Four apps that take the pain out of accounting

Smart Tech

4 apps that take the pain out of accounting

Gone are the days when one could sit pretty in the office, run their business and wait for it to grow. Today’s fast-paced world requires a lot from business owners outside the office. Thankfully, our essential devices are adapting with us to this new pace. Our smartphones and tablets can host apps that allow us to take the office with us wherever we are. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll look at some of the useful applications that make running a small business easier. We start off with book-keeping, one of the most dreaded tasks for start-ups.

Receipt Bank

Receipt Bank is a platform that helps small to medium-sized businesses, sole traders and individuals save valuable time by pulling information from receipts and invoices quickly and accurately. Instead of building up piles of receipts and invoices and then spending hours typing them into a spreadsheet, Receipt Bank allows you to upload photos or documents using your mobile device, and then processes these into order. This leaves you with more time to engage with other sectors of your business. The app offers a free 14-day trial.

Freshbooks

This app aims to get rid of the headache of invoicing by managing and tracking your invoices. It does this by enabling a business owner to automatically generate personalised, professional-looking invoices, automatically bill clients, and accept card-based payments on the go using a mobile device. The app also has the ability to record expenses and track time spent on a given project. Everything is stored in the cloud so your data is secure no matter what happens to your device. The service is available for free for 30 days.

Wave

Made with small businesses of up to 10 employees in mind, Wave is a free platform that allows users to track sales and expenses, manage invoices and payments, pay employees and generate accounting reports. The platform has three elements to it: two iOS apps, one for receipting and one for invoicing; and an overall web component for a full overview of the accounts.

Quickbooks

Last but definitely not least is Quickbooks, a well-known accounting software that can be used to monitor sales and expenses, generate financial reports, pay employees and vendors, and track unpaid bills. It can connect to several financial tools, including banks, credit card accounts and online platforms like PayPal. It offers an online service that lets you access all functionalities on the go. It comes with a 30-day free trial.
These apps, and many others, help you keep up with the modern demands of business as far as accounting is concerned. They, however, have cost implications that need some wise consideration.