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A small business guide to better understanding your data
Work smarter. Think clearer.
How cloud accounting can sharpen your processes and generate powerful insights for growth
As a small business owner, your time is precious. You’ll want to use that time for your most important concerns - serving customers, innovating and growing your business. Accounting or bookkeeping are probably not top of the list. But they are important and new technologies are making them easier and more efficient.
However, many small business owners have told us that whilst they know their processes are inefficient and outdated they don’t know where to start in modernising them. In this short ebook, we’ve shared some of our learnings by defining 5 ways to use accounting technology to get your financial house in order and generate data to thrive.
Get your business on to the cloud
Cloud accounting is basically made up of many thousands of pieces of software that can help you to manage your finances. In the ecosystem there are big ‘do it all’ players who can help you with the whole process through to specialised software providers that manage specific parts of the accounting process.
The good news is that the technology is more affordable, accessible, easier to use and more powerful than it’s even been. It can take away much of the administrative and bookkeeping pain and transform the way you work.
Use cloud-based apps to start saving time and money
Once your business is on the cloud you open up huge potential to run your business more effectively. This can feel both liberating and scary. Your processes may be very manual and paper based at the moment, moving away from this to a new technology based process could feel intimidating.
Clients often come to PwC to help them with these processes as they know are inefficient and time consuming. Increasingly we are finding that using cloud technology provides ways to help our clients to save time and money.
Draw on your accountant’s experience to reap the benefits faster
When it comes to technology, your accountant will be a great source of insight into adopting the cloud. They’re very likely to be using the cloud themselves. They also know your business well so they can be a good match-maker between you and the relevant cloud technology. Your accountant can help you make the transition and embrace better ways of working.
Develop better data habits
There’s a good chance that if you’re working with manual, paper-based processes, inconsistency and inaccuracy has built up over time. As a result a challenge that some of our clients face is that their data is unreliable and they have to make constant adjustments to monthly figures. This can be time consuming, but even worse it causes big problems for trust when it comes to financing.
Use insights tools to turn data into actionable guidance
Once you have the tools in place and you’re using them consistently, your data will be more accurate, up-to-date and accessible. On this basis there are 2 types of insight that cloud accounting can help you generate: actionable short term insight and strategic, long term insight.
Instant reporting is helping many of our clients to see what they’re spending in real time and how they’re performing against budget. Longer term insights based on accurate information is helping them to plan and make informed decisions about the future.
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Contact us
Global Lead of Digital Innovation for Entrepreneurial and Private Business, PwC New Zealand
Tel: +64 21 820 945
