Are you thinking of starting a business? Or maybe you’re running one but not yet using business accounting software. You might be wondering what exactly business accounting software can offer that spreadsheets can’t.
So let’s take a look at the five reasons why you should be using business accounting software and how it can help turn the chore of keeping your records up to date into something a lot more manageable.
1. What if something goes wrong?
Unfortunately, sometimes things don’t work the way they are supposed to. We have all been there before. What are you going to do if the spreadsheet you are using refuses to cooperate or corrupts some of your data?
When you subscribe to business accounting software, support comes included. So if anything does go wrong, someone will be able to help you get back up and running again as soon as possible.
2. What if something goes really, really wrong?
What happens if the computer you’re using one day decides that it has had enough and crashes for good? All of your accounts are saved on that machine and you can’t find the USB that you backed them up to anywhere. Or if you can find it, you realise you haven’t backed it up in weeks or months. Using a cloud based solution means you need not even worry about this potential catastrophe.
Business accounting software that is based in the cloud automatically takes multiple backups of your data. When the worst happens, you have the peace of mind that you’re records are all intact and you don’t have to spend the next week re-doing a year’s worth of accounts. Just get connected to the internet and off you go again.
3. Anywhere, anytime access
Imagine being able to access your accounts from any place at any time. If you really need to work from home one day or you have a big meeting with a client at their office. As long as you have internet access, you can still raise an invoice to close that all important sale.
Cloud hosted business accounting software can make this the norm for you. Because you won’t have your accounts locked into one machine, you’ll have much more flexibility and save yourself a lot of a very important resource – your time.
4. Building better relationships
Your accountant, bookkeeper, or both will probably thank you for using business accounting software. Using business accounting software makes their job a lot easier on many levels beyond the improvements in day to day transaction entry.
What’s more, if it’s based on the cloud you can give them access to your records for no extra cost. Just like you, they’ll have anywhere, anytime access to your accounts. Sending backups and up to date versions are now a thing of the past, meaning you and your accountant can be a lot more productive.
5. Improving your cash flow
Cash flow is the life blood of your business and as such it’s pretty important. It might seem a bit of a stretch to say that using business accounting software can improve your cash flow. The truth is, it most definitely can.
Making use of the invoicing capabilities reduces the time it takes to get the revenue you are owed into your bank account. You can send invoices from your business accounting software directly to your clients via email.
Now, rather than setting aside time to send out your invoices a couple of days later and perhaps posting them, your invoice is instantly with your client. Your payment term has started earlier and you get cash into your business quicker. Job done.
While there are many more benefits to using business accounting software, these are perhaps the most important. It all really boils down to one thing. Setting your business up for success.
