People who come from an accounting background have their way with dealing with the boatload of calculations and deductions involved in running a business. But for the rest us, it’s quite the task. If you end up making even the slightest miscalculation, it will certainly mess up everything. But the real question here is – does it have to be that complicated? No, actually not.
So what other ways can you adhere to, to serve your business with the right type of accounting without any hassle? Well, you could have a good accountant in Northampton who looks after your inventory, invoicing, reporting sales and taxation. And if you are amongst those who hate to keep long books in your small business, then an accounting app is a good way to get the job done without spending much.
Here are some accounting apps that are simply perfect for a small business.
QuickBooks Online
As the name suggests the app handles all the accounting work from billing to invoicing, reporting, managing sales, inventory, tax and time tracking for activities effectively. The interface of the online portal is colourful and user-friendly which is why it is strongly recommended by experts.
Its online banking integration feature allows you to hook up the software with the bank digitally and once you do that, it downloads all the financial details automatically and works on it.
Cost
For contractors and self-employed individuals, it charges £2 per month and for businesses, it costs about £6 to £10depending on the kind of plan you want.
You can find out more about the app on their official website https://quickbooks.intuit.com/
Xero
Xero is an excellent online app designed for an enjoyable and efficient all-round accounting for small businesses. Its functionality is quite easy to understand – first its database imports all your financial transactions in the system and then links them to their respective accounting transactions.
The app allows you to execute major accounting work like giving an overview on upcoming bills, reports of incomes and expenses and invoices that have been pending for a long time. Its control panel is perfect to give you an easy-to-view complete image of your accounts, reports of incomes and expenses, bills, and invoices.
Cost
It comes in three plans – the£10 for one month plan allows you limited invoicing and reconciliation, second, £22 for a month with unlimited invoicing and reconciliation. And the third plan is a premium one with enhanced features costing up to £27.50per month.
You can find out more about the app on their official website https://www.xero.com/
Freshbooks
This app is developed for those who have never worked with accounting software before and needless to say it’s very simple. With it’s easy to understand dashboard and wonderful visualisation, the app is certainly efficient.
From creating professional invoices to setting up credit card payments, repeat invoicing, sending emails in one click and estimation, everything is simpler with this app.
Cost
Like Xero, this too offers three pricing plans: first, the lite plan which costs £12 per month and allows billing for 5 clients, then the plus plan which charges £20 for a month for 50 clients and the premium plan for up to 500 active clients that costs £38 for a month.
You can find out more about the app on their official website https://www.freshbooks.com/
Kash Flow
The app specially designed for small businesses in the UK and is truly one of the most highly recommended applications out there as it actually listens to its customers and adds the most sought after features in it.
The app is perfect to handle UK’s taxation and VAT reports. It is a ‘must-have’ app for small business and the best thing is that it doesn’t require any accounting knowledge to begin with.
Cost
Its basic plan starts at £7 per month while the business plan charges £14 and payroll bundle costs about £19 for a month.
You can find out more about the app on their official website https://www.kashflow.com/
There is no doubt that all these apps are excellent but to make sure that they meet the requirements of your business, you should probably give the trial version a shot. All of the above described apps provide a free trial pack, so just take the full advantage of it and select the ones which are best for you.
*All prices mentioned are stated as last recorded.