Keeping on top of your finances is one of the keys to success as a small business owner. That’s easy to say but not so easy to do!
Many of us are so busy with the day-to-day tasks like dealing with customers and suppliers that there isn’t much time left for accounting. We are often hesitant about buying software packages because we don’t enough about accounts to make an informed choice between all the accounts software out there. Is it really worth the cost anyway? And isn’t it going to ages to set it up and learn how to use it?
Lately, I’ve heard a few mums in business ask “which is the best accounting software for my business?” Many use Excel, but that’s not the easiest option if you haven’t already been trained to use it properly. You may be better off with software that guides you through your accounts, especially if maths isn’t your strong point! And even if you can set up all the formulas correctly, Excel won’t create invoices for you – you have to do each one yourself (or pay someone else to do it).
So if you’re thinking of buying accounting software, make sure you take a look at Quickbooks Simplestart. Quickbooks Simplestart is designed for people who aren’t accountants, so it’s easy to use. It tracks and controls the money coming in and going out of your business, so you can see how much money you have – and in real time, too. That means you can monitor your sales and see your most profitable products at any time.
I’ve been self-employed for quite a few years and for most of those I’ve done my own invoicing manually. Basically, typing the names and numbers in each individual invoice. It wasn’t so bad for me because, as a training consultant, I only had a few invoices going out every month.
But manual invoicing rapidly becomes a huge drain on your time if you have more invoices than I did. The good news is that Quickbooks Simplestart lets you create and send invoices in seconds. It has templates which you can customise in any way you like, such as adding your own logo.
And if creating profit and loss accounts or balance sheets has you scratching your head, Quickbooks Simplestart will generate these for you. In fact, it has a total of 14 reports already built-in.
Accounting software really could save you a lot of time and stress!
photo credit: alancleaver_2000