Small business owners will need to allocate and use their resources efficiently. Failure to do so may stunt their growth and limit their operations. One of the reasons that causes inefficiency in small businesses is they don’t automate or improve some of their tasks. One task they often do manually or delegate to an inexperienced employee is bookkeeping. This is a costly mistake because an inexperienced employee handling your accounting books may lead to a distorted view of your company’s financial situation.
Inexperienced employees that also lack the skills to do bookkeeping make several mistakes that increase your costs, reduce possible profit, inefficient allocation of resources, missed tax payments and payments to suppliers, and mishandling of petty cash. All these accumulate and may be the cause of your small business’ failure. This is the time to consider upgrading your accounting system. Xero is software that offers plenty of advantages for small business owners. Its features are beginner-friendly once you set it up.
These are some of the advantages of using Xero for your small business.
Receive Payments Faster
Some customers forget they already have the invoice you sent. This results in late payments that tie up your cash and prevent you from making real-time decisions on opportunities that may never come again. Late payments also cause cash flow problems that have a negative effect on your operations. To avoid this problem, you should receive payments faster. One of the advantages of using Xero is that you can automate reminders and sending of invoices to customers. Your customers won’t be able to forget their due dates when you remind them regularly. Xero also provides your customers with online payment options. This makes it easier for them to pay online and don’t have to send a check or pay in cash.
Easily Accessible Anytime and Anywhere
Xero is a system you can use online. It allows users to access their financial data and reports regardless of their location or time zone. This provides users you provide access with the ability to update your accounting books. It also allows them to view the financial reports they need for meetings, product development, strategic planning, and decision making. Your team can also work remotely and still be updated about the current financial situation of your small business.
High-level Data Security
Small business owners want to secure their financial data. If someone steals the financial information of their customers, many will lose trust in them. This will incur significant losses that may lead to the failure of a company. Xero secures your data through multiple layers of encryption and security measures. You have the option to limit the number of users that can access your data in the system. The data centers are also under strict security. You don’t have to worry about data theft with these measures in place.
Access to Financial Data
Xero is not just any kind of accounting and bookkeeping software. The system has features that allow you to make it your small business’ financial hub. Get an overview of your company’s financial situation in real-time. Use the data in the system in deciding the direction of your business. Use the information to allocate finances on profitable products, develop new ones, or adjust your budget.
Boosts Small Business Efficiency
One of the ways you can improve your small business’ efficiency is by using accounting software like Xero. The latter simplifies some of the tasks your employees do such as bookkeeping, generating financial reports, sending reminders for unpaid invoices, expense management, and employee management just to name a few. You can also automate some of these tasks. These reduce the time your team spends on doing them. These improve the efficiency and productivity of your team. Your team will have more time dedicated to productive work.
Store Documents in the Cloud
Storing physical financial documents increases the risk of losing them to natural disasters, theft, or misplacement. One of the advantages of using Xero is that you can store your financial data in the cloud. You don’t have to worry about natural disasters or accidents destroying your data. You can’t misplace your documents because they’re all in the cloud. Access your data wherever you may be and during any time of the day.
Real-Time Updated Reports
You’ll need financial reports whenever you analyze the success or failure of a product or marketing campaign. Using outdated or error-filled documents will lead to poor decisions that may ruin your small business. Xero provides users with real-time updates whenever they generate reports for meetings, strategic planning, and assessment of achievements and goals. These updated reports allow you to determine the real financial situation of your company. It provides you with an overview of the steps you need to take to reach the next phase of your company or solve a problem.
Automated Features
Automation of some tasks is the future of the workplace. Xero provides your team with automated features that make their job easier. They don’t have to manually input figures that increase the possibility of errors. Xero’s automated features allow you to generate reports, browse financial data, and do a quick analysis with little to no time wasted. These features boost the efficiency and productivity of your team. You also don’t have to hire as many employees because you can automate some tasks using Xero.
Save Money
Software like Xero reduces your costs because you can automate some tasks, reduce the need to hire new employees, and improve the efficiency and productivity of employees. The extra money your small business manages to save allows you to increase spending on product development, marketing campaigns, adding new locations, training your employees, and expanding your target market among others.
These are the advantages of using Xero; think about how these benefit your small business. Investing in accounting software is good value for money. You can hire an outsourced bookkeeping company to set up the software and teach your team how to maximize its features.
If you need assistance with updating your accounting books or using Xero, we at Robookkeeper can help. We have a team of experienced bookkeepers. We offer quality accounting services for small business owners.