Picking the Right Accounting Software for Your Small Business

Choosing the right accounting software is an extremely important decision. It’s a foundation stone that will help your business evolve and grow in the years to come.

The key to making the right choice, right from the start, is having a deep understanding of what software features matter to your business.

Choosing the best accounting software for your SME is a delicate balancing act. You need to be across what your business needs now, as well as what it will come to need as it grows in the future. Then you need to square this against your budget.

Have a look at the factors you need to take into account to choose the right accounting software for you.

Prioritise What’ll Drive Efficiency

Different accounting softwares offer different capabilities, and it’s important to choose the one that best meets the needs of your business.

If your business keeps stock and needs software that can help keep track of inventory, it may need a different platform to a business that prioritises tracking accounts receivable and accounts payable.

Other businesses may need to focus on paying employees, preparing for tax filings, or having a clear view of their profitability.

Don’t be distracted by an accounting software that offers more features than you can count. If you’re not going to use them, or they’re not going to provide support for your most critical business processes – it doesn’t matter how many bells and whistles it comes with.

Start by creating a list of capabilities you need from your accounting software, and prioritising which ones are most important to your business.

This will help you narrow down the shortlist and keep the focus on the ones that’ll deliver the most efficiencies for you.

A Realistic but Flexible Budget

Budget is another effective way to narrow down the shortlist.

If you’re realistic about how much you can afford to spend on accounting software, it’ll save you time by only evaluating the possibilities that fall within your budget. There’s no point chasing after something you’ll have to turn down in the end, anyway.

Having said that, it also pays to be flexible. After all, accounting software is an investment in your business.

If a software package at a higher price point will drive greater efficiencies for your business, its return on investment will justify expanding your budget.

For an accounting software that’s higher than your budget, make sure there is a clear case in terms of ROI justification, before you shell out more for it.

Bringing Automation to Your SME

It’s the 21st century. No matter how small, nothing regular or recurring in your business should be manual. If you can automate it, do so.

All accounting softwares offer automation features as part of their software packages. For example, Xero, QuickBooks and ZohoBooks all automate the tracking of recurring transactions such as invoices, expenses and banking transactions.

Even if you only upload images of invoices or receipts, the accounting software can decode this input and add the numbers into the right systems.

For example, if you receive an invoice by post or email, you can take a photo or scan of it and upload this image into the accounting software.

From there, the image is processed according to your business needs. This could mean setting up automated reminders for when the invoice is due.

Even for SMEs, there’s no need to deal with these payment processes by hand.

Streamlined Accounts and Payments

An accounting software is a critical investment in your business, because it gives you a clear understanding of your business’s health, and streamlines your financial processes to make them more efficient.

From tracking the payments coming in and out of your business, to analysing your financial health – accounting softwares to digitise your financial processes can make your business easier, smoother and more profitable to run.

Just as your business can benefit from a real-time view of financial health, it can also benefit from a digital platform for recurring payments.

Pair your accounting software with a digital payments solution that offers customisable subscription plans. Set up your customers’ recurring payments and use our data analytics to understand your payments stream with Payleadr.