It could be overwhelming trying to keep up with the financial aspect of running a small business. Going through the rigors of analyzing invoices, daily expenses, and IRS requirements could be a never-ending task for small business owners.
Entrepreneurs having to go through these piles of administrative and accounting work sometimes limits their overall production capacity. Fortunately, technology has provided various tools, including small business loans platforms like Camino Financial, to bail these business owners from the nerve-wracking financial tasks. To effectively run your craft while avoiding unfavorable distractions, you should consider these online financial tools.
Accounting Tools
When using accounting software for your bookkeeping and transaction upkeep, you should aim for flexibility and expense. Some tools you could consider are Xero and QuickBooks to enable you to run your accounting tasks accurately and swiftly. It would be best if you search for these features in any software of your choice;
- Basic accounting tasks
- Multiple user-access
- Tax preparation
- Quote and estimate creation
- Automation of recurring and billing payments
- Mobile access, etc.
Payroll Management Tools
The task of payroll management could be prone to errors and time-consuming. For accurate and quick execution, you could consider tools like Gusto and Zenefits. The tools help you to streamline processes and avoid costly inefficiency. Some payroll management tools can integrate with other storefront or accounting tools you might already be using for more efficient results.
Budgeting Software
Preparing a realistic and workable budget and adhering to it is vital to your small business’ financial growth. Depending on whatever accounting tool you use, you can instantly create budgets for your business without a separate device. You could consider tools like PlanGuru for effective stand-alone budgeting software.
Financial Dashboard
It’s essential to keep tabs on the state of your business’s financial health as it enables you to analyze its progress and checkmate any deter from the desired goal. You could implement dashboards like InDinero or LivePlan to get a snapshot of your business’s financial state. With these tools, you can track various key performance indicators to measure its well-being.
Solid Billing Tools
The less complex your billing process is, the quicker your payment will be processed, and the swiffer cash flows into your business. You can easily shorten the billing process and lessen account receivables delays with tools like Bill.com or FreshBooks. By using agile billing processes and tools, you’ll improve customer experiences and boost our business overall.
Inventory Management
You can effectively track your inventory from your purchase of resale commodities to a customer’s order fulfillment. Cloud-based tools like Scout’s top-shelf or SOS Inventory help you achieve organized management of your business inventory. These inventory management tools can also create sales reports, manage order shipping and packing, and create automatic low inventory alerts.
Expense Tracking Tools
Small business expenses like meals, gas, and cabs quickly add up and are difficult to track. By using tracking software like Expensify, company staff can scan this information. Staff can scan receipts and upload them through their mobile devices. The business owner can import them and analyze them for rebilling, approval, reimbursement, and expense accounting with this information.
Online Operation and Management Versus the Traditional Means
Online Operation and management
It includes business owners using various digital financial tools and software that will help small business owners run financial tasks. The task of accounting, budgeting, payrolling, billing, etc., can be burdensome and discourage the owners from executing an excellent performance. There are various advantages of using online tools, and they include
Pros
- Online financial tools help to save time in executing tasks.
- It lets the business owner concentrate on the productive aspect of the business.
- It presents a more accurate and steady means of tracking small business bills, expenses, etc.
- Business owners can access small business loans from online platforms at better rates.
- It encourages organized and efficient financial habits on the part of both employer and employee.
Cons
- Some online financial tools can encourage inefficiency and laziness on the part of the users.
- Some of these tools might be expensive to use.
Traditional Operation and Management
In contrast to the online financial tools, traditional means of Operation in a business involve a business owner manually conducting various tasks. The tasks could include accounting, billing, payrolling, etc., while some people consider it time-consuming while other old-schooled entrepreneurs have a hard time switching.
Pros
- Encourages task efficiency in business
- It could be cost-effective as no software subscriptions are required.
Cons
- Unforeseen errors could emerge as a result of carelessness or an oversight on the business owner’s part.
- It is more time-consuming than online financial methods.
Ways Business Owners Can be Cautious When managing Online Finances
Always Watch Out for Suspicious Emails
Business owners should be alert for emails from senders they don’t recognize. If the company’s email appears strange, they should try matching it with a previous one and search for it online.
Don’t Be Quick to Click on Links
Clicking on strange links can open the door for malware to enter your company’s system or redirect you to false website traps. Once you notice a peculiar link, call the company in question directly to confirm if it’s from them or not. Hackers have over time used this means to dupe small businesses of their funds by retrieving their passwords and details.
Generate Strong passwords
When setting up subscription passwords on various financial tools, business owners should endeavor to use strong codes. They should avoid prominent dates like anniversaries, birthdays, and death dates, as hackers could easily guess.
Conclusion
Technology presents a convenient way of running a business for startups and offers helpful tools to set company priorities right. From small business loans platforms to accounting and inventory software, there continues to be an endless list of tasks that they efficiently perform. When you finally decide on the exact business finance tools you need, you can always bank on Camino Financial to help you secure the loan you need for making that move.
