For a small business, automation can mean the difference between constantly struggling to keep up with daily tasks and having the time to focus on other, more important things. When looking for ways to incorporate automation into your business, accounting is a great place to start.
Accounting automation can make you more productive, keep you compliant, and help set your business up for success. Here’s a closer look at some of the most important benefits of accounting automation and a few tips to help you get started.
What Is Accounting Automation?
Accounting automation involves removing the bulk of the manual work from the accounting process. While in the past you may have needed to create complex ledger files and manually enter rows and rows of data, today, accounting software can take care of virtually everything automatically. In many cases, this also happens in real-time, eliminating the lag that can make financial decision-making more difficult.
The overall purpose of accounting automation is to simplify the accounting process and remove tedious tasks. This allows business owners to spend more time analyzing financial information and making strategic decisions.
Benefits of Accounting Automation
If you’re not quite sure whether automation is right for your business, it’s time to take a look at the many ways it can improve your overall experience and increase your bottom line. Here are five of the most important accounting automation benefits you’ll enjoy.
1. Increased Productivity
When you eliminate manual work, you’ll immediately have more time. Accounting automation can complete tasks that used to take days or even weeks in just a few minutes. All this time savings allows you to focus your efforts on tasks that can drive profits and consistently move your business forward.
2. Tax Compliance
Some accounting automation software is designed to assist with payroll reporting and tax regulations. It can help you track your sales tax and your business expenses, so you have all the information you need when it’s time to file your taxes. It can also provide reminders so you’ll never miss an important deadline again.
3. Improved Accuracy
When you’re entering data manually, human error is quite common. Accounting software will improve your accuracy and help eliminate simple mistakes like transposing a number or inadvertently adding a double-entry. Not only will this ensure you’re working with the proper information, but it can also save you from wasting time and effort trying to find mistakes while reconciling your books.
4. Better Data Organization
Accounting automation software helps keep everything organized. Most programs store data in the cloud, so you won’t have to worry about maintaining backups or potentially losing your information. You can quickly review your data, generate reports, and access the information you need with the click of a button.
If you find that you need additional business financing, you’ll also be able to quickly and easily generate any reports or information your lender needs as part of the underwriting process.
5. Improved Collaboration
Many types of accounting software will seamlessly integrate with other programs – like your payroll tools, budgeting programs, and customer relationship management (CRM) software.
This allows you to use your accounting software as a communication tool so everyone in charge of making important decisions is on the same page. It can also make goal-setting easier and allow you to quickly set deadlines and track your team’s progress towards meeting them.
Top Accounting Tasks to Automate
Wondering how to get started with accounting automation? Some of the easiest and most common accounting tasks that small businesses automate include:
- Generating expense reports
- Tracking accounts payable
- Processing payroll
- Tracking expenses
- Handling employee reimbursement
When you’re ready to start automating your accounting, you’ll want to begin by evaluating your software options and choosing the best one for your needs. Then, determine the steps you’ll automate and create new, simpler workflows within your business.
Set Your Business Up for Success
Taking small steps to automate manual tasks can help you pull your business out of a rut and set you up for future success. Accounting automation is a great place to start. Once you’ve confidently organized your business finances, you’ll be able to make other important decisions, such as acquiring financing to support your business growth.
At Zinch, we make it easy for business owners to get the funds they need. Contact us at (714) 500-6622 to learn more about your options. You could qualify for up to $250,000 in just 24 hours.
