Airbase
By Airbase
Initial Setup: Configuring the software to align with the company's existing systems and workflows.
Integration: Airbase integrates with over 70 ERPs, including Sage Intacct, through fully managed services, enhanced file exchange, or custom API integrations.
Training and Onboarding: Providing training sessions to ensure that all users are comfortable with the new system.
Testing and Go-Live: Conducting thorough testing before the final rollout.
ERP Integration Options: Airbase provides three ERP integration options to keep your single source of truth updated: fully managed integration, customized API integration, and enhanced file exchange. These options offer flexibility in how Airbase syncs with your existing systems, ensuring seamless data flow and integration with your ERP.
Customized API Integration: For businesses seeking a tailored integration, Airbase’s ERP Integration API allows for a custom-built integration either by your team or an Airbase-certified partner. This option offers maximum customizability, enabling you to map data from Airbase into your ERP in the way that best suits your needs. It also allows for the enrichment of data from a secondary source before syncing.
Enhanced File Exchange: This approach involves transferring data files between systems. If a flat-file method is preferred, Airbase collaborates with you to design a customized data export integration tailored to your ERP. This includes determining the optimal file format and defining the specifics of the integration.
Customizable Approval Workflows: Airbase allows for the creation of customizable approval workflows, ensuring compliance with company policies. This includes setting mandatory fields, budget limits, and submission windows. If an out-of-policy request is submitted, it can be flagged or blocked, providing clarity to the employee for necessary adjustments.
Global Capabilities: Airbase supports payments to vendors in over 200 countries and 145+ currencies through various methods including ACH, check, virtual card, vendor credits, or international wires. This global capability ensures that Airbase can be customized to meet the needs of businesses operating on an international scale.
Corporate Cards: Airbase offers both virtual and physical corporate cards with unlimited cashback across all categories of spend. This feature includes the generation of a full audit trail for transactions and automatic booking to the GL, providing a controlled and streamlined process for managing corporate expenses.
Guided Procurement: Airbase's Guided Procurement is a no-code, customizable workflow that directs employees making purchases to capture all necessary information and documentation. This feature integrates with multiple stakeholders' existing systems, including GL, security, HRIS, and communication software, ensuring compliance and streamlining the procurement process.
1. The Airbase's pricing model suggests that there may be additional costs for initial setup, especially for custom integrations and advanced configurations.
2. Maintenance and Support Charges: Airbase offers different pricing packages (Standard, Premium, and Enterprise), and the level of support and maintenance included may vary by package. Higher-tier packages likely include more comprehensive support and maintenance services, which could incur additional costs.
3. Additional Features: Some advanced features, such as purchase orders and customizable approval workflows, are only available in higher-tier packages, which may result in additional costs if these features are required.
1. Onboarding Team: Airbase has a dedicated onboarding team that helps new users get up and running. This includes reviewing and defining accounting policies, cleaning up GL categories, and organizing vendor data.
2. Training Sessions: Optional onboarding training sessions are available, along with a detailed Help Center, articles, and videos to assist users in learning the platform.
3. Customer Support: Airbase offers 24/7 support via email and chat, as well as phone support during business hours. The support team is known for being fast, responsive, and empathetic, with a strong focus on continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.
4. Community and Resources: Airbase hosts an active Slack community called "Off the Ledger," where finance, accounting, and procurement professionals can ask questions, provide insights, and post jobs. Additionally, Airbase offers a monthly interview series featuring top CFOs and board members.
1. Compliance Certifications: Airbase is SOC 2 Type II and SOC 1 Type II compliant, ensuring that it meets high standards for data security and privacy.
2. Fraud Detection and Notifications: The platform includes fraud detection with responsive warnings and notifications of changes to vendor bank account details. This helps protect against unauthorized transactions and potential fraud.
3. Two-Factor Authentication: For added security, Airbase requires two-factor authentication for changes to vendor bank account details via the vendor portal.
4. Virtual Cards: Airbase uses virtual cards to limit the risk of fraud. These cards can be locked and unlocked easily, and vendor-specific virtual cards prevent issues related to compromised cards.
5. Secure Sharing: The platform includes a "Share" feature that allows secure sharing of card details within the organization, reducing the risk of exposure through less secure channels like email or chat.
6. Infrastructure Security: Airbase leverages Heroku's infrastructure, which includes numerous compliance certifications and regular audits. This allows Airbase to focus on application-level security while relying on Heroku for infrastructure security.
Airbase releases updates on a monthly basis. The product team posts monthly recaps of product updates and new features, ensuring that users are kept informed about the latest enhancements and improvements. This regular update cycle helps maintain the platform's innovation and responsiveness to user needs.
Data Ownership: Airbase acts as a Data Processor on behalf of its clients, governed by a Data Processing Agreement. This means that while Airbase handles and processes data, the ownership of the data remains with the client.
Data Portability: Clients have the right to access, correct, erase, or transfer their personal information. This includes the ability to request the deletion of personal information and to obtain a copy of their data in a portable format, ensuring that clients can move their data to another service if needed.
Scalability: The platform is designed to support companies with between 100 and 5,000 employees, making it suitable for both small and mid-sized businesses. This scalability ensures that as a company grows or downsizes, Airbase can continue to meet its needs.
Flexible Pricing Packages: Airbase provides different pricing packages (Standard, Premium, and Enterprise) that cater to varying levels of service and support. This allows organizations to scale their usage and costs according to their current requirements.
Customizable Features: The platform includes customizable approval workflows, integration options, and other features that can be adjusted as the organization's needs evolve. This flexibility ensures that the system remains efficient and effective regardless of changes in the company's size or structure.
Implementation and Offboarding Time: Potential customers should be aware that the implementation and offboarding of Airbase can be time-consuming, typically requiring a span of 3 to 6 months. This indicates that any decision to cancel or not renew a contract with Airbase should consider the time required for transition.
Contract Renewals: For all contracts, designated buyers (employees responsible for the spend) should monitor contract end dates or renewal dates. This suggests that Airbase expects clients to be proactive in managing their contract renewals.
Review and Negotiation: It's important to pay attention to the terms linked to contract renewals and ensure there is an option to review and negotiate the terms before they automatically take effect. This implies that Airbase contracts may include auto-renewal clauses that require attention before the contract is automatically renewed.
Vendor Management and Contract Renewal: Airbase's guidance on vendor management includes reviewing relationships with vendors regularly, typically when the contract is up for renewal. This involves assessing the vendor’s performance, identifying areas for improvement, and negotiating any necessary changes to the contract. While this is directed at managing vendors through Airbase, it reflects a best practice that could also apply to how clients might approach their renewal discussions with Airbase.
Negotiation Insights: The opportunity to negotiate discounts or terms with Airbase is linked to a company's usage and growth forecast. For instance, if a business plans to increase its volume of transactions, the prospects of securing a cost reduction are strengthened. This suggests that clients have some leverage in negotiations based on their usage of Airbase services.
1. SOC 1 Type II Compliance:
SOC 1 reports concern a company’s internal controls over financial reporting. SOC 1 Type II compliance means that Airbase's controls have been audited and verified for their effectiveness over a period of time, ensuring accurate financial reporting and regulatory compliance.
2. SOC 2 Type II Compliance:
SOC 2 reports focus on the Trust Criteria of Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Privacy, and Processing Integrity. SOC 2 Type II compliance indicates that Airbase's controls related to these criteria have been audited and verified for their effectiveness over a period of time, ensuring comprehensive data security and privacy.
3. GDPR Compliance:
Airbase complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is a stringent data protection and privacy regulation in the European Union. This compliance ensures that Airbase handles personal data in a manner that respects user privacy and data protection rights.
4. Data Protection Act (DPA) Compliance:
Airbase adheres to the Data Protection Act (DPA) regulations, which govern the processing of personal data and ensure that it is handled securely and lawfully.
5. PII Compliance:
Airbase complies with guidelines concerning Personally Identifiable Information (PII), ensuring that personal data is protected and managed according to established privacy standards.
6. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Single Sign-On (SSO):
Airbase implements modern security measures such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Single Sign-On (SSO) to enhance both convenience and cybersecurity for users.
