How can QuickBooks Online help grow a business?
You may already have QuickBooks, but do you know how to use it to its full potential? Here, Jack Moore discusses the difference the cloud accountancy software can really make.
QuickBooks is perfect for any fledgling business planning to grow and expand. After all, you'll certainly need bookkeeping software that can do more than just keep records. It needs to be able to work for you, to streamline admin processes and save you precious time with the monotonous task of data input. It also needs to work as your own in-house accounting function, helping to inform key business decisions.
Poor cashflow management is, and has always been, the main culprit for the failure of any small business. Or any large business, for that matter. So, as you begin to scale and grow your business you'll want to make sure that you can bill customers and collect income as efficiently as possible.
Do you have clients you routinely bill the same amount every month? Great. Set up auto-recurring invoices within QBO, so that you don't have to do it. Do your customers want to pay by regular Direct Debit? Even better – set up a GoCardless integration within QBO to automatically collect the DD. Do you want to be able to raise an invoice whilst out visiting a customer at the touch of a button? Easy – set up your invoice templates within QBO, get the mobile app and you're good to go. Do you want an always up-to-date view of your business' cash position and its upcoming outgoings? Guess what…..
As your business grows, naturally you'll find yourself accumulating more expenses. They need recording, which can be a pain and become incredibly time-consuming. And sometimes you lose receipts. Or you end up with a box (or inbox) full of them and you keep putting them to the back of your ever-growing to-do list. QBO can eliminate these issues. Used alongside a partner app, such as Receipt Bank, your expense management and recording will be a cinch. Whether you've got a physical receipt for your morning trip to the wholesalers, an email invoice from one of your regular suppliers or an online statement for your mobile phone bill, Receipt Bank can deal with them all in a fraction of the time it would take you to do it. Physical receipts? Snap a picture with your mobile phone via the app. Email invoices? Forward them directly to your dedicated email-in box. Online statements? Connect all of your supplier online accounts and let Receipt Bank fetch them for you without ever having to log in to download them again.
Once your business has its feet firmly under the industry table, the time will come when you want to start thinking about expansion. New premises, a new location, new members of staff to employ. Using the incredible power of automation, some of which I've touched on above, your QBO should always be regularly up to date and ready to show you real-time financial information. QBO itself can provide you with the tools you need to make an informed strategic decision, as there are a plethora of built-in reports which show you how profitable the business is, what its greatest costs are, who the biggest customers are and other important information.
Plug QBO in to an app designed for forecasting, such as Fluidly or Futrli, and all of a sudden you're able to integrate your QBO data and produce reports which you can tailor to forecast your business scenarios. Do we have the cash available to open and run a new store alongside the existing business without any serious negative impact? Do we have the funds to take on a new member of staff, and how much do we need to increase sales and gross margin by to justify the cost? These are all common questions which business owners face who have never before had the reporting arsenal at their fingertips to help them make these decisions with full clarity of sight. You wouldn't change lanes without first checking your wing mirror for any potential hazards, so why would you make a huge business decision without first calculating the risk? The tools are waiting for you. All you need is a pointer in the right direction.
If any of the above sounds like issues that your business faces, or if you are starting out on a new business venture and you want to make sure that you're set up efficiently from the get-go, then I implore you to have a no-obligation chat with you about your business and let me show you how we can start to free up your time and give you the clarity of the performance of your business you never knew you could have. The days of looking at your business figures once a year are over. That's madness. The days of keeping track of your business performance throughout the year have begun.
If you would like more information about how we can help your business grow contact us on 0115 955 5500 or email enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk.