As a self-employed individual or small business owner, sometimes, there’s just not enough hours in a day to get everything done. Even with time-management, hard work, and a bit of elbow grease, are you still coming up short? If you’re looking for a way to optimize your productivity, then QuickBooks can help.

Listed below are fifteen ways accounting software can improve productivity for your business.

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1. Track Expenses and Income Automatically

No manual entry of your business’s transactions is needed when you switch to this cloud software. It automatically imports all financial information from your bank accounts, credit cards, PayPal, and more, to provide you with up-to-date information at any time.

Eliminate all that continuous data entry in the accounting process, as well as the human error that goes along with it. Quickly check your expenses as a percentage of your income, and run profit and loss reports to understand where your finances sit each month.

2. Generate Invoices and Send Payment Reminders Automatically

This small business software allows you to customize templates to create unique invoices with your brand’s logo and colours. Save these templates and send them to your customers quickly and easily from any of your devices. QuickBooks tracks your invoices’ status too, so one quick look at your dashboard can tell you if a customer has paid or not.

QuickBooks can help you get paid on time too! If a customer hasn’t paid an invoice by the date specified, no need to take time out of your day to track them down. This bookkeeping software automatically sends out payment reminder emails to your clients and a notification to you.

3. Offer Customers Quick Payment Possibilities

Make the payment process quick and easy for your clients when you add a payment option directly in your invoice. Your business can accept credit card payments with a link in the invoice to streamline the payment process. Your customers will love it as it means less work for both of you. And with next-day deposits, you’ll get your money sooner too!

4. Run Reports and Create Financial Statements

QuickBooks reporting feature compiles all transaction information to create professional-looking financial statements for business owners. Keep a pulse on your business’s financial health as it generates profit and loss statements, income statements, balance sheets, sales tax reports, and accounts receivable reports! This feature will help you manage your cash flow and keep tabs on all your finances for budgeting purposes and future business planning.

5. Manage Inventory in One Spot

Keep tabs on your inventory management without filing through your goods thanks to the software’s ability to track products and send you reminders when you’re low on stock. The dashboard offers you one organized place to check your inventory quantities against orders, and supplier information to always stay ahead!

6. Maximize Tax Deductions

Thanks to the automatic categorization of your income and expenses, QuickBooks will make your tax time a breeze. Set custom rules and this accounting software will learn your preferences to automatically sort all your business transactions into corresponding tax categories.

This accounting software can calculate and track sales tax on all your revenue too. With the automatic calculation of GST, HST, PST, and QST, know your business’s sales tax without the calculator.

7. Share Your Books with Your Accountant

Exporting financial documents is easy so that you can send your balance sheets, income statements, and more to your financial advisor or accountant hassle-free. Don’t want to send your financial information online? No problem, QuickBooks also lets you invite others to access your books with the new multiple users’ ability for seamless collaboration. And with user-access levels, you can ensure your confidential information stays protected.

8. Collaborate with your Employees

Allow your employees protected access to specific features of your account. This small business accounting software offers owners the ability to collaborate with their employees, with the use of an employee portal to track vacation days and view their pay stubs. Save time and effort with the Workforce portal, available with Standard payroll.

The time tracking feature also allows your employees to track and submit their workable hours at any time, from any device. Once submitted, it automatically syncs with the software in real-time so you can always see who’s working without having to manually enter information, while keeping tabs on employee productivity.

9. Predict Future Finances with Cash Flow Projections

Financial insight can help you keep your business on track- all of which is at your fingertips with customized, data-driven reports. Forecast your cash flow ahead 90 days to see where you will stand without doing the calculations yourself. Preparing for the future will help your business stay ahead of the curve and anticipate changes in the market. Check out this beginner’s guide to cash flow to learn more.

10. Track Project Profitability

Break down your transactions and time spent on the project to understand the full scope of work per client. Track a project’s non-billable time, outstanding payments, and unbilled work to ensure you’re getting the most out of every contract. Stepping back and viewing the full picture of your work allows your business to adjust work output and finances easily.

11. Organize Receipts Without Taking Up Space

Time to clean out that receipt drawer, thanks to QuickBooks’ receipt feature. Easily snap and save every business receipt to stay organized without taking up space. This cloud accounting software automatically matches receipts to your bank statements to guarantee accurate records of your transactions, ensuring you’re ready for tax season when it comes around.

12. Make International Business Better

Save time and money with software that can easily adjust for various currencies. With the multi-currency support, send out invoices and record business transactions in multiple currencies. This feature is just one of the things that makes QuickBooks the best accounting software out there today.

13. Track Mileage for Tax Deductions

QuickBooks can do the mileage tracking for you, so you won’t need to worry about checking your odometer after every work-related drive. Set up the automatic mileage tracker, and let the app do the work as it uses your phone’s location to measure distance, logging and categorizing your drives for greater tax deductions!

14. Cross Platform Syncing with Apps

QuickBooks can download and connect to various apps, such as Shopify, PayPal, Expensify, and more, for automatic updating across platforms. Sync all your business’s data into one interface and manage customers, resources, projects, and finances to save time, effort, and money.

15. Information at Your Fingertips with the Mobile App

Check your finances on the go, wherever you go with the mobile accounting app. Sync all your business’s critical information across all your devices in real-time for quick referencing and easy collaboration. Never be at a loss again, keeping customer contacts, business insights, and financial data, all at your fingertips. The QuickBooks Online app is free when you subscribe to the Online software.

For quality small business accounting software, consider QuickBooks to cover all your business needs. Up your productivity and save you and your employees time, money, stress, and more, with this accounting management system!

Back: What is Accounting?

Next: How to Manage Small Business Accounting