5 Signs Your Company Needs Accounting Software
Many companies are still using Excel spreadsheets for their much of their accounting functions, but is this the best way to function? The accounts stay balanced. Vendors get paid. Checks go out. However, when the CEO asks for special reports related to specific revenue or expenses, or wants to know what quantity of a certain product is on hand, businesses need a quicker and more reliable form of accounting solution than Excel.
If a business is overly dependent on Excel for accounting, it is the time to make a change. Accounting software like Intacct can provide many benefits to businesses and bookkeepers alike, not the least of which is improved visibility.
Here are the four signs that a business needs accounting software:
1. Losing track of customers
If a business finds employees rummaging through their desk drawer or their computer folders trying to find that piece of paper or file they kept customer information, it’s time to invest in an accounting solution that will help a business keep all this data in one place. Even better, a business can include custom fields that help them track more unique information about particular customers.
2. A business needs to keep track of their inventory more efficiently
With a small operation, it might be feasible to have an employee at a business go to their stockroom to see if they still have products to sell. However, as they sell more and more products, this manual system will not scale. Instead, they should find a way to store and update inventory data real-time in their ERP system. Many software vendors provide built-in inventory management features that let a business record descriptions or summaries of each product and automatically update their inventory every time they input a sale. Inventory features are especially powerful when connected to a point-of-sale system.
3. Invoices are a burden
Sales keep a business alive, so a company probably will not complain if they sell “too many” of their products or services. However, invoicing can become quite a burden as volume increases. Without the right tools, it will take much more time and effort to create accurate invoices.
4. You need faster access to information
The beauty of working in an accounting platform like Intacct is that a business can group and analyze their data real time. For instance, if a business wants to know gross profit for all customers during a certain period, they can pull a customized report quick and easy.
The true worth of accounting software like Intacct for any business is in how much time it saves and how well it supports its growth. The time spent setting up a series of spreadsheets is probably longer than the time they need to track the information in a new accounting solution. Most modern solutions are flexible and affordable.