Small business owners who have little time for accounting can lean on the latest technology trends to streamline back-office tasks and gain better insight into their business.
By FINSYNC
Technology has a way of transforming everything within an industry. From the way individuals work to the way whole organizations interact, and accounting is no exception. From the invention of the adding machine in the late 1800s right through to the advent of the first spreadsheet software in the late 1970s. Technological innovations have become key components to how small businesses keep their books. The combination of technology and financial services known as FinTech is bringing sweeping changes to how businesses manage their books. Financial Technology has been a game-changer for companies of all sizes. Helping them gain greater control over how they forecast their cash flow, pay bills, invoice clients and more. Technology can help you spend less time on back-office tasks and more time growing your business.
Here are the business technology trends that are making small business accounting faster and more efficient in 2020.
All-In-One Accounting for Small Businesses
While many large corporations have long benefited from enterprise accounting platforms that combine accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll, such all-in-one systems were not available to small and mid-size businesses until recently. That’s starting to change as a growing number of smaller firms switch over to using a consolidated approach to managing their finances.
This trend represents a marked change from the first migration of small businesses to the cloud, when businesses began using individual software programs to handle their financial tasks separately — what renowned accounting and technology industry pioneer Doug Sleeter calls “chunkification.”
The use of a cloud-based platform that syncs various accounts makes it easier to streamline financial tasks. Forward-thinking businesses are increasingly migrating their financial tracking to cloud-based platforms. Those that give them a real-time, accurate snapshot of their financials.
This type of system helps businesses keep better tabs on their financial health. There’s no need to wait for bank statements, manually key in receipts, or waste time trying to track down if an invoice was paid. You can minimize manual work like data entry, which frees up time for small business owners to focus on higher-value, strategic tasks.
Rich Data Intelligence
The real-time synchronization of business accounts can also deliver valuable data. As a result, giving you better insight into the health of your business. Cash flow management is a good example. An integrated accounting platform makes it easier to more accurately forecast cash flow. This is because accounts receivable, accounts payable, and future payruns are all in the same database as the general ledger.
Essentially, small businesses now have access to strategic financial analytics, faster than ever. A wider array of more timely data can help you forecast more accurately and strategize accordingly. Whether it is for an individual project or to project the growth of your business.
A platform that can automatically issue invoices to customers creates a trail of data that can help you more efficiently assess and predict your company’s cash flow. The same approach can be used to assess whether a project is on track to be profitable. Or to identify which products or services you should prioritize to maximize sales.
The Fintech wave is going to continue rising in 2020. Giving small business owners more flexibility in how they manage their finances. See how FINSYNC can help you get started in adopting these technology trends.