If you ever listen to commercial radio, I’m pretty sure you will have heard adverts from the likes of Quickbooks, Xero and Sage (there are others as well). They claim to take the headache out of doing your accounts and make filing your tax return easier.

First off, what is accounting software?

Accounting software is a program you can use either on your computer or as an app on your mobile device. It allows you to keep a track of income and expenditure for your business. You can often link the app to your bank accounts to bring your transactions straight into the app, and many also allow you to track your mileage if needed. You can then tell the app what do with the transaction – e.g was it business use or personal use? With some you can also scan in receipts and create invoices to send to your customers.

So do I need it for my business?

If you’re a small business who only uses a bookkeeper or accountant once a year, or maybe you do your own accounts and tax return, then one of these accounts packages could be useful to you. It will help you to keep a regular track of your income and expenditure and will allow you to analyse your accounts on a regular basis. Then, at the end of the year, your bookkeeper or accountant can access your accounting software and use the data that you’ve already entered. If you’ve kept your records up to date then there’s a good chance you’ll save money on your bookkeeping/accounting fees as a lot of the work has already been done for them.  

If you’re a business that needs bookkeeping assistance all year round or if you have staff on your payroll then accounting software is essential for you.  By regularly keeping your accounts up to date you know exactly where your business is at and what your liabilities are.  In addition to accounting software, new software such as AutoEntry or Receipt Bank, any receipts or invoices you receive can just be forwarded through these apps.  Then they can just be reconciled with your accounting software saving you even more time and money!  There are far more benefits for your business by keeping your records up to date, but that’s a blog post on it’s own.

How much does it cost?

If you’d like to discuss your software needs further then please get in touch for a free consultation – Dave Shannon – 01782 906001 – dave@driveaheadbookkeeping.co.uk