Emburse Certify vs. Emburse SpringAhead

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Emburse Certify
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
Certify is travel and expense management software developed by the company of the same name in Maine, which merged with Chrome River in 2019 to form Emburse.N/A
Emburse SpringAhead
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
SpringAhead is an expense reporting, billing, and time tracking platform that was owned and supported by Certify Travel and Expense created from the 2017 merger of Certify, Nexonia, and other companies, and now from Emburse, the company formed from the merger of Certify and Chrome River Technologies in March 2019.N/A
Pricing
Emburse CertifyEmburse SpringAhead
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Emburse CertifyEmburse SpringAhead
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup Fee$8 Expense reportNo setup fee
Additional DetailsCertify AP has volume based pricing based on processed invoices
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Emburse CertifyEmburse SpringAhead
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Emburse CertifyEmburse SpringAhead
Small Businesses
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
BILL Spend & Expense
BILL Spend & Expense
Score 8.9 out of 10
BILL Spend & Expense
BILL Spend & Expense
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Webexpenses
Webexpenses
Score 8.5 out of 10
Webexpenses
Webexpenses
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Emburse CertifyEmburse SpringAhead
Likelihood to Recommend
7.7
(55 ratings)
6.5
(3 ratings)
Usability
7.2
(40 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
4.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Emburse CertifyEmburse SpringAhead
Likelihood to Recommend
Emburse
Certify is not well suited for multi-dimensional ERPs. Although Certify 'offers' general ledger dimensions GLD, the use of them is extremely limited. Filtering on any GLD can only be done once. There is not the possibility for creating hierarchies with the dimensions. The only method of exporting is via a flat file or the open API, which I understand is quite limited. This software is for a smaller scaled business that is not trying to track across dimensions or create hierarchies. Data flow is one directional. I cannot emphasize enough the shortcomings of the reporting. The parameters are mostly based on expense dates rather than expense reports. There are entirely too many of them, and some of them perform the function!
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Emburse
It's definitely well suited for all organizations with knowledge workers who use computers to do their work and are able to log in and enter their time on a regular basis. I've always had access to it as part of my job and love using SpringAhead. It may be less appropriate in a role where the worker does not have regular access to a computer to enter their hours digitally.
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Pros
Emburse
  • Integration with Amtrav or other travel booking systems. Certify has a tight integration with travel systems that makes it feel nearly like one cohesive tool.
  • Easy expense options. Use OCR on receipts, import from credit cards and merge items, approve and inquire about expenses. Track your submissions.
  • Easy UI. Friendly and easy to navigate without getting lost.
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Emburse
  • Allows for tracking of time very easily. Users can add all their project's time in one place instead of drilling into each project.
  • Managers can approve their team's time all in one place. We do not need to drill down to find the info and approve. Users who don't report to the manager but are part of the project can still be approved by the project manager.
  • Reports are easy to read when looking at historical information. Reports can be run with multiple parameters that the user needs.
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Cons
Emburse
  • Reporting: I would like to see more chart availability from the program. We include various data points from Certify in our monthly financial statement package. Currently, we export data from the program and create our own pivot tables to create charts.
  • Dashboard feature: It would be nice to be able to use the data for a specific date and then be able to print that information.
  • Can't think of another one. As stated before, they listen to their customers so prior issues have been addressed and implemented.
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Emburse
  • Automated reminders to employees would be great
  • A more modern and up-to-date user interface
  • The approvals system for projects vs. users could use some work
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Usability
Emburse
If the integrations with our card programs had succeeded, I expect [Emburse] Certify would have worked well for expense submitters and approvers. During the short time that the American Express Business integration was active, transactions flowed smoothly, and the expense reporting and receipt matching functions were quite good. The [Emburse] Certify mobile app was particularly powerful and easy to use.
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Emburse
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Emburse
The measure of support is how well they respond when you really need them, like when the system is not performing correctly. We have been on the platform less than a year, and there have been at least 2 instances, where the platform was down. The 2nd time was the day before out fiscal year end. And they need a development website. When they are making changes to your LIVE instance, and things go wrong, the client is the first to know about it! I've come to understand that Certify has tiers of support. Those in tier 1, barely know more about the software than the users. I sent a request for a report that shows expense reports currently pending approval and after 5 days of back and forth I was told to build it myself.
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Emburse
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Emburse
Before Certify, there was only manual expense reports entered for our company. This took too much time for employees too finish and caused a delay of efficiency. With Certify, it is easier to access and finish each report with the right amount of effectiveness and efficiency it needs. Certify is really helpful in saving a lot of time for employees that do not have time.
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Emburse
We selected SpringAhead because of price and usability. This tool is easy to set up and configure. It is a cloud application allowing access from anywhere. There were no training requirements. When you have a small use case this tool is the way to go. We moved off SpringAhead to get more functionality and it has required a lot more training and effort to maintain and utilize
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Return on Investment
Emburse
  • The organization and automatic flow of the expense report to approvers and then AP saves time for all. The user has agreed that it is easier and quicker to prepare the expense report and the managers and AP department finds the automated process to be quicker and more efficient. Time saved is money saved.
  • Certify can recognize if a duplicate expense is submitted or if an expense is submitted too late to be reimbursed according to our policies. This prevents us from reimbursing an expense in error.
  • We use a customized report to track a specific type of expense that gets submitted by our sales team. There is a limit on what can be spent on specific expenses that fall into an entertainment category and the report helps us to stay within the limits. Previously, without this tool, we had spent so much more time manually tracking these expenses and had gone over the limits, creating a deficiency in our processes.
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Emburse
  • Positive - tracking return on project investments
  • Positive - being able to plan on future projects
  • Positive - being able to manage costs and attendance
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ScreenShots

Emburse Certify Screenshots

Screenshot of Certify Homepage - User interface for all users that includes a quick view of their expenses, pending expense reports and approval requests.Screenshot of Certify Mobile - Snap photos of receipts on the go and upload them instantly to your virtual Certify Wallet.Screenshot of Certify Travel - Now, corporate travel is even easier. Introducing Certify Travel, your end-to-end corporate travel solution to simplify bookings for employees while helping your company manage travel practices and costs. All for one low monthly fee and no booking fees! Certify Travel is easy to use, yet it is also a powerful enhancement to your company’s expense management system.Screenshot of Certify Reporting & AnalyticsScreenshot of Certify AP- manage cashflow with accounts payable automationScreenshot of Certify AP- streamlining employee purchasing