How to choose accounting software for your business? One of the major priorities of every business, big or small, is maintaining a healthy cash flow. But how can you do this if you’re not able to properly track what comes in and goes out?
For many small businesses, logging data on paper and Excel sheet programs is seen as just fine. But there are grave consequences caused by manual data entry mistakes, plus other cons associated with manual accounting. As a result, many fresh produce businesses are beginning to shift to automated accounting.
An accounting solution helps you:
- Automatically track expenses
- Invoice customers
- Remind customers of payment deadlines
- Reconcile transactions
- Accomplish daily accounting tasks
Proper accounting software solutions help with financial projections, which can guide your decision-making. That said, with the several accounting solutions on the market today, choosing the best one for your business may be tricky.
Based on what metrics should you make a decision? What should you consider when choosing accounting software? This article covers what you need to take into consideration regarding how to choose accounting software.
Factors to consider on how to choose accounting software
1. Is it industry-specific?
Some businesses have specific requirements that may not be covered by general accounting platforms. No matter how good or well-known the accounting software may be, industry-specific niches need software specifically designed for their business model.
If you’re in the fresh-produce business, look for accounting software built and designed specifically for fresh produce businesses. These kinds of solutions can help make your workflow more efficient while helping you deal with industry-unique issues.
2. Demo availability
There are a number of accounting solutions there that offer demos or free trials for their product. Demos are a zero-cost way of getting to know more about a product, its features, and exactly how they’ll fit into your general workflow or business processes.
It’s always recommended to go for solutions that offer demo versions. This gives you a better overall feel of the software than any review article can.
3. Customer support
You may occasionally reach a roadblock during installation, setup, or regular use. In cases such as this, it can be hard to know what to do, especially when the problem is beyond the scope of your local technicians. That’s why it helps if the software has solid and accessible customer support.
Browse through reviews on reputable websites and see what old and current users have to say about the software’s support.
Consider things such as:
- Do they have onboarding training for new users?
- Do they respond to complaints and queries promptly?
- Are they accessible week-long or only on weekends?
If you update your accounts over the weekend and hit a snag, for instance, software without weekend support can be inconvenient.
Pay special attention to user comments on software updates and how regularly these updates roll in.
4. How easy it integrates into your current operations
The thought of overhauling existing infrastructure to accommodate newer tech is something that makes most businesses hesitant to adopt new solutions. But bringing in new software can help your business grow in many ways.
Look for software platforms that are easy to integrate and connect to other existing solutions. Silo, for instance, easily integrates with QuickBooks, Sage, and NetSuite. So if you already have one of these platforms, you can easily bring Silo into the mix. The easier the software’s integrability, the better it will be for you and your team.
5. Usability
Search for software that’s easy to use. Many businesses do well with cloud-based systems ahead of others since they can be used on the go. You’ll be able to access any information or data you need, even when you’re out of the office. Cloud-based accounting solutions are also more secure and easy to maintain.
6. Scalability
One of the biggest challenges of choosing an accounting solution is picking one that’s scalable and can easily accommodate your business’ growth. Many businesses start out with a basic spreadsheet program or accounting software, only to later find out that it won’t match their needs, which may have changed over time with growth.
Some solutions have room for business growth, but may be too pricey or beyond your budget. Establish a compromise and determine what’s most important to your business, whether that’s having more features to accommodate your business scaling up, or going for a cheaper solution that can deal with your basic and immediate needs.
Better yet, go for a fresh produce accounting software that’s affordable, but with many features you’ll be able to leverage as your business grows.
7. Reports compiled in real-time
Without real-time reports, it can be difficult to gauge the financial health of your produce business. You won’t be able to tell if you’re making a profit or losing until weekly reports come in.
Accounting software makes it easy to develop financial reports in significantly less time. Sadly, not every accounting solution creates these reports. Some do, but can only draw up one at the close of a financial week.
Therefore, you should look for fresh produce accounting solutions that can create reports exactly when you need them. The reports should also be detailed and easy to read even for people without accounting knowledge.
8. Automates invoices
Writing invoices manually can be a chore and creates room for error if you have to deal with many orders on a daily basis. With accounting software, you can automatically create invoices, track them, and remind customers of payment deadlines.
Some accounting solutions even allow customers to pay directly from the invoice. So, from a single dashboard, you can see what payments are yet to come in and those that have come in. This makes accounting much easier and less prone to error.
Final verdict
When it comes to choosing accounting software for your business, there are a few key factors you need to keep in mind. First, consider what features are most important to you and your business. Then, take a look at the various accounting solutions on the market and compare them based on price, features, and reviews. Finally, make a decision based on what will work best for your business. Hope this guide helped you on how to choose accounting software.
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