From how you get access to your financial data to where you keep it, from how you collect money to how you spend it, everything matters in business. 

There are numerous business financial tools and services available to help you gain greater clarity, control, and peace of mind over your finances. With all of the resources accessible, taking control of your money and making better use of the data acquired has never been easier and faster.

Let’s go through various tools and services that should help you better manage your company finances.

Payroll services

Payroll service providers help with a variety of business processes. Investing in payroll services early on ensures that your business runs smoothly and aids you in addressing potential problems.

Payroll services can help today’s business owners solve some of their most pressing problems. In fact, payroll and other administrative work were rated as a significant issue by 11% of small business owners polled in a study conducted in 2020.

Running payroll includes deciding whether to use check printing or direct deposit, as well as ensuring that all applicable federal, state, and local taxes are deducted from employee paychecks.

These tasks aren’t always straightforward, and they can consume a significant amount of time for busy business owners.  Furthermore, hiring and overseeing personnel to perform these tasks can take more time and money than working with a third-party provider who provides turnkey solutions.

That’s the main reason why you should consider investing in payroll services.

Also, if you outsource or hire freelancers every now and then, you should know that there are proven payroll services for independent contractors that you can use. A tool of this kind allows you to source, on-board, manage, and pay your contractors within a few minutes.

MS Excel

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The fields of finance that use and benefit the most from Excel spreadsheets are financial services and financial accounting. Excel allows you to complete difficult modeling in a matter of minutes.

If you step into the finance or accounting department of any major firm, you’ll see Excel spreadsheets crunching numbers, summarizing financial results, and producing budgets, predictions, and plans that are used to make critical business decisions.

Excel can add, subtract, multiply, and divide for most users, but when used in conjunction with VLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH-MATCH, inserting checkboxes and pivot tables, it can do a lot more.

If you’d like to take advantage of these, more advanced features, you should definitely look for a Microsoft Excel expert to train you and your employees. A lot of processes can be accelerated and improved if you learn how to use all of the great features that this tool offers.

M-banking

Make sure you have a good mobile banking app on your smartphone if you don’t already have one.

Depending on the size of your business, you may need to transfer to a dedicated ‘challenger’ bank. Starling, Coconut, and Tide, for example, are dedicated business accounts that are totally mobile and online.

It’s worth noting, though, that not all of these are actually banks, so read the fine print. You receive added capabilities to help you with things like handling tax, payments, and accounting integrations because they are created exclusively for businesses.

Expense tracking software

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When your team members are on the road, they frequently incur various expenses that must be paid, such as meals and mileage. Some accounting software for small businesses includes this capability, but not all, so look for a tool that interfaces with your accounting software if it isn’t already included.

Also, make certain you aren’t paying for more than you require. Some expense management software is more powerful than what a typical small-to-medium-sized organization needs. Remember, every dollar counts and can make a difference when looking at the bigger picture.

Business budgeting and forecasting

Budgeting is an art form in and of itself. However, it’s worth repeating that the investment in tools that help you build (and keep) a budget and manage your financial flow are well worth it.

Many forecasting applications nowadays cover both and can help you stay on track financially. In this regard, there are numerous outstanding possibilities.

Futrli and Float are among our favorites. These function in tandem with your existing accounting software to provide you with more accessible, real-time financial insights and gather live data from your accounts, eliminating the need to manually enter all of the information and lowering the risk of error.

Agile billing

The easier and more agile your billing process is, the faster payments are received and processed. Also, cash flows into your company faster.

You can speed up the billing process and even improve customer satisfaction by using a cloud-based billing system. You’ll improve client experiences and reduce accounts receivables delays by deploying agile billing technologies and processes.

Remember that with agile billing you get to monetize today’s products and services faster, which means that you get a chance to seize new opportunities tomorrow more quickly.

Final thoughts

Keeping track of the financial aspects of running a small business might feel like an endless task.

Fortunately, technological advancements have resulted in a plethora of tools that can save small business owners time and hassles when it comes to daily financial responsibilities. Take full advantage of these tools and services and good luck!