What Are the Top Five Things That to Keep in Mind While Using Accounting Software Here are the top five important criteria that one should consider before investing in an accounting system

Accounting is an essential part of any commercial business. Streamlining and updating books of your business regularly is a daunting task. It is necessary, especially so after juggling various functions in the course of your entire working day. It is essential to consider the timely bookkeeping & accounting that boosts decision-making.

In the old days, maintaining and updating the books for a business meant recording numbers and figures in a paper ledger manually. But, now not anymore. Today, businesses of all sizes whether small or large, both are using accounting software to keep track of their revenue, as well as to forecast sales and manage inventory. Therefore, intending to supervise the business finances, it has become quite crucial for most of the organizations in India to acquire a certified, advanced, and easy to use Business Accounting Software.

Importance of Accounting Software

Accounting software has become a vital need and businesses have started realizing their importance to manage their finances, In many cases, we are aware of the fact that financial management, which is supposed to help companies manage their expenses and profits more efficiently, can also become one of the reasons for financial loss.

There are so many benefits of accounting software for businesses to ease their accounting operations. Affordable and simple accounting software is essential to track the success of your business. It allows users to store all the data, which gives a clear picture of their business's financial health. Managing bookkeeping and monitoring costs and revenues to maximize profit margins also becomes easy. Besides, the accounting software allows generating reports that show the overall financial status of the company. It offers audit trail reports and sends them in Excel format. It also helps in GST reconciliation and tracking with just a click. It updates a knowledge database on GST. One of the most significant benefits of accounting software is a higher degree of accuracy and speed.

SMEs search for the ones that serve their business objectives while searching for the best accounting software in the market and should be affordable and easy to use for them. Business accounting software reduces the potential for human error that is possible to come with accounting on paper, and accounting software can allow access to critical information in just a few keystrokes.

There are so many accounting software available in the market, which is in demand due to its accuracy, convenience, and speed. Collecting timely payments, keeping track of business inventory, management of business finances, and generating GST reports can also be easily managed through this application. Some financial accounting software provides a variety of features geared towards assisting small and medium businesses to manage all of their accounting tasks such as accounts payable and receivable, reconciliation, payroll as well as financial reporting too. But with so many options available in the market, choosing the right accounting software for your business can be difficult. So, here are the top five important criteria that one should consider before investing in an accounting system -

Identify your needs

The first step to consider while choosing accounting software is to identify your needs. Are you looking for a platform that allows you to track inventory, help in GST Filing, and sales tax more direct concerns? So choose wisely! First, make a list of your accounting needs and prioritize them from least to most important. Also, look whether you want online software or desktop-based offline software? Most of the best accounting systems are cloud-based, which allows you to access your account anytime, anywhere from any computer with an internet connection, helping you run your business remotely.

User-friendly

Prior to purchasing a business accounting software, remember that its operating system should enhance the productivity and efficiency of the concerning professionals. The comprehensive mechanism of business accounting software must be convenient and easy to use. Therefore, go for software that has a simple user interface and is not bloated with unnecessary features. The clean interface makes it easier to focus on important tasks and can reduce the learning curve.

Data Security

Data security is another feature which is of paramount importance. In a world, where cybercrime is on the rise, it's imperative to choose a software embedded with advanced data security. Moreover, considering an online accounting application calls for more data security as the most critical aspect to check.

Important things to check:

– You should ask the company about the ways of storing the application data. Mostly, this information will be available on their website. If your accounting software provider is hosting the application on their own servers, ask them about the security steps being taken to safeguard your data.

– Also, check if these services are using an HTTPS connection. In order to check it – just open the application and see if the URL in the address bar starts with https://. Usually, this is highlighted in green colour. One can also click on that to view the security certificate. HTTPS protocol ensures that the data transferred from your computer to the software company's servers is encrypted and cannot be viewed by hackers.

Data backup and Restoration

Another important factor to be considered is data backup and restoration that will keep your data intact in case of unwanted data loss. Online accounting software can also save financial data of your business on the external servers, which makes it safe from any physical hazard at your end and from others as well.

Most of the business owners hesitate to store their financial data on external servers. However, it is a safer option than your own servers. wherein the security experts look after it. They adopt the latest technologies to secure it. Therefore, it should be one of the prime factors to consider when selecting a software package.

Timesaving Automations

Several accounting software can be set up to automatically send past-due notifications and recurring invoices, saving you time on your invoicing and accounts receivable tasks. Others can save you time reconciling your accounts by implying transaction matches. If your business provides customers with quotes, then go for a program that converts these documents to invoices in just a few clicks. If you carry inventory, look for a system that reorders products by automatically creating purchase orders when items drop below a set threshold.

Conclusion

The accounting software market will encounter a higher level of growth in the years ahead, according to a report by Fortune Business Insights. During the forecast period from 2019 to 2024, the market will grow at a CAGR of 8.5%. There is a strong demand for software platforms to manage spreadsheets and have a better understanding of tax management globally.

Various accounting software in the industry are aiming to boost brand visibility, enhance customer experience, channel partner experience, and numerous initiatives to reduce support requirements with some of its power features such as a mobile app to connect with real-time data, Data Exchange Platform to exchange invoices electronically,User Controls to keep the user at the top of their business, Complete GST Module Multi-location Inventory, Multi-company Accounting, etc.

Accounting software has been helping organisations and people for a long time. Developments and advancements like SaaS saw the industry add cloud-based subscriptions and on-premise solutions. Still, much more technological disruptions are on the way for accounting.