6 must-have financial management apps for business owners
Financial management no longer entails poring over blotchy ledgers. Even the tried-and-true spreadsheet has become obsolete.
Instead, there are a plethora of useful tools and apps that can manage the majority of your company’s finances with the click of a button – and in some cases, automatically – without you having to do anything.
Competition in this segment of the app market is fierce, which is beneficial to businesses like yours. It means that apps and software are becoming faster, smarter, and less expensive. However, it is tempting to believe that you need an app – and thus a monthly subscription fee – for everything.
Knowing which tools to choose can be difficult, so before handing over your credit card information, it’s a good idea to sit down and assess your specific requirements. You also don’t have to pay a fortune for these as a new business. Most tools have free or low-cost versions that are ideal for small businesses – and you may already be using some tools that have overlapping features.
If you’re just starting out as an entrepreneur, these are a few tools you should try out.
This local financial app and website may have made a name for itself as a personal finance monitoring tool, but there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than you might think.
Connect it to your business banking account and you’ll be able to keep track of all of your financial transactions. Consider it a simplified, but significantly improved, version of your internet banking.
Online accounting software is essential for any small business, and few make bookkeeping as simple and, strangely, almost enjoyable as Zoho Books. This useful application not only manages your finances but also automates many of your company’s workflows. Its features cater to both small and medium-sized businesses, and it has a global presence, ensuring no nasty currency conflicts or confusion.
Xero’s goal is to make day-to-day business tasks easier, and it has a suite of tools designed specifically for small business owners.
It also allows accountants and bookkeepers to seamlessly connect, saving you the time and effort of downloading data and sending a flood of emails. Xero has discovered a way to make paying bills, claiming expenses, and tracking projects simple and free of the drudgery that is usually associated with these tasks.
QuickBooks is an excellent bookkeeping app for South African business owners. They provide local sales and support services, as well as the ability for transactions to be recorded in multiple currencies. QuickBooks is another tool that is constantly adding new features, such as invoicing, expense tracking, connecting to your bank feeds, inventory management, and cash flow management.
FreshBooks has established itself as the go-to invoicing tool for small businesses. It is primarily used by freelancers and other independent service providers, and it includes useful tools such as time and mileage tracking. It has also expanded significantly in recent years to include several useful features for small business owners, such as financial overviews, cash flow management, automated billing, and team functionality as your employee base grows.
The Yoco App is popular among merchants because of its plethora of small business-related features. The free app collects all sales in one place, including those made with cards, cash, and EFTs.
Entrepreneurs can also use the app to create a payment link, send it to clients, and get paid online. And, best of all, the app will notify you whenever you make a sale or receive money in your account, as well as automatically perform a daily, weekly, or monthly financial audit.
There’s an app for everything these days – and you don’t have to go overboard. However, having a few automated tools to manage your finances in your arsenal will free you up to do what you do best.
