3 best apps for small businesses to manage accounting

Why do I need to use accounting software?

We know that running your own small business is hard! It can be challenging to find time for everything, and we know that your accounts can often be the hardest to find time for!

Plenty of tools can help small business owners manage the accounting process without taking up all of their time and energy.

The good news is that filing your accounts has come a long way since the '80s. Gone are the brown filing cabinets with every receipt, invoice and bank balance slip that you keep for years upon years.

As technology has grown more sophisticated, we can now utilise mobile apps that help us to reduce the office clutter!

Apps such as Xero, Quickbooks and Wave accounting work by letting you attach receipts and invoices straight into a new digital folder, meaning you do your expense tracking directly from your mobile devices.

The real advantage, though, comes when it's time for your accountant to get involved. Agencies now utilise these apps to help us do our jobs better and help you to save more money.

Xero cloud-based accounting software

Xero is a software package that you can take wherever you go, whether it's their easy-to-use mobile app or browser-based system. Simply scan receipts, track income, log business expenses and get payment reminders to track every transaction from your business bank account, no matter how small or large. Meaning you can have easy access when it's time to file in tax season!

Xero's ability to tag transactions with different categories also helps us spot the costs eating away at your business growth & development.

Xero is a highly user-friendly app, meaning you can get started even if you have no accounting background. It also offers the option to upgrade your Xero account for more advanced features, including payroll & time tracking tools.

If you're looking for someone who knows the ins and outs of Xero and understands your business needs, Taxtful has Xero Advisor Certification and can help you take your accounts to the next level. 

QuickBooks Online and mobile app

Similarly to Xero, Quickbooks lets you log all of your transactions in the cloud, eliminating any storage in your offices.

Quickbooks offers 2 main products, either a local or cloud-based service, which gives you the flexibility to choose how you like to do your accounting!

We recommend the cloud-based Quickbooks to easily keep track of things when you are out of the office and keep your records up to date.

There's a Quickbooks solution for your business with everything from a basic plan to more advanced plans. With additional plans such as QuickBooks payroll, you can really scale up your accounting and payroll software whilst your business grows. 

Wave Financial

If you're a smaller business and keeping a close eye on your bottom line, then Wave financial has a great free version for accounting and invoicing software!

Wave allows you to easily create an account, meaning that even the most technologically challenged can get started with Wave Accounting right away! This makes it an excellent choice for those who are still getting to grips with Xero or Quickbooks.

With free reporting tools and real-time data syncing,  Wave accounting is an ideal solution for those of you who want to keep track on the go.

Wave financials also allows you to run several businesses with one Wave account, making it the perfect small business management app! 

Learn how to use cloud accounting apps

While these apps are excellent management tools, they can only be as great as how you use them! Making sure that you are familiar with whichever app or service you use can stop you from making costly and timely errors!

All of these tools offer free training that you can even do from your mobile phone.

Though cloud accounting is on the rise and a great accounting solution to stop you from forgetting to log your records, you really need to know how to use the tools so that you can get the most from them.

Tip - Choose the best one for your business, look at if you can add unlimited users, and offer full-service payroll and payment processing features. 

Remember, legally, as a small business owner, you still have to keep physical copies of your paperwork for at least 36 months so that any issues in your accounts can be tracked back through. 

For more information on how Taxtful can help you use software such as Xero as part of running your small business, get in touch.

‍