Is Your Accounting Software Right for You?
I’m Liz Jarvis and today we are going to be talking about accounting software.
Now there is a lot of accounting software out there. There is a lot of do-it-yourself programs these days, and there’s this expectation that has come through the way things are marketed, that everything is easy.
It’s easy to do it yourself! It’s easy, beautiful accounting! All of the different taglines that accounting software providers have has left Business Owners confused and a little bit helpless, to be honest.
So, these accounting packages are supposed to do it all for you, but……there’s a lot more involved than meets the eye. And the Business Owners have often been pushed aside and the job given to a Bookkeeper or, “here’s your standard chart of accounts – off you go – make it happen.”
I would like you to question whether or not your accounting package is right for you, because there are so many different ones and often a business will outgrow the system that they have.
This is particularly relevant for inventory. Inventory is complex.
If you are selling things and you have to buy them, stock them, repair them, perhaps promote them. Then, you need a inventory-specific system that can keep those records well for you.
You don’t want to be making a cheap standard system, work doubly hard for you, with you having to do half the background work – when for not a lot of extra money, you can move yourself to a proper inventory system, One that can probably populate your website, populate your, um, Orders from others and give you a much better feel for what’s going on.
The time you’re spending in your business should be able to be spent analysing the results of what’s going on. Not having to do lots of extra data entry.
One of my mantras is enter once use often, and that is because this is how systems are designed these days. You should be able to use a piece of
information once or enter it once. And sometimes that’s even automatic –
coming straight from a bank feed and then use that a number of times.
Again, inventory is an area where this is essential. The information should
be able to be there. In that system and then be, not have to be entered into a spreadsheet first and then manipulated here and go through a point of sale system and then have to get re-keyed somewhere.
If this sort of thing is happening for you, you need to really look at your system.
So I hope these thoughts have been helpful. Using the right software for you is important.
It’s as important at the top end as the bottom end, a handwritten little cash book can be all you need if you’re a small business and then we move up through the different stages.
If you’d like to reach out and have a free chat with me about whether your software is working for you, I’d be happy to help because at the end of the day, we want our Business Owners to enjoy their numbers.
And to do that, the systems are going to be set up right or ready.
Thanks for joining me. See you next time.
This video quickly explores the importance of the right accounting software – getting it right will save you time money and angst. Modern software advertising can be misleading. The most important aspect is enter once use often.
