Indispensable accounting tools for your business

Accounting can sometimes be quite complicated, with a lot of numbers to crunch and equations to calculate. The main stressor in accounting is the precision required to fulfil the duties of the job because a small mistake can lead to extreme repercussions. Fortunately, technology has made it easier for business owners to avoid manually doing nerve-wracking complicated calculations. The integration of software into the accounting sector has relieved many business owners from paying a lot of money to hire accounting teams on standby. As a business owner, you don’t have to have a technical or accounting background to be able to use accounting software to its full extent. Whether you’re trying to automate payrolls or calculate your taxes, it can be easily done by using these indispensable accounting tools.

Zenefits

Zenefits is among the very few platforms that provide an all-encompassing plethora of HR and accounting services. Its automation of basic tasks like payroll, KPIs, compliance, and more can significantly increase the efficiency of these processes. Since it’s a cloud-based software, the changes are automatically synced onto the system so they can be accessed and modified from anywhere in the world with an active internet connection. Among many of these benefits, some key features like automatic pay runs stand out; it can automatically run a pre-entered payroll schedule at the time you set. You also get to use automatic tax filings for free, which enables you to use Zenefits services to file your taxes and W-2s in any state. It’s considered a one-man army when it comes to streamlining and syncing critical information.

Sage Accounting

If you’re operating a one-person business, then Sage Accounting was specifically made to help you. What makes it quite alluring for small businesses is that it’s quite cheap, starting at only $10 per month. You’ll be able to do basic functions like recording income, expenses, and bank reconciliations. If you’re looking to get a more elaborate view of your accounting status, you can upgrade your account for only $25 to access the overview of financials, forecasting, and bill vendors. Their project management suite is best suited for individuals who often work with freelancers and contractors instead of a fixed team.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is one of the most famous accounting tools in the small business scene. It’s gaining some extra traction recently as they’re providing new users with a 30-day trial to see if they like the program or not. While FreshBooks originally handled invoices and expenses only, it started expanding to include bank account integration, creating financial reports and forecasts, payroll processing, and timesheet tracking. FreshBooks can be the perfect software if you’re looking for something that can work smoothly with a CRM software to provide you with the functionality that you need. If you’re still looking to get started, FreshBooks provides free customer service along with its accounting software to help you navigate any problems you may stumble into.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks is a cloud-based software, giving it flexibility in terms of operations. The range of versatility that QuickBooks provides makes it possible for entrepreneurs with minimal knowledge on finances to account for taxes, income, expenses, and many other important financial processes. A professional accountant can get the most out of it because they can smoothly transition into utilising its balance sheets, invoices, profit statements, common size analysis, and many more. QuickBooks makes sure to provide the main accounting tools that any business would need, such as smooth dashboards for all data, invoice generation, payroll processing, and even cataloguing business expenses.

Sighted

Sighted is often the tool of choice for small business owners who already have some accounting background. Its simplicity makes it one of the best available tools on the market. It doesn’t take beginners to the software much to start customising invoices, integrating payment methods, and tracking expenses. While it may not offer the full accounting suite of heavy-duty accounting tools, it can provide just enough of what you need for quite the cheap price. Pricing options can be monthly, quarterly, or annually. If you decide to upgrade to the premium version of Sighted, you’ll have no limits on the number of invoices, expenses, and online payment systems that you can use.

As a small business owner, you probably don’t have a lot of time to waste on crunching numbers and analysing financial data related to payroll or taxes. It’s understandable if you’d like to get an accountant to do all this for you, but if you skip the middleman and try using these digital accounting tools as a starter, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of money in the long run, not to mention the experience you’ll gain.

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