In last week’s blog we looked at some signs that your growing business was outgrowing your accounting processes. We gave you 5 signs that it was time for your business to make the switch. If you read that and didn’t see any issues that you encounter, you may have thought that means you don’t need software. Unfortunately, there are more signs to look out for that may indicate that you do need accounting software.
As with the last blog, if at least one of these is relevant to you then we recommend you look in to potentially getting accounting software and saving you time and money.
Integration is Required
You may need to connect your accounting system to your CRM system. You may even need to send and track invoices. For all of this, integration is crucial. Integration is a very important feature of today’s best accounting software. A competent accounting program should be able to easily import data from expense tracking apps. It should also be able to process it in a useful way.
When programs integrate, however, you save hours against the manual transfer of data from other apps. The right software solution offers the benefits of an integration without the cost of upkeep. Meaning, accounting solutions that are on the same platform as your other business tools will be connected in the background without costly integrations.
Employees Increasing, Payroll Increasing
Manually, Payroll is a time-consuming task. With 2 or 3 employees, the task may seem, although mundane, manageable. But when your business starts to grow, your employees grow alongside.
As the number of employees grows, your payroll needs grow too. You may already have an accounting system that will allow you to run payroll. This, however, may limit the number of employees you can process monthly.
Some payroll solutions only allow up to 50 employees. In circumstances like this, it’s time to adopt an accounting software solution that grows with you.
Automating your payroll also eliminates errors in payments as they can handle complex tax regulations, including new forms and requirements. To every staff member, their pay will be very important to them and any mistakes which may cause them to be underpaid or paid late would be very detrimental to them. Using software, ultimately, means that your staff will be paid correctly and on time which will prevent any issues or complaints.
Detailed Reporting is Non-existent
When you are planning on growing your business the need for more precise financial reporting becomes greater. Manually seeking out the information to process these reports becomes laborious and the missing of information becomes far more likely.
But why should you spend all your hours gathering and inputting data? Your time would be much more efficiently spent if you used the hours to assess the outcomes and analyse the reports to find ways in which your business could improve and grow.
Free or basic software won’t let you create a high number of reports meaning that you could be missing out on vital pieces of information that will help your business. With NetSuite, you can apply multi-dimensional analysis to financial data that will provide you with unique insights into your business. This allows you to improve communications across different departments as you will know exactly where each stands as well as maintain control across these departments.
Everything’s Manual, No Automation
Automating processes like monthly invoicing or handling regular expenses would save you time, allowing you to focus on other aspects of the business. It will also make your life easier as you won’t need to dread the approach of month end knowing you have these tasks outstanding. Automation also makes it easier to reconcile your bank statements. Additionally, it reduces the chance for human error. Software will do this by putting primary data and details where they’re needed most.
With an accounting software you can even automate tasks associated with AP, AR, accounts reconciliation. On top of this, you can update your financial records, and even create your financial statements.
If you don’t know whether you need automate or not, pay attention to how much time you spend currently on processing expenses or on manual invoicing. Those hours could very well be more costly than switching to accounting software that automates small business financial tasks.
Zero Customisation at Present
Having reports at the touch of a button is essential to the growth of any business. These reports can be used by potential investors or can even be used by you to see where you can improve and grow your business. Customising reports so you can review data in a specific way becomes more important as you grow.
If you want to run a sales tax report, review expenses or filter for travel-related items, customisation allows this. On top of that, customising lets you dig into granular data for a more accurate picture of your company’s financial status. That can, therefore, make it easier to spot any red flags or even to spy any potential opportunities. Ultimately, it creates a ,more efficient and profitable business.
Does this sound like you?
There are a few clear signs that you’re ready to switch to an accounting software system. The need for automation to save you time and money may be one sign that it’s time for you to invest in accounting software. You may even need to create many reports to better understand you business and these reports are more beneficial the more custom made they are. On top of that, the growth means that you need more integration between platforms and more efficient payroll processes to deal with the growth. All of these factors, whether they are all issues or individual issues may be an indication that accounting software is the way forward for your business.
At Cofficient, we can implement your NetSuite system and provide local support to your business on your path to growth. Get in touch today to see how we can help.
