It’s hard to understate the benefits of accounting software, especially for a small business. After all, accounting is a crucial aspect to all businesses—all it takes is one misplaced decimal or mistake to throw off all of your finances. But there is more to small business accounting software than just preventing errors. For one, your financial data is more secure with small business accounting software. Compared to alternative data management, cloud based storage—like the kind that accounting softwares use—is far better at protecting your data from unauthorized personnel.
Small business accounting software also allows for better communication between your business and customers or vendors with the inclusion of customer portals. For a small business, this is great news. Forbes considers maintaining high levels of customer service to be one of the main factors in success. Customers and vendors can also view invoices, bills and make payments from their integrated portals.
At the end of the day, small business accounting software makes the whole process of accounting simpler. Small business accounting software can generate financial reports in seconds so that your business can prepare for tax season, easily view profitability metrics, and make quick decisions when necessary, all while saving time and cutting back on excess labor.
Additionally, small business accounting software makes the process of accounting less complicated due to its ability to centralize and sync data. Meaning, that information is always up to date across all departments in your growing business. This is also why small business accounting software doesn’t just benefit your accounting department, but the rest of your business as well.
Accounting and Human Resources
One of the best examples of how small business accounting software helps your company outside of the accounting department is with regards to human resources. For your employees to be fairly paid and happy in their respective roles, your human resource department needs to keep track of lots of moving parts. Between the salary each employee earns, how many hours worked, time-off taken, breaks, overtime, and even benefits, the human resources department has a lot of data to keep track of. This is data that the accounting department also needs access to in order to make sure that the books are properly aligned at the end of each month or quarter.. Given the ability to centralize data that small business accounting software provides, the human resources department and accounting department are afforded joint and easy access to the data that they both need. Businesses need to have a certified accountant to have successful data management and use several software providers.
Accounting and Purchase Ordering
Centralized data in small business accounting software once again shows its utility when it comes to purchase orders and stock. The main duty of accounting is to manage your business’s expenses and at one point or another, your company will have to purchase supplies in order to keep running. When your data is in sync and communication is facilitated between your departments, it becomes easier to make sure that your expenses and receipts match. This kind of environment also lends itself to transparency between departments which in turn leads to smoother operations overall.
On the side of purchase ordering, small business accounting software can also help with keeping track of stock. A central feature of accounting software is its ability to track accounts, and when combined with inventory management, means that your company has a better sense of how much inventory there is in addition to what items are most in need of restocking. Your management will always know how much it will cost to restock your inventory, whether your small business currently has the funds to do so, and how the budget can be rearranged in order to meet your inventory needs.
The Takeaway
Accounting software is certainly beneficial for your accounting department but its benefits and advantages are much more farther reaching. For your entire business, small business accounting software offers increased security, enhanced customer service, and most importantly, centralized data that can be accessed at any time by anyone in your company. Afterall, it doesn’t do you or your company well if the accounting department exists in its own silo. Small business accounting software contributes to all of the departments in your small business, human resources and the c-suite being just a few examples.
