Ready to truly give your growing business a competitive edge?
You know the feeling. Every invoice squeezed out by hand. Every payment notification felt like Christmas. You can’t grow your business until you figure out your cashflow…
Running your actual business at the same time, of course.
Let’s look at the reality of the situation:
Cashflow is the reason 82% of small businesses fail. Period. And it’s not because most small businesses aren’t profitable…
It’s because they don’t have streamlined workflows in place.
SME accounting software helps you do just that. By automating many of your financial workflows, you’ll take control of your cashflow and leave competitors drowning in spreadsheet Hell.
We’ll cover:
- Why Financial Workflows are Important
- Costs of Manual Finances
- Important Features to Look for in Software
- How to Choose the Right Software
Why Financial Workflows are Important to SMEs
Whether you realize it or not, your business runs on financial workflows.
Think about it…
- Invoices are created.
- Payments are received.
- Expenses are logged.
…it all flows through your financial operations on a daily basis.
What happens when those workflows aren’t streamlined or are done manually? Errors. Triple entry of data. Lost invoices.
When you partner with SME accounting software that provides software for creating invoices and quotes, you can automate these repetitive tasks and focus on growing your business.
Why is this important?
Well let’s think about invoicing.
If your invoices are getting sent out faster, your payments will be collected faster. Simple as that.
And the quicker your business can collect payment, the better your cashflow will be.
Want your business to survive? Better cashflow.
Want your business to grow? You got it. Better cashflow.
Grow your business with better cashflow by streamlining your financial workflows.
Costs of Running Manual Finances
Believe it or not…there are still entrepreneurs out there that run their finances purely off of spreadsheets.
That’s expensive.
Not only are you losing out on incredible time by manually entering data, but you’re doing your business a disservice. Here are some costly consequences of running manual finances.
- Lost productivity. Your time is valuable. Working in Excel is not going to grow your business.
- Human error. Let’s be honest…even the best of us enter errors when working in Excel. Then you realize your client was double charged. Trust kills relationships.
- Slow payments. If it takes you a week to create invoices, then that’s how long it will take you to get paid. Business don’t thrive on slow collections.
- Missed opportunities. While your behind a desk inputting data, your competition is making sales.
Here are some actual stats…
Did you know that 60% of SMBs cite cash flow management as one of their top challenges? With modern SME accounting software, cashflow management should be one of the less time consuming tasks your business completes.
The smart business owners take advantage of the tools that allow their business to flourish. Watch your competition suffer because they don’t have their finances streamlined.
Important Software Features to Look For When Growing Your Business
When searching for the perfect accounting software for your small business, you should evaluate a few aspects that will “move the needle” for your business.
Don’t waste time with software that just does basic bookkeeping. There are important features you should look for that will help your business run smoother and scale when you’re ready to take your business to the next level.
Let’s review some of these game changing features:
Automated Invoicing
Did you know that creating invoices manually is horrible for your productivity? Not only should you be able to create beautiful invoices in minutes, but you should also be able to send out recurring invoices as well as automatic payment reminders.
This feature alone will save you hours of admin time and improve your cashflow.
Instant Financial Reporting
You cannot manage something if you don’t have visibility.
Look for SME accounting software that allows you to see your cash position at your fingertips. Understanding where you stand doesn’t have to be learned at the end of the month. You should know month-to-date where your business stands.
Integrations
Speak to your other software partners. What software ecosystem do you operate in?
Your accounting software should integrate with them all. From your CRM, to payment gateways, to your inventory system. Watch how much time you save when data is pushed automatically to your accounting software.
Multi-Currency
Tax Compliance Features
Did you know that tax laws change all the time? Not only should you be able to keep yourself tax compliant by having your software track the needed data, but your accounting software should be able to produce those reports for you.
The objective here is clear: Spend less time on financial processes and more time growing your business.
How to Choose the Right Accounting Software for Your Growing Business
Picking the right accounting software for your small business can be tricky.
On one hand you have hundreds of options. But then again, not every software solution is built for small businesses. And what happens when you outgrow your software? You have to start this process all over again.
Yeah, don’t do that.
Follow these steps when looking for software:
What Problems are You Trying to Solve?
Write down the pain points you experience with your current process. Maybe it’s invoicing? Or lack of visibility on cash flow? Whatever it is, use that as your guide when testing out accounting software.
Where do You See your Business in 2-3 Years?
This may be your first venture, but think about where you see your business in the future. Do you plan on hiring employees? Do you plan on expanding to international markets? These are all things to consider when looking for SME accounting software.
You don’t want to limit your business by your software. And trust me, you will outgrow your software.
User Experience
Features don’t matter if your team won’t use the software.
All good software should have intuitive interfaces that are easy to use. Don’t forget, most software offers free trials. Take advantage of them.
Support
Ever had a software problem that took days to be resolved?
Customer support is important. Don’t settle on software that doesn’t have great support or an amazing reputation. Do your research.
Pricing
Pricing shouldn’t be your number one criteria. But it should be a factor.
When evaluating pricing, take into consideration:
- How long will it take to implement and learn this software?
- Does this software have extra costs for features you desire?
- How much will your business save by automating tasks?
Free yourself from the stress of manual finances by streamlining your financial operations with the help of SME accounting software.
To sum this post up:
- Running your finances manually is costing your business time and money.
- Accounting software features like automated invoicing will improve your cashflow
- Look for software that can scale with you
- Do your research when picking the perfect software for you
The stats prove that small businesses fail because of cashflow. Cashflow problems are tied to poor financial processes.
You can be the business that outlasts the competition. Take control of your finances by implementing SME accounting software that streamlines your financial operations.
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