Invoicing & accounts made easy.

Which Tools Must Startups Use to Simplify Accounting Challenges

Posted by | January 20 2021

Early-stage Startups and Small Businesses tend to avert organizing finances and maintaining books. Result? They run into tax complications later – cue for bouts of exasperation in front of the Revenue officers.

Paying a hefty a price to an accounting firm to settle the quagmire at the last moment is not unheard of.

smart accounting solution

The following are some of the areas of negligence which give rise to accounting complexities:

Not separating personal and business expenses

Muddling up Revenue Expenditure and Capital Expenditure

Avoiding or failing to evaluate tax compliances

Not recording transactional history under the correct Account Groups

Not keeping proper record of pre incorporation expenses

Not updating the books in real time

Not following the accrual method of accounting

An inattentiveness towards accounts preparation can be blamed on the tediousness of the task, that is, accounting. It is especially true for small business and startups owners who cannot yet afford a full-time bookkeeper or hire an accounting firm. But accounting is an unavoidable responsibility of any business. The best bet is sorting out finances using smart financial tools which can automate 90% of the tasks.

Here is a list of the financial tools every startup must use to simplify accounting.

Accounting Software for small business

For a small amount of no more than € 20 you can take the advantage of a fully automated accounting software for small business for day-to-day bookkeeping. This may include a quick invoicing feature with an option to mail your customers in batches. Some tools may also use API integrations to help you integrate your books with expense/billing management solutions such as Bank Receipts, or Point-of-Sale software to further simplify bookkeeping operations.

A smart accounting solution can streamline –

Invoicing (including time-billable tasks and multicurrency invoices)

Cashflow/Expense Tracking

Production of Financial Statements

Client/Vendor Management

Automate recurring invoices and payments

Tax-compliant billing and production of Tax reports

Payroll Management

Bank Integration

Multi-user access

Stock management

The tax laws are constantly changing, and it may not be possible for you to keep tabs on the latest legislative measures. Very recently, for example, the government announced a reduction of VAT rates starting from September 1. Using cloud accounting software which is compatible with tax laws in Ireland will ensure your accounts are up to date and compliant with the current tax rates.

Payroll Solution

It takes an early initiative to get into a good habit and no matter how small your team is, you must develop the habit of running payroll through an organized system. It provides effective employee management support and keeps you aware of the latest recruits and turnovers. It also auto-calculates and helps maintaining a clean record of employee salaries, tax liabilities, TDS, allowances et al. Most cloud accounting software come with a Payroll management system. So, what’s stopping you from digitizing accounting and employee handling?

Budget Tool

Executing effective money-management strategies is one of the biggest challenges of every small business and startup. The lack of proper tracking is the reason businesses run into a budget mess. You might be approving plans left, right and centre to make sure your venture succeeds, but are you cutting your coat according to your cloth? Before long, you might run into a debt and your business might come to a complete standstill. Where is the time though to go through a maze of worksheets when you are too focused on your business?
Well, chuck worksheets. Instead, get budgeting software.

Enter budget figure against account codes.

Run a budget report periodically or monthly or compare between previous and current year by entering the periods and the account codes.

See if you are spending more than you should by running budget reports.

Surf Accounts has ‘Budget’ integrated to its General ledger. Here you can save budget targets against each account codes.

Billing/Subscription Management

If you have customers already subscribed to your product, you would do better by choosing a tool that provides a unified view of all subscriptions. You can get customer data in one place and engage and take more informed actions. These tools are designed to manage subscriptions, pricing, and trial subscriptions.

Business Credit Card

Having a Bank of Ireland Business Credit Card means you can track business spending and separate business and personal expenses. You can choose payment dates commensurate with your business cash flow and set credit limits per card.

Simplify and control your finances. Use these tools to accelerate tasks.