Bookkeeping Automation for Small Businesses - Risks and Benefits
When the subject is business automation, people usually tend to think about big companies and powerful tech corporations. And, until not long ago, that was accurate. However, in the past years technology has become more accessible and democratic, so - thankfully - now any business or individual can benefit from it.
By the way: if you need help with finance basics, check out our guide on accounting for small business article!
Today, there’s a wide range of tech tools to help small businesses save time and money on everyday tasks, from marketing and sales to finances. Naturally, the right automation for each business will depend on a variety of factors, including company size, industry and audience.
That said, managing everyday finances is something any business needs to do - so whether you have a team of 1 or 100, accounting and automated bookkeeping is definitely something you should look at.
Benefits of bookkeeping automation
Technology and automation help small businesses stay competitive by cutting costs, saving time and increasing productivity. It also improves day-to-day management, as processes become more transparent and easier to monitor.
By automating your pre-accounting, you ensure your business’ bookkeeping is always accurate and organised, making it easier for you and your accountant. That means no more searching for lost receipts and invoices in emails or shoe boxes (in fact, no more boxes of paperwork at all!).
You also save tons of time as there’s no need to manually enter data on tedious spreadsheets. Removing the risk of human error when dealing with such important information is another benefit, since sometimes just a digit wrong can cause serious headaches when submitting your taxes.
Communicating with your accountant is much easier when your bookkeeping is automated, since you’ll both always have real-time access to your up-to-date business finances. Those long conversations about investments, loan applications and future plans become much smoother, as your accountant will be able to offer better advice to help your business.
How to avoid risks when choosing your bookkeeping automation tool
SMBs usually have limited budgets, so choosing a bookkeeping automating tool that suits your business demands careful consideration.
To make sure you invest in the right technology to automate your bookkeeping without risks, look for the following:
- Reputation
Your business’s financial information is too valuable to depend on someone you’ve never heard of. Research our options and make sure you select a well-known and respected brand with years of experience in the industry. Partnering with prominent companies you know you can trust is the first step to building your business’s own reputation.
- Reliability
The best thing about technology is convenience - and that only exists if it’s available whenever you need it. There’s nothing more frustrating than software that crashes all the time or it’s constantly under maintenance. Whilst every software goes through updates here and there, you should have the peace of mind that your bookkeeping automation tool is available and stable when you need it.
- Accuracy
You’re avoiding human error by automating your bookkeeping: great! But that only makes sense if you can trust that the information extracted from your receipts, invoices and bank statements will be correct. Look for a piece of software that has the highest accuracy possible to ensure your data is always accurate to avoid mistakes later on.
- Security
It's important that you have instant access to all your data at all times, but also that your company financial information is stored securely. Make sure that your automating software of choice uses high-level encryption and complies with all the relevant privacy and data safety regulations where you operate.
You don’t need to over-automate - just ensure you choose the right bookkeeping technology for your business.
Conclusion
Technology has levelled the playing field, allowing small businesses to automate tasks and improve productivity. By automating your bookkeeping and pre-accounting processes, you save time and money, and reduce the risk of manual errors that can be costly.
To make sure your business makes the most of it, look for a solution that’s reliable, accurate and fast, from a company that has a strong reputation in the industry. As long as you invest in the right tools, you can trust the tech.
Dext Prepare automates your bookkeeping by accurately extracting the information from your receipts and invoices, before sending it to your main accounting platform. Designed for businesses of all sizes, Prepare is a powerful and reliable tool you can count on in the long term, as it has the ability to scale with your company. It offers the fastest processing time per document and the highest level of accuracy in the market - unsurprisingly, it’s a favourite between accountants, too.
With Prepare, your data is stored for seven years using bank-level encryption and is fully GDPR-compliant. That gives you the peace of mind you need to focus on looking after your customers and growing your business, instead of worrying about receipts.
