No matter how good your products or services are, every company needs to manage its finances properly if it’s going to be successful. We’ve put together this article with 3 pieces of software for managing your businesses finances.
Getting a grip on your finances can be a tricky, testing, and tedious business, but there is plenty of great software out there that can make the process easier.
I’ve highlighted three examples that can improve productivity, budgeting, and expenses – each of which is something that is key to your company’s finances.
Recommended reading: 5 Pieces Of Software That Will Really Improve Your Business
1. Time-tracking software
Time-tracking software is a simple tool for improving how you manage the finances for your business – it records all of the tasks that you and your employees undertake, showing how much time has been spent working on them.
Using time-tracking software makes it easier to manage your finances because it shows you where tasks are taking too long and which ones are being completed ahead of schedule – it’s all about making your business more productive.
You can do a few things with this data:
- Decide if you’re undercharging for certain tasks
- Establish if you’re over-delivering on some projects
- Spot if there are any training gaps to address
- See if any of your employees can be given new work
Hourstack is one of the best pieces of time-tracking software out there – it’s one that I’ve used extensively. Using the Hourstack platform allows you to monitor every task, project, and time-entry made by your business – you can see if you’re spending as much time on billable work as you should be.
What do your finances look like after using Hourstack or another great example of time-tracking software? Healthier.
This is because you’ll be charging the correct amount for the work you do, seeing greater productivity from your employees, and billing more than you were previously.
2. Budgeting software
Budgeting software is a great tool for simplifying the way you control the finances for your business – it lets you plan out your company’s financial obligations, from in-house projects to business utilities, so you can establish if you’re sticking to your limits.
Using budgeting software makes it easier to manage your company’s finances because it shows you how much money you have to spend and where it needs to be spent.
There are some key areas of your business that this applies to:
- Projects
- KPIs
- Forecasting
- Revenue
Scoro is a great example of budgeting software – many of the businesses I’ve been involved with have used it and they’ve all benefited from it. Using Scoro shows you very clearly if your incomings are sufficient to support your outgoings – you can establish if you’ve set financial targets that are too ambitious or not ambitious enough.
How will you feel about your company’s finances after using Scoro or a similar budgeting tool? Happier.
The reason for this is that you’ll be getting a better return on the investments you make – you know that if you set aside £x for a certain marketing project that you can expect it to return £x for your business, demonstrating that it’s worth spending the money on.
3. Travel expenses software
Travel expenses software is a brilliant way to bring order to your company’s finances – it tracks the money that you spend visiting clients and that your employees charge to the business for their company vehicles, highlighting any wastages.
Using travel expenses software makes it easier to manage your company’s finances because it highlights how much of your money is being unnecessarily spent on expenses – many examples also give you access to business credit, helping with your cashflow management.
Here are a few of the things you can expect from travel expenses software:
- Records of where travel expenses are going
- HMRC approved invoices
- Access to travel-related discounts
- A simpler way of setting weekly spending limits
Fuel cards are one of the most relevant examples of travel expenses software that you can use. I’ve been issued with them in previous roles and they’ve made work travel a little simpler. I was issued the Fuel Genie card, specifically the fuelGenie business card, and it helped me to cover my costs without needing to worry about submitting an expenses claim.
After using fuel cards or other travel expenses software, your finances will be ordered and centralised.
This is because you can see if your company is spending too much money on travel and put procedures in place to address this – perhaps you have more meetings via Zoom. It’s also because you can use cashflow management to redistribute your outgoing funds where necessary – it gives you the freedom to move money into projects that can’t be paid on credit.
Time-tracking, budgeting, and travel-expenses are three things that are key company finances and they can all be managed smarter by using the appropriate software.