Proper automating software and services save business owners and bookkeepers substantial time and money. Automating many of the administrative, clerical, and financial duties routine to the office management creates efficiency, enhances accuracy, and reduces time spent on redundant tasks. When selecting the right tools for a new, established, or growing business, consider some important, must-have features that will help create optimal efficiency for busy offices.
Many online and cloud-based tools for accounting, payroll, and financial management are available to assist business owners and bookkeepers with all aspects of managing and keeping track of their funds. To be most cost- and time-effective, consider selecting applications and services that work together to sync the same set of data in multiple locations, in real time. Using software tools that integrate with one another reduces time spent on manual data entry—as well as the accompanying errors—so that financial data is updated and available in all places at once.
No longer working from one fixed office or desk, most busy professionals need tools that travel with them—and stay home with them. While many software products for financial management exist, device-specific downloads are relegated to one location, can only be used by one person at a time, and contain data that is not easily shared or updated immediately. Business owners who have to work from multiple locations during the day, as well as those who do some of their work from home, find that remote access is one of the most important features to consider when selecting the right software services and automating tools to help manage routine administrative and financial tasks.
Checks are still one of the most common ways that businesses can issue and receive payments, and billions of checks travel through the mail every year. Online check printing is preferable over traditional check writing because it offers convenience, affordability, and portability, as well as automatic recording and storing of data. Checkeeper offers online check printing templates that allow users to customize their business checks (with color logos) to suit their marketing and branding needs, and checks can be printed on demand right from the home, office, or travel location. Instead of a paper check registry that requires manual data entry, Checkeeper accounts come with an online, automated smart check registry that does all the recording and storing of payment data for you. Search your registry according to any check field when you need to locate a payment, and run reports for the entire month, quarter, year, or custom time frame when you want a comprehensive spreadsheet of all payment data within select dates. Checkeeper integrates with many widely-used accounting and payroll software, such as Gusto, Square, QuickBooks Online, and others for automatic data syncing and expense categorizing.
While many entrepreneurs do their own bookkeeping, there will come a time when delegating some of the work becomes necessary. Researching the additional costs that will be incurred when new users are authorized to access software is an important step for making sure you don’t invest in something that won’t scale with your needs and will only have to be replaced later as you take on new hires. Some online tools for financial management charge per user or usage tier so that subscriptions fees increase when new users are authorized. Checkeeper allows account holders to add new users to the account in order to issue payments and run reports without additional fees. Add the names and email addresses of users you wish to authorize, and Checkeeper will email each one a secure link to initiate account setup. Limit the user permissions to only designated features, if desired, and change, expand, or revoke them anytime.