Expense software in the UAE
Choosing expense management software in the UAE
Expense management software in the UAE has to handle VAT, several currencies, staff who travel constantly across the Gulf, and approvers who work in Arabic. Trexo adds a control most tools skip: authorisation before the trip, and a payment role separated from approval. Trexo is built by Sulayo, a Dubai product studio.
What should a UAE buyer check first?
Whether the tool handles VAT properly on claims and can produce what a filing needs; whether it handles more than one currency with a rate you can override, because the rate a card actually charged is rarely the rate looked up afterwards; whether approvals work on a phone for managers who are themselves travelling; and whether an Arabic-reading manager can approve without a translation. The last one is skipped constantly and it is the reason approval chains stall.
Why does authorisation before travel matter here?
Because Gulf business travel is frequent, short-notice and often intra-regional, so the volume of trips is high and each one is individually small. That is exactly the pattern where after-the-fact approval degrades into rubber-stamping: nobody refuses a claim for a flight to Riyadh that has already been taken. Authorising first keeps the decision at the point it can still change something, and gives finance a forward view of committed travel spend rather than a monthly surprise.
When a different tool is the better choice
If the requirement is corporate card reconciliation, receipt OCR at volume and integration with an accounting suite, Zoho Expense is broader than Trexo and cheaper at small headcounts, with a free tier to three users. If the company is a multinational needing booking content and tax coverage across many jurisdictions, SAP Concur is the enterprise answer. Trexo is the better fit specifically where authorisation before travel and separation of duties are the controls being asked for.
At a glance
- Built in
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Languages
- English and Arabic, right-to-left interface, mobile-first
- Currencies
- Multi-currency with FX overrides, on Business and above
- Controls
- Three-level approval chain, plus a separate Accounts Payable role
- Price
- $6 and $11 per user per month, $5 and $9 billed annually, five-seat floor
- Trial
- 14 days, no credit card
Competitor details are taken from those vendors' own published pages and were checked on 2 September 2026. Confirm the current position with the vendor before deciding.
Questions people ask
What expense management software is used in the UAE?
Zoho Expense is widely used and publishes UAE pricing in dirhams, SAP Concur covers the enterprise end, and Trexo is a Dubai-built option focused on authorisation before travel and separation of duties. Which is right depends on whether the pressing problem is reimbursing people efficiently or controlling the spend before it is committed.
Does Trexo handle VAT on expense claims?
Trexo carries VAT handling including tax on purchase orders and an input VAT report. Anything decision-critical for a filing should be confirmed against your own accountant's requirements before committing, because tax treatment is specific to how a company is registered.
Do approvers need an account to approve?
They can approve from a magic link in an email without signing in, which matters for senior approvers who use the system a few times a month and for anyone approving from a phone while travelling. Delegation covers the case where an approver is away entirely.
Does Trexo support per diem allowances?
Yes, Trexo carries a per-diem engine alongside cash advances and per-category spend policies, which together cover the way most Gulf companies actually handle short regional trips.
How current are the competitor details on this page?
Checked against each vendor's own published pages on 2 September 2026, and Zoho's figures are the UAE list excluding VAT. Confirm anything decision-critical with the vendor directly rather than relying on a comparison page, including this one.