5 Key Features Of Small Business Accounting Software

Accounting plays an essential role in the success of any business enterprise. It helps maintain proper records for the purpose of preparing the financial statements of a company. Some common financial statements of a firm include income statements, statements of financial position (balance sheet), statements of cash flow, and statements of changes in equity. 

The preparation of financial statements is essential because they allow managers, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders to make wise decisions about the business in question. Though sometimes accounting can be stressful and overwhelming, you can streamline the process by installing a software solution in your business system. 

This article walks you through everything you need to know about business accounting software. You’re going to learn what accounting software is, its features, and why you need to use it. 

What Is Accounting Software? 

Basically, accounting is a process of recording, storing, summarizing, presenting, and interpreting a company’s financial transactions. The main purpose of accounting is to tell whether a business is making profits or losses.  

Meanwhile, accounting software is a computer program that helps streamline or simplify the accounting process. It assists accountants to record and manage business transactions online. So instead of manually recording financial records in physical ledger books, you can use accounting software to store your financial records in a digital form. 

What Are The Major Features Of A Business Accounting Software?

Though there are different accounting programs out there, not all of them can suit your business needs. That’s why you need to check for the following features to ensure you’re buying the right accounting software.  

1. User-Friendliness

User-friendliness is a key feature to look for in an accounting program. An accounting application is user-friendly if all your staff is able to adapt and use your software with ease. So before buying any accounting software, be sure all your team members, including nonaccountants, can utilize it.  

2. Reliability

Another critical feature to check when buying your accounting system is reliability. Being one of the primary functions of any business enterprise, accounting records are relied upon by several stakeholders to make critical decisions. For instance, managers use accounting information to decide whether or not to expand a business. On the other hand, shareholders and other investors rely on business accounting information to make investment decisions. That’s why you need to use a piece of accounting software that produces accurate and reliable results.  

3. Scalability

It’s no doubt installing business accounting software involves huge sums of money. It’d be a good idea therefore to work with a scalable accounting program. By being scalable, it means working with an application that can accommodate your business needs at all times. For instance, as your business expands, the accounting software you adapt should be able to grow with it. This means as your accounting transactions become more complex, your accounting program should be able to handle them.  

4. Relevance

Relevance is another feature you need to check when installing your business accounting system. Remember, accounting information can influence your business decisions. So to ensure you’re making the right choices, it’d be a good idea to work with an accounting program that produces relevant information. Accordingly, your accounting software should be able to produce information on a timely basis.  

5. Compatibility

When purchasing your accounting software, you also need to check whether it’s compatible with your other business’s existing applications. Compatibility determines how your software can well integrate or work with your already installed business programs. For that reason, your accounting software should be able to fit in your business and work well with your existing applications.  

Why Use Accounting Software?

There are many benefits of using a program to record your accounting transactions. Some of these include the following. 

1. Saves Time

Accounting involves loads of repetitive work, which consumes much time. However, you can install accounting business software to help you save time. This is important if your business deals with a lot of daily accounting transactions.  

With an accounting program, you can automate most of your accounting processes, allowing you to save time. Some of these processes you can automate include the creation of invoices and the tracking of accounts receivables.   

2. Minimizes Errors

Most accountants commit errors when recording financial information manually. This could lead to inaccurate results, which can impact your business decision-making in the future.  

One of the best ways to minimize accountants’ errors is to install accounting software that would be useful for recording accounting transactions. This is possible because business accounting software can automatically perform all financial arithmetic accurately.   

3. Improves Accounting Security

Today, businesses face a lot of security threats. One of these is online hackers who can target the financial information of your company. However, you can secure your financial information by installing a business accounting program. 

Such software allows you to store vital information in the cloud, thus making it hard for hackers and unauthorized people to access it. The use of accounting software is also a great idea if you want to back up your financial information automatically. This way, you won’t be worried about losing your data.  

4. Boosts Collaboration

Using an accounting program can help promote collaboration and coordination within your accounting department. This is possible because accounting software can allow you to store and organize your financial information in one central location. It can also enable your accountants to share files and other documents, thus making it possible for them to do their job with ease.  

Apart from helping you save time, an accounting program can also allow your employees to avoid duplication of efforts. This is possible because your accountants can use the software to work jointly.  

Takeaway

Accounting is one of the major processes of a business enterprise. It’s a process of recording and organizing financial transactions to help prepare final business accounts. Though accounting involves several daily transactions, the process can be simplified through the use of an accounting program.  

There are several reasons why you need business accounting software. For instance, it can help save time, minimize accounting errors, boost accounting security, and promote workers’ collaboration. However, to enjoy all these benefits, you need to buy a program that has the right features. Some of these features to consider include reliability, scalability, relevance, and compatibility.