Best Tools to Easily Manage Business Finances | Entrepreneur (2024)

In today's congested market, a brilliant business strategy and unique products and services are two ways to stand out. However, in a community where Big Data boosts creativity and profitability, it becomes a valid aspect of operating a business. For example, selecting suitable digital finance tools can make an enormous difference in a business's cash flow, flexibility, adaptability, and competitive edge.

By ensuring you have the essential financial tools at your disposal, you'll be able to leverage the relevant information, assist your digital journey, and stay competitive in this new normal.

What are Financial Tools?

Financial tools assist in maintaining a business's financial health by preparing, arranging and monitoring its monetary transactions. A consistent income is required for revenue maximization and expense reductions. The correct financial tools can keep records of cash inflows and outflows and future budgets.

Utilizing financial tools is critical for smooth operations, irrespective of the size and kind of business or its product. Finance management tools may be applied in various ways, from analysis to tracking budgets. Financial analysis tools help in analyzing the market and helping businesses to make smart investments.

Knowing about financial tools is important, but keeping up-to-date on your financial education is also vital.

Why do Small Businesses Need Financial Tools?

As per Semrush, 66% of small businesses have financial issues, with one of the most prevalent being the inability to pay operational expenditures. Financial apps and technology may alleviate the burden of dealing with typical finance-related chores, allowing business owners to concentrate on building their primary business.

Financial management tools will help you and your business overcome the following situations:

  • Complex procedures: Traditional financial operations need great attention and staff engagement.
  • Time-consuming: Whenever existing financial procedures become cumbersome and occupy productive hours, it becomes important to implement finance software solutions.
  • Scalability: When the company grows, the amount of financial transactions grows correspondingly. Manual financial instruments are incapable of meeting the expectations of the business.
  • Less visibility: Manually operating finances give only restricted visibility of fiscal transactions.
  • Manual mistakes: Financial records created by manual methods are replete with errors, necessitating finance process automation.
  • Manual business procedures are insufficient to fulfil the needs of expanding enterprises. Financial management solutions assist in overcoming these problems and increasing corporate productivity.

You also need the right financial tools to manage your finances, which can be cumbersome after a while.

Factors to Consider While Choosing the Right Financial Software Tool for Your Business

Financial management makes the difference between a successful and a failing business. The selection of powerful business tools is influenced by numerous factors, which are stated below:

  1. Budget balancing: Acquiring improved financial planning, management, and transparency is one of the primary motivations for implementing financial solutions. The financial budgeting software must make it simple and efficient. The program should be able to generate budget plans for any business size.
  2. Scope for scalability: Financial management software must adapt to the changing demands of the business to prevent the expenses of switching to a new system in response to new business considerations.
  3. Increasing security: As financial transactions shift from print to digital services, the confidentiality and security of financial data grow. The financial tool must efficiently control access to confidential financial information. Customized permissions for access control should be provided by the finance management tool.
  4. Switching to the cloud: According to the needs of the business, the decision to use localized or cloud-based software is taken. Some businesses favor cloud-based financial management systems for real-time changes and anytime access to data and operations, whilst others prefer on-premises systems for complete control over the operations. To handle both types of deployments, the software has to be adaptable.
  5. Ease of use: Financial management software should be simple to set up and use. Software that requires extensive learning is not desired since it would consume effective work hours.
  6. Automation: Cloud-based software saves businesses time and money. They increase the effectiveness of authorization hierarchies and streamline the financial process.
  7. Pricing: Most financial tools include a free version and updated versions for either monthly or yearly subscriptions. Premium services, like automated bill pay or even a free credit score, are frequently unlocked.
  8. Integrations: Ascertain that every tool you acquire supports financial integration. This enables you to connect credit cards, checking accounts, and savings accounts to your bank accounts, monitoring your investments in real-time. You may need to purchase a paid version for such financial integrations in some circ*mstances.

All of the above factors and business requirements must be considered while deciding on financial management software. Financial management in a business may be complex and stressful, but suitable tools should ease and expedite financial administration.

Examples of Financial Management Tools

  • Accounting Software:

Some accounting software platforms have been regarded as the best for many years, but other software solutions are increasingly growing more prominent. Look for characteristics that are vital to your business before selecting accounting software. Cloud-based inputs, interaction with your POS program, or the option to simply email details to the tax accountant are examples.

  • Expense Tracking:

If employees are on business travels, they typically incur expenditures that must be compensated. Monitoring such spending is included in many accounting software, although not all, so if this functionality isn't already available, seek a tool that connects with your accounting software.

  • Budgeting Tools:

Among the most important aspects of a business's profitability is proper budgeting. Knowing how much cash is coming or going makes it simpler to regulate overall working capital and prepare for the months ahead. They ensure that cash inflows and outflows are balanced.

  • Payroll Management:

A lot goes into handling a business's wages, and mistakes in this area are costly. Payroll systems that scale with your business and connect with current accounting software are ideal for small-to-medium-sized businesses. If you deal between freelancers and W2 professionals, you'll want to be certain that the software makes it convenient to operate with both.

  • Easy Billing:

Relying on your suppliers to pay their invoices might cause problems for your business. Paying late is pretty common practice for certain large suppliers, and you may have little choice but to cooperate with another business. However, offering fast and easy invoicing and payment choices may be more convenient for some companies.

If you currently utilize an electronic payment system, its on-the-go billing features may be sufficient. Selecting a service with a solid range of features and customizable price options is critical when purchasing software. It's also essential to quickly generate invoices and keep track of spending and time. Check to see if your software works with other payment apps.

  • Inventory Tracking:

While POS software measures sales and financial software record revenues and expenditures, how do you track progress? Checking inventory may indeed be simpler when you only have one site. When looking at items in several places, more complex tools are required to keep things in place. Inventory management and tracking software may conserve your energy and costs while also gaining a strategic advantage.

Features customized to your firm, real-time inventory monitoring, and the ability to manage merchandise from requisition to sale are all advantages to explore. It's also critical that your inventory tracking tool communicates with your point-of-sale system.

  • Tax Preparation:

With several tax filing software available today, it can be challenging to select the one that is best suited for you. The software must work effectively with all other tools. It should be able to feed data from the POS system, then download data from the inventory software, and work with the personnel reimbursem*nts and payroll processing.

Then, send data information to accountants for tax filing. Small business financial management systems must interconnect with other business operations to provide a full picture.

The most vital aspect of selecting high-quality financial products for your business is that they all operate together. Without integration, your company's finances might swiftly degrade into chaos. Apart from software helping you, you should also consider these 3 Tips to Better Handle Your Business Finances from Financial Planners.

List of Financial Managing Tools

  • ClearOne

Renowned fintech startup Clear has released ClearOne, a GST compatible billing and e-invoicing software, to assist businesses in digitizing and streamlining this process. ClearOne makes it simple for SMEs to form professional invoices. Professional invoicing, e-invoicing, export invoicing, and e-way bill production are among the billing options.

Business owners will be able to tailor their bills to their own needs. SMEs will now be able to create bills/invoices, personalize them to meet their own and their customers' needs, increase and track their invoicing on the go, and remain completely consistent with regulatory standards.

  • Scoro

Scoro integrates budgeting functions with additional tools to allow you to control your entire business from a single platform. You can also control expenditures and resources and utilize a financial dashboard and project budgets. Other features include financial reporting and analysis, invoicing and technical services automation, and automatic revenue from invoices.

Scoro is exceptional because it integrates budgeting, CRM, and task management capabilities, allowing you to manage your whole business in one platform and retrieve all accounting transactions in one location.

  • Prophix

Prophix has developed a software system for business performance management, which comprises several smaller applications for administering a business's assets and budgeting. Financial, statutory, and management analysis, net income planning, profitability modeling and optimization, and employment planning are some features.

Prophix is unique in that it intends to provide its consumers with a comprehensive solution that expands as the business advances.

  • Planguru

Planguru is a simpler budget-planning software option than Prophix, which may be what you are searching for to organize your small business's budget.

Its notable features include pre-built integrative income statement design, wage services, pro accounting engagement tools, more than 20+ standardized forecasting methodologies and forecasting with non-financial data.

Planguru is unique in that it includes a specific analytics tool that assists in gaining a better understanding of financials and making smarter decisions.

  • Adaptive Insights

Adaptive Insights is a comprehensive application that includes cloud-based predicting and budgeting software and monitoring and analytical capabilities. Its distinguishing features include revenue, capital and cost management, income statements, and cash flow reporting.

This application is unique because it includes a graphical financial tracking and dashboard interface that provides a rapid snapshot of the business's financial status.

A financial management software system, particularly one that integrates automation, handles the majority of mindless monotonous chores, such as moving documents between departments. This implies that your team is now free to devote their time to activities in which they can make a significant contribution.

You may also investigate the data points that interest you and ensure that every finance app is working smoothly and efficiently. You can minimize inconsistencies and process choke spots by analyzing where bottlenecks emerge. Hence, this software can be very handy.

Simplifying Billing and Invoicing

Invoicing is critical to running a business, and digitalization of invoices is required when the intention is to digitize commercial transactions. The government is transitioning to a purely digital invoicing period, which will result in significant changes for businesses.- notes Paw Vej, COO at Financer.com

ClearOne is a complete billing solution and invoicing software that accepts all types of invoices and other associated documents such as credit notes, delivery chains, and so forth. It is simple to start up and may be configured to create papers based on the requirements of the business.

This program is simple to use even for first-time users, and anybody with a basic understanding of the web may use it.

Apart from that, ClearOne helps you invest in mutual funds online through Black by ClearTax. You can easily invest in their plans as experts curate them. There's a 0% commission, and you will get 1.5% more returns through direct mutual funds.

The post Best Tools to Easily Manage Business Finances appeared first on Due.

Best Tools to Easily Manage Business Finances | Entrepreneur (2024)

FAQs

What is the most important tool for managing finances? ›

Top Financial Management Tools
  1. Xero (Accounting Software) ...
  2. Expensify (Expense Tracking) ...
  3. PlanGuru (Budgeting) ...
  4. Approve.com (Spend Management) ...
  5. FreshBooks (Billing and Payment Processing) ...
  6. BrightPay (Payroll Management) ...
  7. Gusto (Tax Preparation) ...
  8. SOS Inventory (Inventory Tracking)

What is a financial management tool? ›

Financial management tools help in tracking and managing financial transactions, making informed investment decisions, and creating budgets and saving plans. Automating finance management using cloud-based workflow automation tools like Cflow streamlines and simplifies accounting and finance management.

How do you manage your finances effectively? ›

These seven practical money management tips are here to help you take control of your finances.
  1. Make a budget. ...
  2. Track your spending. ...
  3. Save for retirement. ...
  4. Save for emergencies. ...
  5. Plan to pay off debt. ...
  6. Establish good credit habits. ...
  7. Monitor your credit.

How can a business manage its finances? ›

Ten top tips to improve your financial management
  1. Have a clear business plan. ...
  2. Monitor your financial position. ...
  3. Ensure customers pay you on time. ...
  4. Know your day-to-day costs. ...
  5. Keep up-to-date accounting records. ...
  6. Meet tax deadlines. ...
  7. Become more efficient and control overheads. ...
  8. Control stock.

What are the three most basic tools of financial analysis? ›

Several techniques are commonly used as part of financial statement analysis. Three of the most important techniques are horizontal analysis, vertical analysis, and ratio analysis.

What are the three most important financial controls? ›

The three most important financial controls are: (1) the balance sheet, (2) the income statement (sometimes called a profit and loss statement), and (3) the cash flow statement. Each gives the manager a different perspective on and insight into how well the business is operating toward its goals.

What software do finance professionals use? ›

Although the tools you'll use in finance will likely depend on your industry focus and particular role within your organization, some common tools used by most Financial Analysts are Microsoft Excel, SQL, Python, and Tableau.

What are the 4 types of financial management explain? ›

Most financial management plans will break them down into four elements commonly recognised in financial management. These four elements are planning, controlling, organising & directing, and decision making.

What are the 3 types of financial management? ›

What Are the Three Types of Financial Management?
  • Capital budgeting. Relates to identifying what needs to happen financially for the company to achieve its short- and long-term goals. ...
  • Capital structure. Determine how to pay for operations and/or growth. ...
  • Working capital management.
Sep 4, 2023

What is the 50 30 20 rule? ›

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals.

How to be a wise spender? ›

Spend Your Money Wisely
  1. Create a budget. One of the most important steps in spending money wisely is to create a budget. ...
  2. ‍Prioritise your spending. ...
  3. Avoid impulse purchases. ...
  4. Take advantage of sales and discounts. ...
  5. Live below your means.
  6. Invest your money.
Mar 10, 2024

How to budget for beginners? ›

Start budgeting
  1. Make a list of your values. Write down what matters to you and then put your values in order.
  2. Set your goals.
  3. Determine your income. ...
  4. Determine your expenses. ...
  5. Create your budget. ...
  6. Pay yourself first! ...
  7. Be careful with credit cards. ...
  8. Check back periodically.

How to improve financial skills? ›

6 ways to improve your financial literacy
  1. Subscribe to financial newsletters. For free financial news in your inbox, try subscribing to financial newsletters from trusted sources. ...
  2. Listen to financial podcasts. ...
  3. Read personal finance books. ...
  4. Use social media. ...
  5. Keep a budget. ...
  6. Talk to a financial professional.

How do I keep track of my business expenses? ›

How to track your small business expenses
  1. Step 1: Open a business bank account. ...
  2. Step 2: Choose an appropriate accounting system. ...
  3. Step 3: Choose cash or accrual accounting. ...
  4. Step 4: Connect your financial institutions. ...
  5. Step 5: Begin managing receipts properly. ...
  6. Step 6: Record all expenses promptly.
Apr 22, 2024

How do you monitor business finances? ›

10 Ways to Monitor Financial Performance for the Organization
  1. Preparation of Key Financial Statements: ...
  2. Preparation of Aged Debtors Trial Balance: ...
  3. Preparation of Inventory Records: ...
  4. Preparation of Working Capital Statements and Financial Ratios: ...
  5. Preparation of Fund and Cash Flow Statements: ...
  6. Analysis of Overheads:

What is a widely used financial planning tool? ›

Cube is an FP&A platform that provides real-time financial and operational data access. It enables strategic planning, reporting and analysis within a spreadsheet environment, with flexible use cases across functions.

What common tool most often used to control financial resources? ›

Budgets are the most common means of financial control, but there are other useful tools: financial statements, ratio analysis, and financial audits. Financial statements: A profile of some aspect of an organization's financial circ*mstances is a financial statement.

Why are financial tools important? ›

A financial management tool can help you monitor your cash flow by tracking your accounts receivable, accounts payable, and overall liquidity. By providing real-time insights into your cash position, you can make better decisions regarding investments, expansion, and debt management.

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