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There’s a heap of reasons why you should start your own business. Financial security, freedom in life and not having to report to a manager or boss are just a smattering of possible benefits. With that said, if you look around at some of life’s most successful people, aside from those who inherited their wealth or won the lottery – they all built their empires from the ground up. So, if you’re in the empire making game, chances are you’re selling a product or service to the general public or to another business.
Whether you’re a sales master, a serious strategist, a marketing whizz and a social media guru, it could all be for nothing if your accounting systems aren’t working for you. So, unless you want to see money down the gurgler, read on to know why updating your financial systems adds up to success.
Why update and upgrade?
“I don’t need accounting software!” you cry! “Pen and paper are serving me just fine, thank you very much!” This may be the case, but the year is 2020 and if you’re relying on pen and paper to keep track of your income and outgoings, you’re in for a rude surprise – accounting software is far superior.
To begin with, let’s talk about time. Number crunching longhand is a massive time sink. It takes hours and hours to reconcile your books by hand. Even with a calculator, that’s still time spent that could be better utilized elsewhere – like growing your business or snaring that plum client. By migrating your books to software systems you’re saving oodles of time. The Accounting Assessment – How to Tell if Your Software Needs an Update.
Safety and security
Let’s say you’re still using traditional filing methods and all your years’ of financial records are tucked away safely in the back office. What if, heaven forbid, your office floods or catches fires? It can and does happen – whether due to extreme weather events or just “acts of God”.
Having your books kept on a software system mitigates this risk, as more and more accounting software are cloud-based these days. Cloud storage essentially means that your sensitive accounting data is kept on an online server, safe and secure. Should anything happen to your physical premises, your records sheets and income statements will be safe and secure, ready to be downloaded once you’re back in business.
Automation is the name of the game
How much time do you spend writing invoices, and issuing late notices, and chasing clients who haven’t paid yet? Did you know that an accounting software system can take all of the hard work out of the equation? Good software should be able to automatically issue invoices, late payment reminders and final notices, and send you alerts when you’ve been paid or when someone is late to the game. Now imagine what you can do with all this free time.
What size software will you need?
This will depend on your business. There is a range of options on the market to suit small business, and these will vary in price. Have a look around and see which one seems the best fit for you. If you’re ready to scale up in size there are also options for accounting software to suit medium to enterprise-scale organisations.
To add it all up
It’s probably past time that you updated your accounting systems. Software is better than traditional systems, for a variety of reasons. You’ll be investing in safety and security with cloud storage, and the automation features will save you time and money. Have a look around and purchase the software that’s the best fit for your business, and remember, you can scale up the software as your business scales up the profits.
