SME spend trends 2025: Budgetly report uncovers key insights for finance teams
In today’s uncertain economy, how businesses manage spending is a window into their priorities and financial health. To help make sense of evolving SME finance trends, Australian leading AI-first spend management platform Budgetly has released its The State of SME Spend in Australia 2025 Report, offering data-driven insights into how finance teams are managing costs, tools, and policies.
This article touches on a few early insights from the report, with an invitation to download the full resource for more detailed analysis.
Why SME spending trends matter in 2025
The business environment in 2025 continues to challenge small and medium-sized enterprises across Australia. With pressures from wage growth, supply chain costs, and digital infrastructure demands, how businesses allocate their budget is under greater scrutiny than ever.
Finance leaders are being asked to do more with less—and they’re looking for data-backed ways to optimise spending.
About the Budgetly SME Spend Report
The report is based on data and insights gathered from a wide range of Australian SMEs. It sheds light on:
Year-over-year spending shifts
Non-capital vs capital expenditure trends
Expense categories with the greatest growth
The maturity of spend policies and control mechanisms
It’s a must-read for any finance professional looking to benchmark their performance or guide future planning.
Where SMEs are shifting their spend
Australian SMEs are now favouring non-capital spending categories—such as tools that support flexible teams, on-demand software, and business services—over traditional capital investments. This reflects a need for agility and a desire to avoid large, upfront financial commitments.
Expense visibility as a rising priority
The report also reinforces a recurring issue: lack of real-time visibility over team and departmental expenses. Without access to live data, many finance teams feel like they’re flying blind—reacting to spend reports only after the quarter ends.
To address this, more businesses are adopting platforms that support expense tracking, corporate prepaid cards, and integration with tools like Xero.
Finance as a driver of operational strategy
With spending under a microscope, finance teams have more influence than ever on business strategy. The report suggests a growing number of SMEs are embedding finance leads into operational decisions, procurement, and tech evaluation—highlighting the importance of tools that enable speed, accuracy, and accountability.
Tools Budgetly offers for better spend management
Budgetly offers modern spend management solutions tailored to SMEs:
Set spending limits and automate card issuance
Use real-time dashboards to track team or project spend
Eliminate paper receipts with instant digital capture
Gain visibility with automated reports and audit trail
Support finance teams with tools built for agility
Download Budgetly’s Free Report on ‘The State of SME Spend in Australia 2025’
The full SME Spend Report 2025 offers more insights, data points, and actionable recommendations for finance teams navigating the challenges of this year.
Download Budgetly’s full report here and explore how your business can respond with greater confidence.
