Tab vs BILL Spend & Expense(formerly Divvy)
BILL Spend & Expense is the new name for Divvy. The real difference shows up at month end, when someone has to prove which restaurant paid for what.
The short answer
Most restaurant groups should choose one card program. The split is what sits at the center: your locations and entities, or your AP workflow.
Choose Tab to…
- Code multi-LLC spend at the swipe. The entity is set the moment the card is used, so nobody rebuilds ownership from a statement at close.
- Repay each restaurant from the right bank account. Tab card payments run weekly and can be drawn from more than one account.
- Chase receipts at the swipe, not at month end. Whoever spent the money gets the text prompt, and receipts come back in about 90 seconds on average.
- Get a new LLC approved with no credit check. No credit checks are required for Tab Cards, so a store opened last quarter does not hold up the rollout.
- Reach a human when the close is due. Live chat and email are staffed by real people in the US and Canada.
Already running on Tab
Choose BILL Spend & Expense (formerly Divvy) to…
- Keep card spend and invoice approvals under one BILL login. If invoice approvals already run through BILL, keeping cards beside them saves real admin.
- Bundle AP, bill pay, travel, and reimbursements. Tab has no bill pay or vendor payment product and does not do travel.
- Run your books on one of BILL's directly synced systems. BILL syncs card data straight into five accounting systems, including Sage Intacct and NetSuite.
Neither one fits? The wider field of Divvy alternatives covers the tools built for different problems again.
How they stack up, job by job
Six everyday restaurant jobs carry the score. Support and price sit below unscored, because both depend on the plan you land on. Tab takes 5, BILL Spend & Expense takes 1.
Tab texts for the receipt right after the swipe and gets it back in about 90 seconds on average. BILL receipts are uploaded or emailed in later, and its own reviewers say emailed ones do not always find the charge.
The entity is set the moment the card is used, so nobody rebuilds it from a statement three weeks later. BILL is organised around budgets, not locations and LLCs.
A Tab card carries its own limit, so a manager can buy at 10pm without finance building anything first. A BILL card will not transact until a budget exists.
Tab card payments run weekly and can be repaid from more than one bank account. BILL is a charge card with one balance due in full on the due date.
BILL syncs directly with five accounting systems, including NetSuite, Xero, and Sage Intacct. Tab has one full QuickBooks Online integration plus CSV exports, so breadth decides it outright if your books are elsewhere.
Tab states that no credit checks are required for Tab Cards and names its bank partners on the page. The BILL pages reviewed here publish no equivalent statement.
Tab staffs live chat and email with real people in the US and Canada. BILL reviewers praise onboarding and are more mixed on help after setup.
Tab's Base plan is free and Pro is $150 per month per location. BILL is free to use with no annual card fees, then ties rewards to the billing cycle you pick.
Tab detail from Tab's own product, pricing, and security pages. BILL detail from its public product and integration pages plus G2 and Capterra reviews.
From the swipe to clean books
Tab sorts out the purchase details before anyone has to chase them at month end. Three steps, and what each looks like in the product.
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Set the limit
Issue the card to the right employee and restaurant. The spend limit and its interval are set as the card is created, which is why a manager can buy before anyone builds a budget.
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Create Card: the cardholder, the restaurant, the limit, and its interval. -
Swipe. The receipt gets asked for by text.
Tab texts the person who spent the money for the receipt, the note, and the restaurant, and they come back in about 90 seconds on average. The charge carries its card, its merchant, and an Assign Location control, so the purchase is tied to a restaurant on the transaction itself.
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The receipt prompt, bound to the transaction it belongs to. -
Clean data lands in your books
Reviewed spend goes to QuickBooks Online through a full integration included on the free Base plan, or out as a customizable CSV export for another ledger. Every charge reads Verified or Unverified first, so the one still missing its receipt shows up days before the close instead of at it.
Recent Transactions: Verified and Unverified, days before the close.
Ready in about one week, in time for your first billing cycle.
Tab AccountsCash you hold in Tab Accounts earns 2% APY, worked out daily and paid monthly. The yield moves with the market.
Andy AI, on Pro. Andy reads vendor invoices for overcharges and missed rebates, the kind that cost restaurants $25k+ in profit a year.
Cash back on the free planThe Base plan earns unlimited 1% cash back on every swipe, with no card fee from Tab.
What real users say
Across 1,000+ public reviews of BILL on Capterra, the App Store, TrustRadius and G2, the same points keep coming up.
What users flag
- Reaching a real person. The most common complaint, and G2 flags poor support 61 times.102 of 357 critical App Store
- The app itself breaks. Bugs, crashes, and screens that will not load.69 of 357 critical App Store
- Sync is rough beyond QuickBooks Online. NetSuite, Sage, Xero and Acumatica need hand-fixing.46 of 439 Capterra cons
- Cards decline on a funded budget. 38 more reviewers call the budget setup confusing.46 of 357 critical App Store
What users like
- Nobody needs training. Staff pick the app up on their own.208 of 439 Capterra
- Every card gets a spending cap. Budgets and per-card limits are the reason many picked it.122 of 439 Capterra
What you should know
- Real people answer support. Restaurant teams get live chat in the platform plus email support staffed in the US and Canada.
- QuickBooks Online connects on the free Base plan. Purchases sync directly instead of relying on a CSV handoff. Other ledgers can use customizable exports.
- Receipts come back while the purchase is fresh. Tab texts the buyer after every swipe and gets the receipt back in about 90 seconds on average.
- Every swipe earns unlimited 1% cash back. It is included on the free Base plan, with no annual fee.
What Tab customers say
"We looked at other expense systems but it just didn't compare to the technology that Tab has."
Teresa, Accounting Specialist, Rock Strategic (75+ units)
"It's rare to find software partners whose products fully live up to the promises made during the sales process. Tab not only met expectations but exceeded them. It's been a win for both our management and store teams."
Juliana, Owner, Heidi's Brooklyn Deli (8+ locations)
The full side by side
Every row, with the better fit called.
| What you are comparing | Tab | BILL Spend & Expense (Divvy) | Why it matters in a restaurant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receipt capture | Prompted right after the swipe, back in about 90 seconds on average | Uploaded or emailed in after the fact | The receipt you do not get that day is the one you never get |
| Putting purchases on the right restaurant's books | One or several locations per transaction, tagged as it happens | Budgets are the organizing unit, not locations or LLCs | A repair at store four has to land on store four's P&L |
| Buying without waiting on a budget | Cards work without a budget in place first | A card needs a budget first before it will transact | A 10pm freezer failure does not wait for a budget |
| Paying the card balance | Weekly card payments, repaid from more than one bank account | A charge card, balance due in full on the due date | Which account the money leaves from is an entity question, not a preference |
| Accounting systems supported | Deep on one ledger, QuickBooks Online, plus customizable CSV exports | Broader: direct sync with five accounting systems | Breadth decides it outright if your books are not in QuickBooks Online |
| Getting approved | No credit checks required for Tab Cards | The card agreement governs, with no equivalent statement on the pages reviewed here | A location LLC opened last quarter has no credit file of its own |
| Paying vendor bills | No bill pay or vendor payment product | A full vendor-bill product sits alongside the card | If invoice approvals are the bigger job, that gap is real |
| Travel | Not something Tab does | Booking built into the suite | Regional managers on the road, booked in one place |
| Getting help | Live chat and email, staffed in the US and Canada | Onboarding praised in reviews, help after it is mixed | A live support channel matters during month end |
Tab from Tab's own pricing and product pages; BILL Spend & Expense from its public product, integration, and rewards pages, plus neutral review sites.
Questions card buyers usually ask
Straight answers to the questions operators ask before switching.
No. Tab has a full QuickBooks Online integration and it is included on the free Base plan. Your books stay where they are.
The Base plan is free. Pro is $150 per month per location, and groups with five or more locations get custom pricing. Tab does not charge a fee on the card itself.
No. Tab states that no credit checks are required for Tab Cards. For BILL, the card agreement governs, so ask what the application checks before you commit a group to it.
About a week. Everything is set up in that first week and the account is ready for its first billing cycle. Plan it around a cycle boundary rather than mid-month.
Tab. The entity is set the moment the card is used, and repayment can come from more than one bank account. BILL's own reviewers say each company has to be set up individually.
Yes. Tab card payments run weekly and can be repaid from more than one bank account. The BILL pages reviewed here do not document a per-location bank account.
The charge stays marked Unverified in Recent Transactions. You see it days before the close, so you can ask while the person still remembers what they bought.
Tab sends a customizable CSV export for other ledgers. BILL syncs directly with five accounting systems, so if you run Sage Intacct or NetSuite, that is a fair reason to pick BILL.
No. Both sit between the card and the books. Tab's virtual accounts can take revenue deposits from a POS during onboarding, but the POS is still the POS.
You can keep BILL for accounts payable and use Tab for cards. Do not run two card programs at once, though, or managers end up carrying two cards.
Tab is the Card of Choice, Built Exclusively for Restaurants
Start with one restaurant. Free Base plan, no credit check, unlimited 1% cash back, and receipts collected by text at the swipe.
