Business owners spend countless hours on administrative tasks, including accounting and tax preparation. Although accounting is an essential part of running a business, it doesn’t have to take up all of your time, or at least not as much as it does today. As the business world rapidly goes digital, business owners are turning to automated accounting software to improve their administrative and financial processes.
Why automating your accounting is beneficial
The idea of uprooting your entire accounting process may seem daunting, but savvy business owners who have already done it don’t make this wholesale change for no reason. Switching to an automated, software-based accounting system has many benefits that make it an easy choice for many. We’ll show you some of these benefits below.
Speed
As a business owner, your time is valuable and manual accounting can waste a lot of it. Accounting software solves this problem by providing fast, automatic data import and calculations, meaning financial tasks are completed faster: QuickBooks Online users reported saving on average 40 hours per month by tilting. Additionally, using a cloud-based system means you can access your financial data anywhere, resulting in insights much faster.
Precision
Performing your accounting tasks manually carries the risk of making mistakes, which can result in hours of cleanup work, lost revenue, or even fines. Fortunately, integrating accounting software into your financial workflow virtually eliminates human error. Best of all, since these software solutions calculate formulas instantly, your financial information will always be up to date, preventing you from falling behind on your finances and saving you hours of manual work.
Profitability
Although accounting software isn’t free, it can save you money in the long run. An automated software system eliminates costly calculation errors and can even reduce expenses associated with the audit. Additionally, speeding up your accounting tasks reduces the time required for bookkeeping, allowing you to increase productivity and, in turn, sales. Best of all, you won’t even need to hire an accountant!
Efficiency
Because the automated nature of accounting software saves time, money, and improves accuracy, it is much more efficient than manual accounting. By moving all your financial data into one centralized location and automating accounting tasks, you can approach your accounting in a more organized way, streamlining workflow. Ultimately, this will give you more time to focus on the most important thing: running your business.
Respect the environment
If you practice paper accounting, you know that the documents associated with tracking finances take up a lot of space, particularly because they require an infinite amount of paper. Using accounting software moves all of your data from paper to computer, eliminating clutter in your home or office and eliminating the need to use more. This in turn reduces your carbon footprint, making your business more environmentally friendly.
Tax compliance
Preparing and filing taxes can be a tedious task for small business owners, but it doesn’t have to be. Having all your financial data in one place makes it much quicker to find the information you need for your tax returns. Plus, you’ll have the added benefit of knowing that what you’re extracting is correct and up to date. Some accounting software even has the ability to handle tax preparation for you, including extracting data and submitting a return.
How to automate your accounting
Now that you understand the importance of automating your accounting rather than keeping it manually, it’s time to start making the transition. Not sure how to get started? We offer four steps to automate your accounting process.
Choose the right accounting software
While the seemingly endless supply of automated accounting software options may seem overwhelming, it simply means that you have ample opportunity to find the accounting software that will work best for your business. The first step in choosing the right one is to determine which features are most important to your business. Here is a list of some features you may want to consider before you start comparing accounting software services:
- Bank account synchronization
- Third-party integrations
- Tax preparation
- Expense Tracking
- Payroll processing
- Invoice customization
- Budgeting
- Multi-currency transactions
- Multi-user access
- Mobile access
- Inventory management
- Order synchronization
Once you know which features are most important to you, compare accounting software options with those features and find the one that fits your budget. Keep your business’s anticipated growth in mind: If certain features aren’t needed now, but could prove vital to your business in the years to come, you need to make sure your new software includes them so that it can grow with your business. business. If you use Volusion to host your online store, our platform integrates with both QuickBooks Online and Xero. Powered by OneSaasThese apps provide a convenient way to manage your accounts directly from your online store dashboard.
Migrate existing data to your new software
Now that you have purchased your new accounting software, it is time to enter your existing accounting data. Although moving a large amount of data to a new system may seem daunting, the long-term benefits of doing so outweigh the costs.
Start by dividing all your accounting data into manageable chunks over time. Next, set aside a few blocks of time and use each one to enter existing data into your new accounting software. Before you know it, all your accounting data will be conveniently housed in one place for easy access.
Integrate the software into your daily workflow
Having automated software is only useful if you actually use it. Once you have the basic aspects of your software set up, start using it for any new accounting-related actions that arise. It may be tempting to go back to your old process to get a task done quickly, but you’ll only create more work for yourself in the long run. Additionally, the best way to master a new task is to practice it constantly.
If you have other employees involved in the accounting side of your business, be sure to explain the software to them as soon as possible, preferably while you are learning how to use it. This will ensure everyone is on the same page with the new process so tasks can be completed efficiently.
Audit your new process for improvements
After using your new software for a few months, take a step back and look at how it works for your business. Are you saving a lot of time? Have your tasks become easier to accomplish? Does the software do everything you need?
If the answer is “not quite,” that doesn’t mean your transition to automated accounting has been a failure, it just means there’s room for improvement. Extensive research won’t always give you the perfect answer the first time, and not all software is a perfect fit for every business. Check to see if there are any add-ons you can integrate with your software to make it easier to use or streamline your process, then introduce them into your daily workflow.
Automate your accounting process
No accounting system is perfect, but automating the process with the right software can help you by improving the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of your workflow, along with countless other factors. Once you’ve taken the necessary steps to automate your accounting process as much as possible, you can sit back, enjoy the benefits, and let your software do the work for you.
If you’re a Volusion customer, consider using QuickBooks Online or Xero and integrating their software with your store to streamline your accounting even further. Both apps sync your store orders and product data with your accounting software, saving you even more time and effort.
