The best alternative to Esker in 2026
Esker covers purchasing, suppliers and accounts payable in one suite. Compare that scope with the accounting and operating rules of Calitem.
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Short answer
Choose Calitem to automate business processes with custom workflows, including purchase checks, line-level allocations and your own approval rules. It adapts to the rules of companies and accounting firms and generates journal entries for their ERP.
Consider Esker if you want to connect purchases, suppliers, contracts and accounts payable on a broader platform. Its offering also includes customer and collections processes, with solutions that can work independently or integrated.
What is Esker and how does it work?
Esker offers software to automate purchasing and finance processes. Its source-to-pay suite connects suppliers, contracts, purchases and accounts payable; It also has solutions for the customer order and collection cycle. Invoice automation is one part of that offering.
This is how the work is organized:
- Organize suppliers and purchases.The teams work with supplier information, requests and contractual conditions within the corresponding solutions.
- Process and approve invoices.The accounts payable solution captures the data, verifies the information and directs the issues and approvals of the process.
- Connect decisions with finances.The circuit data is transferred to the ERP and allows invoices and spending commitments to be tracked.
Esker and Calitem cover accounts payable automation, approvals and connection to ERP. Esker extends its offer to more stages of purchasing and customer relationships. Calitem organizes its product around the accounting work of supplier documents and their operating rules.
When Esker fits
- Purchasing and finance within the same project.You need to coordinate requests, suppliers and invoices, as well as automate accounting.
- Contracts that condition spending.You want to follow expirations, renewals and commitments agreed with suppliers.
- Automation of various financial cycles.Your plan includes both purchases and payments as well as customer orders and collections.
What is Calitem?
Calitem is the AI accounting system that automates accounts payable, from receiving documents to posting journal entries in your ERP.
It is designed for companies where each invoice can require several checks: finding the purchase order, checking what was received, allocating the expense and obtaining the right approval. Calitem connects this work with your accounting rules and business systems.
Where Esker has the advantage
A suite from suppliers to accounts payable
Esker connects different stages of source-to-pay: sourcing, suppliers, purchases, contracts and invoices. It fits when the need covers the coordination of Purchasing and Finance and you want an offer that covers that path.
Supplier registration and management
Esker Supplier Management centralizes supplier information, onboarding and controls. It is relevant when the team needs to organize the relationship and data of its suppliers as part of the purchasing process.
Contracts connected to purchases and invoices
Esker allows you to centralize contracts, manage your approvals and track renewals and obligations. Connecting to purchases and accounts payable helps tie the expense to the terms and commitments of the agreement.
Solutions for the customer and collection cycle
In addition to accounts payable, Esker offers automation for order-to-cash. It may fit when you are looking for a software provider to extend the project to customer orders, billing and collections, while maintaining a common financial offering.
Where Calitem has the advantage
Documents from your team channels
Calitem receives invoices and documents from email, WhatsApp, Teams and shared repositories. A person in a store or warehouse can send a photo without installing another app. The documentation enters the same accounting process, although it arrives through different channels.
Extraction tailored to your documents
The AI extracts general data, lines and specific fields of your operation. Calitem processes up to 250 documents every five minutes, to absorb large volumes without transcribing invoices one by one. Fields with low confidence are reviewed.
Duplicate invoices under control
Calitem detects duplicate documents automatically. When the same invoice arrives through different channels, your team can identify repetition before it turns into more accounting work.
Matching invoices, purchase orders and delivery notes
Calitem matches the three documents line by line and checks references, quantities, prices and taxes. If more units are invoiced than received, or a price changes, it flags the difference for your team to review before posting.
Accounts and cost centers by line
One invoice can include expenses from several stores, departments or projects. Calitem assigns categories, subaccounts and cost centres to each line using your chart of accounts and the team’s previous classifications.
Approvals that follow your rules
Define who must approve based on the amount, legal entity, cost centre or supplier. Calitem routes each document through the appropriate workflow and can automatically approve transactions that meet your limits.
AI-generated accounting entries
Calitem uses your chart of accounts and previous accounting decisions to generate journal entries and send them to your ERP. Allocations are included, so the team does not have to re-enter information that has already been processed.
Integrations that connect the entire operation
Calitem connects the ERP to stock systems, POS and internal tools using native integrations and an open API. Specific connections adapt to the flow and data your operation needs, to reduce manual transfers between systems.
Several companies, well-organized accounting
Calitem supports multiple legal entities and cost centres. Classifications and approval routes follow your operational structure, whether you are a group of companies or an accounting firm managing clients’ accounts.
Analysis of accounting information
Calitem allows you to analyze the accounting and accounts payable information it processes. Your team can use that data to track the operation and understand expenses, as well as complete the work on each invoice.
Learn more: Document receptionInvoice, purchase order and delivery note matchingApproval workflowsAutomated accounting
Choose Esker if…
- You want to coordinate sourcing, purchasing and accounts payable in one suite.
- You need to incorporate and manage suppliers within the project.
- Contracts, renewals and spending commitments require specific monitoring.
- Your plan also covers customer ordering and collection processes.
Choose Calitem if…
- You manage a high volume of invoices or processes that require several checks before posting.
- You need to cross invoices, orders and delivery notes by line and detect differences in quantities or prices.
- You distribute the expense of the same invoice between different accounts and cost centers.
- You want to configure approvals by company code, cost center, amount, or supplier.
- You are looking to automate the generation of entries with your chart of accounts and previous classifications.
- You need to connect the ERP with stock systems, POS or other tools in your operation.
Frequently asked questions about Esker and Calitem
For which company is Esker best and for which company is Calitem best?
Esker fits when the project spans multiple purchasing and finance stages, including suppliers, contracts, or customer processes. Calitem fits when you want to automate accounts payable with specific rules for documents, reconciliation, line-level allocations and approvals, right down to the posting in the ERP. Both proposals can solve complex processes; The size of the project and the specific circuit are the selection criteria.
What programs does Calitem integrate with?
Calitem integrates with most ERP available on the market, such as A3, Sage, SAP, NetSuite, QuickBooks, Holded and more than 20 others. Available dimensions vary by connector: channels in a3innuva, projects in Sage, and tags in Holded.
How does Calitem manage cost centers?
Calitem uses projects, channels or other dimensions depending on your accounting software. It can assign them automatically using addresses, descriptions, suppliers or products.
How does Calitem match invoices, delivery notes and purchase orders?
Calitem’s document management system matches invoices, purchase orders and delivery notes and compares their products. It checks references, quantities, prices and taxes line by line and flags differences for review.
How does duplicate detection work in Calitem?
Calitem identifies duplicates based on the digital ID of each document and crossing data such as amounts, document number and supplier to flag duplicates to the user.
How does the workflow builder in Calitem work?
In Calitem you can configure routes by company code, cost center, amount or supplier, with automatic approval for operations that comply with your rules.