The verdict in three sentences
For a company with 600 employees, an expense management SaaS costs 6 to 12 EUR per user per month, i.e. 43,000 to 86,000 EUR a year. A custom application costs 40,000 to 65,000 EUR excl. VAT, then about 8,000 EUR of annual maintenance, and reaches break-even around 18 months in the least favourable scenario. Custom makes sense mainly when your reimbursement rules and cost allocation fit no standard tool.
The context: when SaaS is no longer enough
The CFO of a mid-sized company processes 9,000 expense claims a year. The rules are specific: different allowances per site, caps by mission type, rebilling of some costs to clients, allocation across three analytical dimensions (site, project, cost centre). In the SaaS tools tested, these rules end up as manual workarounds: accounting recodes about 30 % of claims before export.
| Criterion | Market SaaS | Custom application |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | 0 to 5,000 EUR set-up | 40,000 to 65,000 EUR excl. VAT |
| Annual cost (600 users) | 43,200 to 86,400 EUR | about 8,000 EUR maintenance + 1,500 EUR hosting |
| Receipt OCR | included | included (OCR API, 0.01 to 0.03 EUR per receipt) |
| Multi-site reimbursement rules | partial | exact |
| 3-dimension cost allocation | often 1 or 2 dimensions | unlimited |
| Accounting export (Sage, Exact, AFAS) | standard, needs rework | exact chart of accounts format |
| Set-up time | 4 to 8 weeks | 12 to 16 weeks |
What the custom budget covers
| Module | 2026 range (EUR excl. VAT) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Rules scoping, CFO and controlling workshops | 4,000 to 6,000 | 2 weeks |
| Mobile capture app (PWA) with receipt photo | 8,000 to 12,000 | 3 weeks |
| OCR and automatic extraction (amount, VAT, date, supplier) | 5,000 to 9,000 | 2 weeks |
| Rules engine and caps per site and mission type | 7,000 to 12,000 | 3 weeks |
| Approval flow (manager, control, accounting) | 5,000 to 9,000 | 2 weeks |
| Cost allocation and accounting export | 6,000 to 10,000 | 2 weeks |
| SSO, security, QA and training | 5,000 to 7,000 | 2 weeks |
| Total | 40,000 to 65,000 | 12 to 16 weeks |
OCR also recovers deductible VAT that is often missed on expense claims: on 9,000 claims, a recovery rate improved by a few points is worth several thousand euros a year.
Calculating break-even
Take the scenario most favourable to SaaS: 6 EUR per user per month, i.e. 3,600 EUR a month. On the custom side, a median budget of 52,000 EUR excl. VAT and about 790 EUR a month of maintenance and hosting.
| Horizon | Cumulative SaaS cost (6 EUR) | Cumulative custom cost | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months | 21,600 EUR | 56,740 EUR | SaaS cheaper by 35,140 EUR |
| 12 months | 43,200 EUR | 61,480 EUR | SaaS cheaper by 18,280 EUR |
| 18 months | 64,800 EUR | 66,220 EUR | near break-even |
| 24 months | 86,400 EUR | 70,960 EUR | custom cheaper by 15,440 EUR |
| 36 months | 129,600 EUR | 80,440 EUR | custom cheaper by 49,160 EUR |
| 60 months | 216,000 EUR | 99,400 EUR | custom cheaper by 116,600 EUR |
With a SaaS at 12 EUR, break-even falls to around 8 months. These figures do not yet include the accounting recoding time saved.
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Sanne, CFO of an industrial company in Amsterdam (600 employees), measures manual recoding: 30 % of 9,000 claims, i.e. 2,700 claims at 6 minutes each, 270 hours a year. At a 40 EUR loaded hourly cost, that is 10,800 EUR a year on top of the SaaS subscription. With the custom app at 52,000 EUR excl. VAT, recoding drops below 3 %. Adding those 10,800 EUR to the calculation brings break-even from 18 down to about 14 months against the cheapest SaaS.
FAQ
From how many employees does custom become worthwhile?
As a rule above 300 to 400 users, or earlier if your reimbursement rules are complex. Below that, a SaaS at 6 to 12 EUR per user remains cheaper.
Is OCR reliable on receipts?
In 2026, OCR engines extract amount, date and VAT with a 90 to 95 % success rate on legible receipts. Employees fix the rest in seconds before submitting.
Is the app compliant for legally valid digital archiving?
Yes, provided it meets the faithful digitisation and retention requirements set by tax rules (7 years in the Netherlands, 6 in France). A compliant archiving module adds 3,000 to 6,000 EUR excl. VAT if you want to destroy paper receipts.
What does 8,000 EUR a year of maintenance cover?
Security updates, changes to mileage allowances and tax-free caps, fixes and a small volume of enhancements. That is about 12 to 15 % of the initial cost.
How long does deployment take?
Allow 12 to 16 weeks of development, then a one-month pilot on one site before rolling out to all 600 employees.
Let's scope your project. Send us your reimbursement rules, cost allocation dimensions and claim volume: we will price an app between 40,000 and 65,000 EUR excl. VAT, delivered in 12 to 16 weeks, with a break-even calculation against your current SaaS. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
