It can be stressful managing all the responsibilities and activities involved in running your own small business. This is a given, but with the use of the right digital tools, stress can be mitigated and time can be saved. Indeed, regardless of whether you’re in the planning stages of starting your new business, or you’re an already established proprietor, this blog post will hopefully point you in the right direction with regard to tools that can streamline and simplify traditionally time consuming and complex tasks (bookkeeping, invoicing, taxation matters, communication, CRM etc)
Bookkeeping
First, the bookkeeping of your business. Gone are the days of accounting software strictly confined to your computer requiring constant updates or downgrades just to access 1 file, and the inability to access comparative financial statements. Enter Xero - a cloud based piece of accounting software which can save you time and money, relative to the use of outdated accounting software.
Xero provides its services over a cloud, meaning you can access its tools and services from any device with a sufficient internet connection. You don’t need a specific version to access a specific file, unlike other accounting software suites; rather Xero has no installation or maintenance required on the software compliance side of things. In addition, it has integrated services with regard to ATO compliance for PAYG and BAS lodgements; the ability to integrate bank and PayPal transaction feeds and much more. For more information on the advantages and benefits of using Xero, follow this link.
Invoicing (Xero)
As implied above, Xero is amazing. This amazingness, however, is not just confined to the mere realm of bookkeeping. Xero further provides the ability to invoice customers and suppliers and accordingly reconcile these incomings and outgoings with your financial accounts. In addition, it provides invoice templates; the ability to see when customers access their digital invoice; allows for the creation of recurring invoices and batch payments; and the ability to invoice via Android or iOS mobile. Again, all of this being integrated within your accounting software simplifies the bookkeeping process of your business, for either yourself, or your accountant. Saving your time can be great, it can allow you to do things that are more pertinent for your business interests, but saving your accountant’s time can also save you money.
Taxation
The idea of a “Tax Return” is indeed daunting for some small business owners. However, with the right accountant and tools, tax time should definitely not be a source of stress. As already explored above, Xero simplifies the bookkeeping aspect of your business. Provided you have an understanding of your GST and PAYG obligations, factoring these in your Xero transactions should be easy. It should be noted, Xero also provides free and unlimited support. But regardless, once you have an understanding on your reporting obligations, Xero also has inbuilt templates to simplify your BAS and GST reporting obligations with the GST.
Productivity:
Applications/Software such as Asana and Workflow max can provide added efficiency gains for your small business with regard to KPI’s and time cards.
This piece of software, at its essence, provides you with the ability to track your employees timesheet and work hours. This can be devised based on billable hours, non-billable hours, productive time and so forth. It also provides you with the functionality to track jobs, individual employee’s work on jobs, and the due date on jobs. All of these functions can be used to either track KPI’s, or to form the basis of the KPI’s you wish to use in your business.
Similarly, Asana, a collaborative smart phone application, that is also web based, can provide your small business with the ability to allocate, collaborate and keep track of all projects per your business’ needs. Asana can help you to get more done with less effort and most importantly it’s teamwork without email! For those that work in teams, Asana can ensure that everyone is on the same page by creating ‘workspaces’ which are the area of focus allowing you to manage your tasks.
Our website provides a wide array of information regarding specific aspects of Xero functions, and how to implement Xero in certain niches (eg for Amazon clientele). Further, Dolman Bateman can also provide specific guidance on what may individually be best for your business needs. Contact us today!