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Accounting

4 signs that show you need to change your accounting software

Accounting /

As a smartphone user, has it ever crossed your mind to change your phone? Yes! Your camera might be outdated, you want a bigger phone, or the latest Android operating system or IOS is not supported on your phone. Just as changing your phones occasionally comes to us as a priority, business owners must regularly check whether their accounting software is performing their business tasks as it ought to. You might ask, how do I know if I need to change my accounting software? We have provided four signs to help you make your decision. Level of manual operations As a business owner, it is important to always check the tasks you spend most of your time. Are you spending much time daily on your accounting tasks? For example, if as a business owner you issue your invoices manually, then you need an accounting software pronto. Reconciliations can be a big headache for small businesses. If you constantly perform manual operations, you would be spending time trying to reconcile your figures to your accounting system. For example, Cakequeen, a small baking business sells products on their website, Instagram, WhatsApp, and in-store. The business usually records their sales orders on Excel. This causes problems in reconciling their sales orders, leading to stockouts. This can occur when Cakequeen’s different sales channels are not integrated with their accounting software. Do you have to constantly reconcile your accounting figures manually? Then you might need a software upgrade. Growing size of business operations When your business operations begin to expand, your current accounting software might be unable to accommodate some of your new business processes. This makes you spend more time trying to capture these processes manually. For example, you run a biscuit manufacturing company. As a startup, you might have outsourced your production. Alternatively, you were running your production schedules using a manual stock card. This could have allowed for your business to use a small online software to capture your invoices and pay your expenses. However, as your business grows, you are unable to capture your raw materials and finished inventory on your accounting system. This makes you to start losing track of your inventory, leading to multiple theft cases from your staff. You are also unable to get accurate reports making it difficult for your business to take important decisions. Integration of external applications Business usually require multiple applications to function effectively. These can include customer relations management (CRM) software, inventory management software, payroll software, manufacturing software, expense tracker, and other industry custom software applications. However, when the applications are connected, business processes are performed faster and seamlessly. A typical example is when a customer fills a form to purchase an item on your website, the form automatically inputs the customer’s name into your CRM, while also creating an invoice on your accounting software. This eliminates the process of tracking the customer’s order manually. Your accounting software should have integrations into your other applications to enable your business process flow seamlessly. Otherwise, you might need a switch. Multiple support issues Software applications help businesses to function effectively. Sometimes, these applications can have errors or bugs while trying to access a feature. Some other applications are too complicated. It takes some time to find where a feature is located. If you have a situation where your software application has too many support issues, then you might need to reconsider the application. Your accounting software should allow for ease and not delay of transactions. In Nigeria, many small businesses opt to substandard developers to make accounting software for them. After a period of using the software, problems begin to occur in accessing the software data. Your accounting software should provide your business with easy access to constantly monitoring your financial progress. This means that the software application should be up and running and possess an easy-to-use framework and process.

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5 Bookkeeping tips for your small businesses

Accounting /

#Tips: 5 Bookkeeping tips for your small businesses Every business needs to record its finances. This can be done by a process called bookkeeping. For small business owners, bookkeeping can look complicated when starting. However, it would help you to check how your business is performing. Here are some tips on how to start proper bookkeeping for your small business. Have a good accounting software system If you want to maintain proper records for your business, an accounting software is necessary for your business. An accounting software would help you manage your customer records, supplier records, bank records, and other relevant records. Most accounting software applications come with financial report templates. This allows you to preview how well your business is faring at any point applicable. Review your books Accounting software and spreadsheets help to capture your business information and financial records. However, it is important that you regularly review your software records, to check for irregularities, errors, or wrong postings. Reviewing your records also help to prevent unplanned tax readjustments from the tax authorities. You can engage an external accountant to help review your records. Monitor your Expenses Track every expense you spend. As a small business owner, you must be mindful of your expenses. If you pay for expenses by cash or by bank, ensure you collect receipt or invoices for every expense incurred. To know if you are on track with your records, confirm the balance of your cash and bank accounts against your expenses regularly- weekly or monthly. Separate business from personal expenses For sole proprietors or small business enterprises, spending from your business purse can be a very tempting experience. Small business owners are usually poised to manage their business finances themselves. This allows some owners to mix their business and personal expenses together. If you are seeking to grow and manage your business properly, you must learn to separate business from personal expenses. You can do this by drawing up separate accounts for both expenses. Personal expenses can be tracked using an expense app. You can then use an accounting software to track your business expenses. Separating business and personal expenses helps you to create financial discipline for your business. Understand your monthly bookkeeping reports It is important to know how and where your business is growing or whether it is not growing. This can be done by tracking your bookkeeping reports. Bookkeeping reports show various business metrics such as how much profit you are generating, your sales value, debt value, or whether your operating expense are high, amongst other indicators. There are various bookkeeping reports that can help you to determine how your business is faring. The most important reports include your income statement and your statement of financial position (also known as Balance Sheet). You can get your accountant to explain what the reports mean so you can have a first-hand knowledge of how your business is faring. Looking for someone to discuss about your small business, shoot us a mail to info@excellium.biz or call us on +2348038023199, +2347018588691 +2348057696213. Recent Posts

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Why every business needs an accounting software

Accounting /

#Tips: Why every business needs an accounting software Every business owner wants to grow their operations. However, growing your business can make your operations become complex. You are puzzled with managing customer and supplier data, invoices, payments, loans, and staff salary. This can be stressful when using spreadsheets or paper accounting. An accounting software helps you to put your business data into an organized platform so that you can manage your business growth effectively. An accounting software is a software application that helps businesses to track their accounting processes in an automated manner. An accounting software enables you to manage your revenues, costs, profits, assets, and liabilities. An accounting software can be used either in the cloud (internet-based) or on-premise (office-based). Your accounting software helps your business to manage growth and track costs properly. Here are ten reasons why your business needs an accounting software. Manage your inventory Accounting software, cloud or on-premise, are better and more accurate than spreadsheets in the management of inventory database. An accounting software has the capacity to combine multiple inventory factors without any error. Information such as item name, quantity, unit of measure, colour variations, sizes, batches, and expiry dates are easily calculated and stored using an accounting software. This can lead to efficiency and productivity in operations. Depending on the accounting software, you can also manage production batches and expiry dates. Automate manual operations Tunde places an order for a pair of shoes from Molu’s shoe business. With an accounting software, Molu can easily provide pricing, calculate inventory reduction, and process delivery to Tunde. An accounting software helps to eliminate manual tasks while operating their businesses.  An accounting software can assist a business to make its process delivery easier, and thereby satisfying your stakeholders. Compute tax easily Legislative compliance is a priority for most businesses. The government can restrain your business and impose liabilities if you don’t pay your taxes. An accounting software helps businesses to manage tax liabilities. With your software, you can calculate your Value Added Tax (VAT) payments and deductions, Corporate Income Taxes (CIT), and employee Personal Income Taxes (PIT). An accounting software helps you to manage your tax payments and prevent unnecessary delays and penalties. Store Management An accounting software helps businesses to manage their warehouses or stores. When goods are brought into a warehouse, it is important to have a method of accounting for the stock. An accounting software assists businesses manage stock by classifying inventory location and using technology to monitor stock movements. A record gap can lead to pilferage by staff. Managing stock locations can be daunting when done manually. An accounting software helps businesses to properly track stock movements. Obtains Loans Faster When a financial institution wants to provide a loan to a business, they would access the business status to see if they can repay the loan. A financial statement is usually a primary source for financial institutions. An accounting software helps businesses to track and process financial information. Your accounting software can help your business to present the right information to facilitate the loan processing. Prepare financial reports As a business owner or accountant, it is important to know the health status of your company. How sustainable is your business in the next 6 months to 2 years? Will I default on my creditor and staff salary payments? These questions can be monitored with an accounting software. With your software, you can determine how much profits you are making within a period. You can check how much you need to save into the business or pay-out to investors. An accounting software helps businesses to provide financial information regarding a business’ welfare. Work faster An accounting software would help you work faster. Bookkeeping can take time when you manually track your costs and revenue using a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel, require that you enter lots of information manually, making you to lose time that can be spent in other valuable parts of the business. An accounting software helps you save valuable time, so you can invest your time to grow your business. Payroll Management Your staff is an essential part of your business. As a business owner, you must plan how much each staff would earn every month. This process can take time if done manually. An accounting software can help businesses to manage their payroll costs and process staff payments promptly. Your staff are more engaged when they know that their salaries are made promptly. An accounting software helps businesses to achieve that.   Recent Posts

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