Accounting systems don’t nearly go far enough in tying up all the ends of your business, but what if they could? asks Andries Kok from PayAccSys.
Business people have been using accounting systems since well before the abacus, and there is currently a plethora of software available for companies.
However, where all the current options fall down is their inability to integrate payment systems with basic accounting, and reconcile bank accounts.
All too often, accounting packages are also just too broad, and don’t cater for your specific type of business.
The issue with the bulk of accounting software is that it has always been horizontal, yet many industries are fairly vertical in nature. That’s the problem; the traditional accounting package out there simply does not cater for these verticals.
They require fields inputting that simply don’t exist in your line of work. And can’t be customised.
But what if your accounting software was customised for your business? What if you no longer had to worry about sending off an invoice, only to discover that you’ve left a field out?
Imagine software that fits in with your business, doesn’t allow mistakes because you’ve taught it what fields are required for each type of invoice, automatically allocates payments when they land, and lets you – and your customers – pay bills from within the program?
This sort of solution would take away a lot of the pain associated with running your own small business that most likely involves using three systems at present: Accounting software, online banking and possibly even Excel for each transaction that needs to be processed.
It would free up hours every day so you could bring in new business, and provide automated reconciliations that your accountant could use to file tax returns, claim back VAT and give you a real-time view of where the money is going.
It would also provide absolute security, so that everyone on the same system need not swap programs so they can make payments. You wouldn’t have to log into your accounting program to add an incoming invoice, and then log into a bank account to run a payment. It would automate all of that misery.
Your customers would be notified when an invoice lands, and would then have the option of paying it straight away, through a secure system much like many banks’ one-time pins.
This software would also allow you to create a database of customers and suppliers, and would verify – through a third party – all the contact information, reducing the chances of some fly-by-night not paying their bill.
This sort of tool sounds like a dream, but it isn’t. It’s the future of accounting and will be a blessing to every small business owner who doesn’t want to come home after a 12-hour day and deal with paperwork.
It can also be used wherever you are, on whatever device you have – allowing you to create and send invoices while standing next to your customer, and them to pay you straight away because they’re logged into the same network as you. It’s all secure. And it’s coming.
