The benefits of financial software for small businesses

After you have made the scary jump into self employment and sorted out your business plan and Office Space Reading way such as those you can see at https://www.arlingtonbusinesspark.co.uk/, it is time to start thinking about how you are going to keep a track of your business sales and expenses.  A significant proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aren’t using financial software, a recent survey has suggested.

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The survey, conducted by the http://www.uk200group.co.uk/, UK200 group, the association for chartered accountants and law firms, revealed that 65% of their members’ small business clients were still not using a financial software package. This is a concern, given that the government’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme, which starts in 2018, requires all businesses to use software that will interface with MTD.

Cost versus benefit

For smaller firms, who may not have as much disposable cash to invest in financial software, the expenditure may seem difficult to justify, especially as the benefits may seem intangible at first. For example:

Accurate accounting

With the automation of data input, simple bookkeeping and invoicing errors can be avoided, meaning fewer accounting problems and losses. This, in turn, avoids problems with HMRC later on.

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Making the best of resources

Accounting software can be integrated into existing systems, meaning it involves very little extra man-hours to work with. Investing in finance software is also a cheaper option than recruiting extra staff to manage the financial side of the business.

Tailor-made

For a little extra, a financial software package can be customised to suit every aspect of a business, from back office to sales. It is important that you ensure that this level of software is needed for your business before you embark on spending costly sums on this kind of system.

A management level overview

Designed to be easy to use, finance software can provide essential information and real-time reporting, meaning that the users have everything they need at their fingertips. With the advantages of improved efficiency and accurate efficiency, investing in finance software doesn’t just make life easier, it gives an SME the resources and room to grow.

For those very small businesses with the most straightforward of financial situations, HMRC has confirmed that free software will be available so that they can provide the barest minimum in financial reporting to meet the MTD requirements soon to be coming in.

For SMEs still considering whether investing in financial software will be cost-effective, the immediate plus is that they will be in compliance with MTD. All that remains is to find the right package that will work for their specific circumstances and requirements

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