8 ways to save time (and money) in your business
Anna Stubbs • March 1, 2024
Like everyone, business owners are always looking for ways to save time.
Every minute spent on admin or fixing mistakes is a minute that could be spent on business-building work
When time really is money, it’s worth finding ways to reduce those tedious and repetitive tasks – and technology is the answer.
- Better billing - Billing can be a huge time-waster. Using a digital accounting system to extract data from supplier emails and auto-populate invoices can save hours each week.
- Streamline expense claims - Use a digital solution to automate the expense claims process, and your team saves time submitting receipts, approving expenses and dealing with mistakes.
- Reduce human error - Manual data entry is fraught with errors. Eliminate the issues by automating key admin tasks, and spend more time on data analysis, not data entry.
- Automate approvals - Streamline bank reconciliation with an automated tool, so you don’t waste time manually approving individual transactions.
- Quicker invoicing - Invoices and late payments take up a huge amount of time. With an automated invoicing platform, that time is reduced significantly – and manual follow-ups for late payment are eliminated.
- Payroll perfection - Use your accounting software to upload staff details and calculate tax contributions. You’ll not only save significant chunks of time, but you’ll avoid mistakes.
- Quick, accurate taxes - Digitising the tax process can make a real difference. Instead of Excel spreadsheets, receipts and physical documents, everything is accessible through your software.
- Better access to business data - With smart software, you get accurate business data wherever you are. No more going back to the office to check a number, getting back to clients with final details, or reworking quotes because the numbers were wrong.
Want to save time in your business? We’ll set you up with the software to make it simple.
“Q: Why do I need an evolving strategy for my small business?” You’re a business owner or CEO. And that means it’s your responsibility to take care of the business, invest in the right places and make the company a success story. However, to do this, you need an agreed business strategy that lays out your goals, your mission and your plan for taking the company to the next level. So, why does this need to be an evolving strategy? “A: Your business strategy is not a static document – it’s a plan and mission that should be fluid, agile and able to react to change.” We’re trading in uncertain times at present. Each day presents a new challenge for small businesses, and having a plan that can react to change is a major competitive advantage.
More than ever, cashflow is a vital part of staying afloat, whether your business is in recovery or growth mode. Revenue, profit and your bottom line all deserve your attention. But keeping everything running is the baseline. Regular cashflow forecasts help you keep that in focus. Here’s why: Cost control - If you can't reach your targets for income, reining in your costs may give you a little extra head room to manage cashflow while you plan your next move. Visibility on outgoings - Cost control can be a challenge when it’s hard to pinpoint hidden costs or where established ways of doing things cost more money than they should. You may also have been coping with unexpected expenses, as you’ve adapted your business for unplanned circumstances or increased costs. Improving business practice - It's more than only keeping an eye on outgoings (though that's important). It's about looking at each aspect of your business and business systems (or the gaps where there should be business systems) to see if poor practice is driving costs up unnecessarily. It can be useful to break it down - You can look at cost centres such as office supplies or freight. Or you can look at what those costs do for your business. It can help to analyse costs in terms of cost of sale and overheads.
“Q: How does an accountant support my financial performance?” We’re all used to the idea of a business needing an accountant. But have you ever stopped to think what a good accountant and business adviser can actually bring to your company? Advances in technology, software and AI are changing our expectations of what a basic accountant/business owner relationship can offer. So, it’s important to reassess your expectations and to find out where we can add real, additional value. “A: Your accountant is now a full-fledged business adviser, ready to help you review, manage and transform your finances and strategy.” In previous decades, your accountant dealt primarily with historical data – the transactions and cash inflows/outflows that had happened in the past. Today, with access to so much smart forecasting, data analysis and forward-looking scenario-planning, we can tell you far more about the future of your business.