If you own a business, you know the importance of an effective management system. In fact, it may even be one of your goals to bring management in your business up to speed. With the rise in technology, it’s becoming more and more important for many businesses to make use of software in order to stay competitive.
These tools I am about to show you will help your business and make you more productive at work. It has worked for others and you are not different. It will work for you too!
Accounting Software
Accounting is, as everyone knows, an integral part of operating any business. Choosing the best accounting software for your business needs is highly important. But there are many types of accounting software which cater to a variety of different needs. Understanding what’s on offer will allow operators to select the best accounting software for small businesses, helping you to make more efficient use of your time and facilitating the monitoring of cash flow, expenditure, tax filing and other essential business data. Keeping your books accurate and up to date is integral to smooth business operation, and companies such as Xero, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks provide streamlined, easy to use accounting software for small businesses.
Payroll Software
One of the best accounting software options for small businesses to use is payroll software. A quality payroll software application, such as Xero software, will allow small business users to accurately and efficiently process payroll, pay slips, superannuation payments, year-end bonuses and a host of other payroll concerns common to any business operation. Easy to use payroll software can be a lifesaver for over encumbered small business owners, allowing smooth daily operation of business activities and making sure that employee satisfaction and morale is kept high through competent pay management. The ability to use streamlined software services like QuickBooks payroll software can take the hassle out of otherwise complicated and problematic processes and allow you more time to spend on what’s important for maintaining a successful business operation. Making sure your employees are paid correctly and on time, as well as keeping a comprehensive track of the expense of paying workers is a vital part of making sure your business is running smoothly. With companies such as FreshBooks competing to provide the best accounting software for small businesses, there has never been a wider array of tools available to make the lives of small business owners easier.
Tax Software
A comprehensive, easy to use and easily implemented tax software application can provide exactly what business owners need in order to navigate the complexities of any nation’s tax framework. It is well known that fulfilling legal tax obligations and calculating the best tax outcome for your business is one of the most important aspects of maintaining business integrity. The best accounting software programs on the market are those which provide small businesses with the ability to easily accommodate and deal with the complexities of different international tax regulations. Software applications such as Xero allow users to make efficient use of valuable time resources in dealing with tax.
Bookkeeping Software
Streamlined and easy to understand bookkeeping software programs are the lifeblood of any successful business of any size. The ability to have easily understood critical bookkeeping information at your fingertips is crucial to making sensitive business decisions for your company. When it comes to accounting software for small businesses, the ability for layman business owners to have important accounting information delivered in an easy to use, easy to understand format can be absolutely essential, allowing business owners to focus less on understanding complex accounting mechanics and more on running their business. When combined with tax and payroll services the best accounting software will allow smooth and uninhibited business operation.
Time Tracking Software
Time tracking software allows users to engage in effective time management through the detailed documentation of work performance on different tasks. Time is one of the most important resources a small business owner has, and the use of an appropriate time tracking tool allows businesses to better quantify their use of this precious commodity. Understanding how your and your workers’ time is spent by using time management software can let you identify areas of your business where you may be focusing too much or too little. Software from a company such as MinuteDock lets small businesses accumulate comprehensive data surrounding their time management, allowing you to record time spent on specific tasks or projects, by specific workers or groups, and therefore allowing you to better understand where your business can improve its use of time, to comprehensively document work effort spent on particular clientele, and also to better manage your charging of clients by quantifying the time resources spent on their projects. One of the most important things you can do as a small business is to check out a trial of free time tracking software from companies like MinuteDock: the value that can be added to your operation from time management software cannot be overstated.
Project Management Software
The best project management software can provide an invaluable logistical asset to your business operation. This type of software provides users with the important ability to organise complex projects by breaking them down into specific task segments while still allowing a comprehensive overall view of the project. Companies such as Trello allow the organisation and management of projects into easily understood segments, letting you increase your business efficiency by making the organisation of your complex projects a cinch. Not only will this kind of free project management software allow you to improve your organisational management of your business but it will also ensure that you know exactly how, where and why your resources are being expended toward the completion of a given project. A professional and well organised plan is furthermore essential to providing clients with the assurance of their project being completed in a timely, organised manner. In combination with a timekeeping program like MinuteDock, your clients will be able to understand exactly what is happening on their projects, allowing for simplified invoicing and payment processing. With the comprehensive documentation and organisation provided by these kinds of software services, a small business can remove hassle and make resource management easy.
Customer Relationship Management Software
One of the best ways to better understand your relationship with customers and to drive business growth is to use a CRM software tool in order to better analyse the ways in which your business interacts with its customer base. Small businesses are able to successfully manage customer relationships through the best CRM for small businesses. Companies such as Zoho provide users with a straightforward interface and present data in an easy to understand fashion in order to allow small business operators to gain valuable insight into business relationships, increase customer retention and drive the growth of sales. CRM software is able to provide vital and valuable assistance to small businesses which are trying to gain a better understanding of their interactions both with current and potential customers. The ability to identify valuable data trends within multiple interaction channels can add an innumerable amount of value to the operations of your small business. Better understanding the interactions you have with customers in your market is vital to the growth of your business, allowing you to identify appropriate areas to expend marketing resources and make the best use of the tools you have available to improve the performance of your company.
Communication Software
Effective and efficient communication, both internally within the business and externally towards customers, is vitally important to the successful operation of any small business. It is important to identify and make use of competent workflow software in order to maximise the efficiency of your business communications. Communication software, such as the likes of Skype and Slack, will allow your team to communicate and collaborate more effectively on all projects and allow your business to engage with customers and workers regardless of their locality. The ability for a modern small business to engage with global markets through the use of modern communication technology is almost unthinkable. Effective use of workflow and communication software will allow your business to expand the horizons of its market and help the organisation and communication between members of your team as much as any other software on this list. When used effectively in combination with streamlined management and timekeeping software applications, even the simplest of communication programs can allow your business to remain highly organised and efficient when working on any given project, as well as allow easier flow of communication to your customer base. Regardless of what industry you operate in, communication will remain an important part of your operation, and the choice of a suitable software to facilitate this can undoubtedly improve your business.
Samples to try out
Slack – Best Free Tool For Team Communication
Slack is a messaging app that gives you one platform for all your communications, offering real-time messaging, file sharing, archiving, and search. It’s built for modern teams so you can have all your communication in one online location, instantly searchable, and immediately accessible from whatever connected device.
Slack works with more than 1,500 external apps and services, giving you one fully flexible and extendable platform. It has several internal and external sharing options so you can receive and share files with anyone. It offers advanced search, filters and sorting that make it easy to get the right files that you need. You can set filters by variables such as recent type, relevance or file type.
Some of the key features of Slack;
- Conversation channels
- Private groups
- Messaging
- File sharing
- File browsing
- Voice/video calls
- Feedback
- Progress archive
- Notifications
- Integrations
- Open API
- iOS & Android apps
- Data security
- Data encryption
- Single Sign-On
- Two-factor authentication
Trello – Free Software For Managing Projects
Trello aims to simplify collaboration by tracking your team’s tasks, projects, and files all in one app.
You can see who’s working on what as well as what the statuses of tasks and projects are. It can help you track your entire work progress from start to finish.
This cloud task management app also helps you spot bottlenecks before they occur. For instance, seeing a team member swamped with tasks, you can reassign some of these tasks to another employee.
Accessible from a desktop browser, Trello also provides you with free Android and iOS apps, lending to greater flexibility. You can manage your projects in the office, field, or anywhere you are internet-connected.
Some key features of Trello:
- Free for the basic service
- Quick overview on front and back of cards
- Easy organization with tags, labels, and categories
- Drag and drop functionality
- In-line editing
- Checklists, with a progress meter
- Easy uploading of files and attachments
- Data filtering
- Archiving of card records (e.g., comments and changes)
- Deadline reminders
- Email notifications
- Activity log
- Assign tasks
Freshdesk – Free Helpdesk System
Freshdesk is a cloud-hosted help desk solution equipped with best-in-class features for delivering quality customer support.
The software is designed to meet the demands of both small businesses and large companies. With it, users can broaden their reach through launch multi-channel support, streamline operations using automation tools, increase productivity through gamification, as well as reinforce customer support efforts using self-service portals.
Freshdesk also has a phone system built into the system where users can accommodate calls from clients. Currently covering over 30 countries, this will allow you to perform call center operations without having to invest in a full-fledged business phone system.
Some of the key features of Freshdesk:
- Feedback Mechanism
- Helpdesk and customer satisfaction reports
- Real-time customer analytics
- Customized Reports
- Portal Design and Customization
- Agent Management and Delegation
- Custom Ticketing, URL, and apps
- Customer Segmentation
- Custom SSL Certificates
- IP and Network Restrictions
- Identity and Access Management
Xtensio – Create & Share Beautiful Documents
Xtensio is a platform where teams can easily create and share living documents. It helps teams collaborate on documents, presentations, proposals, reports, sales sheets and other strategic exercises in real-time.
The editor works like a web builder so it’s easy to add images, videos, tables and other interactive modules. Drag and drop, resize, change backgrounds, and specify colours and fonts to match brands.
Some key features of Xtensio:
- Drag and drop functionality
- Embed and Export
- Save/Share Templates
- Revision History
- Privacy Control
- Full-Screen Presentation
- Dedicated URL/Team Workspace
- Dedicated Customer Success Manager
- Premium Support & Onboarding
Conclusion
You’re in business and still wonder what types of software are helpful for small businesses? It’s understandable because this is a constantly changing market. The Internet changed how we live and helped businesses to grow by giving them unlimited access to online sales channels. However, the tools and types of software evolved with this change so you’ll probably need something more effective when compared to simple accounting systems.