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Navigating the complexities of business finances can be tough. In the beginning when there is little or no money, it’s not all that hard to do. But as you start scaling up, the finance function becomes a beast – and a critical element of business success.
We are fortunate to live in exciting times. New FinTech tools make managing your numbers easier than ever before. Put the right things in place now to set you up for scale. These ten FinTech apps can help you do just that:
Xero for Cloud Accounting
Born in New Zealand, cloud accounting company Xero has taken over the global market for private company accounting apps and the speed of their development is hard to match. Since financials are golden for executive decision-making, Xero offers live access to your financial information, in real time, from anywhere in the world. This includes turnover, bank feeds, debtors, cash flow and so much more .
Spotlight for reporting and KPI management
A powerful dashboard tool that can be set up to track and improve key metrics, Spotlight Reporting is the way to go as they deliver reports that clearly show key drivers of growth in the business and makes it easier for you to communicate back to your investors.
Receipt Bank for going paperless
Receipt Bank will change your life – by simply taking a picture of you invoices or slips, there is no reason to keep them in your wallet or purse or box. You can throw them away as you go. Receipt Bank helps you digitise every invoice and source document. Even SARS accepts digitally captured source documents.
SimplePay for effortless payroll management
Payslips and leave days management can take up days and days of your HR department’s time. Or you can just implement Simple Pay that automates these functions in one simple, affordable app. Let HR spend time on company culture and team building – it yields higher dividends than admin tasks than can be systemised.
Expensify for staff expense claims
Staff expense claims can become a big admin burden as your team’s numbers grow, especially when there are sales reps on the road more if the company has more than one office. Expensify eliminates the pain point by introducing to automate staff expense claims.
Vend for point of sale management
Having the right POS system in place makes doing business so much easier if you sell directly to consumers from stores or shops. Vend is easy to use and has great reporting capabilities. Don’t pay a ton for old school POS systems that do not speak to the rest of your finance app suite.
Unleashed for inventory management
Companies that carry stock are often more complex to manage than ones that do not. Keep proper track of your inventory with a tool like Unleashed Inventory. Stock codes and inter-branch transfers are just some of the capabilities that make this one of the best ways to keep a hand on your stock movement.
Asset Guru for asset tracking and fixed asset register management
Asset heavy companies need proper visibility on where their assets are, how they are performing, and how they are depreciating. Even if you only have a few laptops, tracking which employees have them, at what location, and when they need to be replaced can be valuable. Streamline asset management with Asset Guru.
Sales Force/HubSpot for sales automation
You can only manage your finances if you have money coming in from customers. Track and convert leads into paying customers by using tools such as Sales Force or HubSpot. No potential customer will ever slip through the cracks again.
Shopify for e-commerce sales
If you sell online, plugging Shopify into your website can change the game. Advanced tracking and full visibility on key client data helps to increase sales. Sales also funnel through straight into your cloud accounting system if you have made the right pick.
In summary
The amazing thing is that almost all of the above apps integrate with Xero, making your finance function streamlined from source document to beautiful financial forecast. The value of an automated finance function in any company looking to scale cannot be overstated. Get the right apps on board and invest in utilizing their full functionality to hit company finance management out of the park.
Louw Barnardt CA(SA) is the 2018 Sanlam/Business Partners Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year® and a Top 35 under 35 Chartered Accountant. As co-founder and managing director of CFO services company Outsourced CFO, Louw and his team of professionals help founders to scale their companies using the latest financial technology and tools. Learn more at www.outsourcedcfo.co.za.
