Features, Cost, Support: How to Find the Best Software for Your Small Business

This post, about how to find the best software for your small business, originally was published by Venturize, a blog powered by our content partner Small Business Majority. They are a national organization that advocates for small business owners. 

Our earlier posts in this series covered small business bank accounts and credit cards.  We underscored how important it is to keep your personal and business accounts separate. Another important step in formalizing your small business finances is devising a good bookkeeping or accounting system. We’ll explore how to find the best accounting or bookkeeping software for your small business to help you simplify the process.

How to save time and money

Recording your expenses using bookkeeping or accounting software might seem like a pain. Using these tools though can save you time and money in the long run. Many of them have features that help you manage various aspects of your finances all in one place. What’s more, they allow for reports. These allow you to analyze your business revenue and spending, valuable insights that can help you increase efficiency and operations.

Keep the following things in mind as you determine how to find the best accounting software for your small business.

Software Features

Accounting software offers a wide range of features. These include expense tracking, invoicing and payment processing, online payroll, employee expense reimbursements, business and/or personal tax preparation, audit support, monthly reporting and more. Some software also more smoothly integrates with bank accounts and third-party apps.

These features are great, but you probably don’t want to pay for what you won’t use. You also want to think about anything you might need specific to your business or industry. For example, do you need to be able to track depreciation for your equipment and inventory? Are you in retail and need your accounting software to integrate with your point-of-sale system? Make sure your software is going to offer the support your business needs.

Low-cost options

If you can forgo some of the features of the more comprehensive software options, there are great low-cost options out there. Check out NerdWallet’s recommendations for the best low-cost business accounting software, which still come with important features like expense tracking, invoicing and integration with tools like Square. There’s even a free version of QuickBooks, one of the most popular accounting software applications. This option might work for you if you have fewer than 20 customers.

Find the best customer support

Maybe you are a numbers or technology whiz and are confident you can navigate issues on your own. Or maybe finances aren’t your expertise and you want your software to have live support available 24/7. Make sure you review the customer service options before choosing a bookkeeping tool for your small business.

Keep in mind that you may still need to have an accountant on hand to help you with some of the more complicated financial issues, and you’ll want to make sure your system works for them too. And don’t be afraid to take advantage of free trials for these software tools so you can try out different options.

Focus on running your small business

Accounting software has made it significantly easier for a small business owner to track expenses and finances. Incorporating this technology can simplify your business finances and save you important time and money. Whichever option you choose, make sure you have an accounting system in place that lets you focus on the aspects of running your business that you care most about.

Stay tuned for the next installment of this series. We’ll go over some of the basic financial terms you should know before seeking small business financing.

For more helpful articles on small business, visit Venturize’s website.