If you run a startup or an established small business are yet to try small business accounting software, you are seriously forgoing the opportunity to escalate profitability by better business efficiency.
You are also missing out on more professional-client relations, more fruitful negotiations and possibly, tax deductibles because you procrastinate with claiming these. Here are 10 absolutely excellent small business accounting software features to try right away.
Receipt scanning
In small business accounting software, optical character recognition software turns data entry from an hours-long process to a minutes-long process. Simply snap photos of receipts, bills, and invoices and upload them to your software.
The tech extracts all vital data from the document and presents it in digital text for you to pick up and input into emails, spreadsheets, or wherever you desire.
The software retains a copy of the source document with the data entry.
Sorting and categorizing
Small business accounting software also sorts the resulting entries either according to a filing system you set up or according to date and prior entries.
Error flagging
A large part of what bookkeepers and accountants do is entering the transactions that your business makes into your books of accounts. This is a painstaking and time-consuming process, not to mention that your data is at risk of human error.
You can completely eliminate human error with small business accounting software because you can link your business bank account and have data flow seamlessly from it to your books.
Additionally, the system flags up discrepancies and anomalies in your data and deletes duplicate data entries that cause problems when your accountant is trying to tally debit and credit balances.
Smart items
This feature, a part of the Dext Prepare small business accounting software lets you sort, categorize and label every line item.
Health checker
This is a feature that bookkeepers cannot get enough of. If you run a bookkeeping firm, you will agree that it is only once you actually get elbow deep into a client’s books that you actually get an idea of what state they are in.
By that time rates have already been discussed and you might often be left wishing you’d asked for more. Alternatively, you need to spend time poring over their books before you get back with rates.
Simplify and streamline this whole process with Dext Precision’s Health Check that allows you to know the state of a potential client’s books right at the negotiation table.
You’ll also be able to show progress when you allow them to view their health check status after you have had a go at their books. This is a great way to make your worth known and to negotiate better rates.
Business insights
Where are your supply chain leaks? Are your cash flow and cash balance optimal and if not how can you improve them? How will upcoming tax laws affect your productivity?
What little moves can you make to improve revenue? Get the answers to these big questions and much, much more with small business accounting software. You’ll get spontaneous business insights delivered regularly to a partner app on your smartphone.
You’ll also have live access to your data thanks to the automatic flow of data that we talked about earlier and because of your smartphone access.
Client dashboard
Each of your clients will have a dedicated client dashboard, complete with your own name and branding at the top. They can view prior invoices and paperwork and ask for clarity using the client dashboard. The best part is that you can get all this fanciness for as little as 20 pounds a month for a basic package by Dext.
Invoicing
Are you guilty of sending invoices late and of sometimes missing an invoice? Does this result in your clients taking payments less seriously?
Do you and your people spend your precious time chasing clients for payments and check whether they have received invoices? If you said yes to one or more of those questions, you really need small business accounting software.
You’ll get alerts when an invoice is due and the invoices will be automatically generated. These invoices will not only be automatically ready without you having to take time out of your core duties but will also be standardized and will therefore look more professional.
You receive updates when clients open invoices and when they pay them. Both you and your client are alerted when invoices become overdue.
In-app collaboration
This is a common scenario not just in small businesses but any business. A decision-maker or accountant is going through some spreadsheet and arrives at an item that he or she needs clarity on. A screenshot is taken or the data is copied and an email is sent to the team member who is supposed to provide clarity.
But busy with their own core duties, the team member in question puts the request at the bottom of their to-do list or at least after more urgent issues. Or alternatively, they need to get back to the office to access a spreadsheet and provide an answer.
Wouldn’t it be easier if the bookkeeper or accountant could simply seek clarity on the specific line item by drawing the team member’s attention to it using in-app chat?
Expense approval and adding approvers
Especially in small businesses, the business owner tends to be approver for all expenses. After all, it is your money being spent. Nonetheless, you want to spend your time expanding your business rather than getting snowed under with the nitty gritty.
Cut down time spent on expense approval in several ways when you use small business accounting software. Simply approve expenses in a single click.
Alternatively, you can add tiers to your expense approvals process so that you still can pop in and have a look when you have time, but the responsibility for approval rests with others trusted team members in your organizational hierarchy. All you need to do is add approvers using the software.
Small business accounting software has a wide range of excellent software features that allows small businesses to get on top of their accounting operations. The best accounting software can allow you to boost your cash flow significantly and enhance business productivity. Check more here.
