee record
Routes use subsidiary, department, vendor, amount, GL category, and org structure. Paylocity's pitch is that those paths stay current because they sit on the employee record. Advanced or multi-condition routing is a common complaint on public forums when the default path is one named person.
Pricing
A 5-person US shop will talk to sales. paylocity.com/pricing and airbase.com/pricing (fetched 12 Sep 2026) print no dollar or seat list. Finance modules (Expense, Cards, AP, Procurement, Headcount Planning) can be bought together or added later. There is no Ramp-style $0 software plan. One March 2026 r/Accounting thread compared a Paylocity Airbase quote at $13 per user to Ramp at $15 per user; treat that as one shop's quote, not a published floor. Cards are Sutton Bank Visa or cards you already have.
Expense Management
Teams that want receipt snap, policy checks, mileage, and reimbursements. Sales quote.
- Receipt capture and AI coding
- Warning and blocking policies
- Mileage reimbursements
- Reimburse to the employee bank in local currency
- TravelPerk booking feed
Corporate Cards
Teams that will issue Paylocity Visas or attach existing Visa and Mastercard cards.
- Physical and virtual Paylocity Visa cards (Sutton Bank)
- Attach existing Visa or Mastercard corporate cards
- Policy controls and receipt matching
- Department and project tracking
- Cash back (rate unpublished)
Accounts Payable Automation
Finance teams whose job includes vendor invoices, not only employee cards.
- Invoice capture by email, upload, or vendor portal
- 2-way and 3-way PO matching
- Vendor onboarding and W-9 collection
- Pay by ACH, check, virtual card, or wire
- GL sync after payment
Guided Procurement
Teams that want a purchase request and PO before anyone spends.
- Centralized purchase requests
- Role-based routing for Finance, Legal, IT, and Procurement
- PO matching into AP
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of Airbase
Ramp
Pick Ramp instead if you want free US corporate charge cards, SMS receipt chase, and QuickBooks Online or Xero sync without a Paylocity sales quote.
BILL
Pick BILL instead if the job is US vendor bills and collections with published per-seat prices and 1099 e-file in the same app, not a new card program.
Expensify
Pick Expensify instead if people pay out of pocket and the job is snap-a-receipt reimbursements, not Paylocity cards plus AP.
Tipalti
Pick Tipalti instead if you pay a lot of global vendors or payees and you need a published AP floor plus a mass-payout rail, not a Paylocity HCM suite.