The promoted ads start, and they quickly inundate your social feeds as soon as you search for new business tools. With so many potential solutions to your business’s pain points, it can be challenging to sort through marketing messages. Find clarity in the thick of your search to help you pinpoint your true needs for accounting software. Take a break from your research and ask yourself these 5 questions before agreeing to another demo.
1. How Much Time Does Your Accounting Process Demand?
Review your time-tracking logs to identify the daily, weekly, and monthly time dedicated to accounting. If you don’t have these logs, direct your team to begin tracking time spent on accounting tasks in 15-minute increments. Include calculations, data entry, and reporting as well as initiating quotes and invoices.
Make a note of any standardized processes you currently utilize, like invoice templates or scheduled tasks. If accounting is distributed across team members or part of several people‘s jobs, there may be a review process. Identify audit tasks, repetitive work, and common pain points as you consider the benefits of accounting software.
2. What is Your Current Accuracy Rate?
Accuracy in accounting is essential for the long-term success of any business. If you’re frequently identifying errors with invoices or balance sheets, your accuracy rate may be poor. If this isn’t data you’re currently collecting, begin doing so now, even if you decide to stick with manual accounting.
Go back at least one year to get a full picture of seasonal changes and peak demands. You may identify that your accuracy rate decreases during your busy season or when you are understaffed. Human error is expected, but accounting software can greatly reduce its likelihood and, ultimately, its impact on your bottom line.
3. How Likely Are You to Scale Your Business?
Is your business in build mode, sustainment, or in a period of high growth? Your answer to this question will greatly impact how much of a benefit software for accounting can help your business. Arguably, most businesses would benefit from automating accounting, even with the time required to vet options and set up systems. However, businesses striving to grow stand to benefit greatly from accounting software solutions.
Software can maximize the reach and productivity of your team by automating processes and integrating them into your sales cycle. Additionally, smaller shops can economize on staffing expenditures by maximizing the impact their team members can provide. Consider the impact of adopting new systems and what timing would be most beneficial based on your strategic plan.
For example, a landscape design firm may consider winter a better time for new software integration. Other companies like a healthy snack brand may have sustainable sales all year. Strive to dedicate a block of time for software integration just as you would a new product or service launch.
4. How Frequently Do You Issue Invoices?
Invoicing can be a time-intensive task unless you are a robot. Thankfully, with accounting software, you don’t have to become robotic; high-volume invoice-issuing brands can automate processes down to a science. High-volume businesses across price points issue invoices throughout the month, requiring consistency and precision.
A residential landscape and lawn care firm might invoice five or more clients per day per lawn care team. Conversely, a consulting firm may only issue 10 high-dollar invoices each month. For brands producing hundreds of invoices or more monthly, valuable minutes are tied to each invoice. Accounting software can automate invoice issuance from quote to final receipt.
Integrate your software with your sales teams’ process, equipping them with updated rates, promotions, and terms. Your lawncare team can assess the job, provide a quote, and obtain client approval without administrative support. Upon approval, clients can even self-schedule their first service by choosing from your pre-populated availability.
5. How Complicated are Your Taxes and Reporting Tasks?
Accuracy in tax filing is a nonnegotiable, but it is more complicated to achieve than ever. An annual accounting lifecycle represents thousands of deposits, invoices, and credits. Without precise financial management and dedicated attention, transactions began to blend. Accounting software can help make sense of each debit and credit, assigning categories and logic automatically.
Software can help differentiate between taxable and non-taxable transactions, which ensures enough is reserved for quarterly tax payments. Additionally, track compliance or reporting requirements with special rules and designations that can be exported into a report. If you’re participating in federal tax rebates or reporting profitability, you’ll stay on track and maintain compliance with your stakeholders.
Audit Your Current State to Guide Your Software Investments
Now that you’ve completed this exercise, step away for at least a couple of days. Focus on other regular tasks, but make a note of when complexity or technology gaps arise. You’ll likely notice yourself identify how software could have made that invoice follow-up easier. Perhaps the realization will be so obvious that you’re ready to invest in software now. Follow your instinct, but gain insight from your team to make sure you have the whole picture. Collaborate to ensure your company’s needs are met and have buy-in from the individuals most impacted by your decision. With equitable input, integration and adoption will run smoothly, and your business will reap the rewards of your software investment.
