Accounting Software: It’s Value for SMBs

Along with handling day to day operations and planning for the future, a small business needs to keep a record of its financial transactions.

A Simple Accounting Software Can Help You Monitor Your Business Better

When handling a business, being hands-on is a good thing, but unless you’re a certified accountant, it is best to entrust your bookkeeping to an accountant and equip your company with systems that can make things easier. Many new businesses risk failure because of improper bookkeeping, so do yourself a favour and get a simple accounting software to help you monitor your business better. Below are some of the accounting and bookkeeping mistakes businesses often commit. Make sure you don’t do the same. Not Using an Accounting Software – Excel is a great program; it’s just not elaborate enough to handle the more complex requirements of business accounting compared with non-generic small business accounts software such as those provided by Cash Manager Limited. A software specifically created for accounting is easier to use and provides more tools for you to better assess your business.
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Cafe owner shares 5 tips for growing your business with technology

If you’d asked anyone 10 years ago about how important technology was in running a successful café, they probably would have responded: not at all!

But today, we are increasingly seeing small businesses embrace technology to grow and be more relevant to their clients.

We spoke to Nathan Dunn, owner of Tuihana Café Foodstore, about what it means to run a cafe with technology at the heart of everything. He gave us five tips for growing your business using technology like Xero and social media.

The business

We are a Café Foodstore situated in Mt Eden, at the city end of Dominion Road in Auckland. We purchased the business four years ago when it wasn’t doing very well, and we have had the hard but satisfying job of turning it all around.

We cater to local clientele and also visitors who hear about us! Our food is a Kiwi/Maori mix. We have favourites such as eggs bennie and a delicious lamb burger, combined with some traditional Maori herbs like horopito and kawakawa. Our bread is made on site and is the traditional Rewana (sourdough potato) bread.

Embrace social media in multiple ways

I believe we’re one of the most tech savvy and social media active cafes in NZ. We are active every day on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with big fan bases spread across those three platforms.  Our staff have Instagram on their phones, so they can take a quick snap of something exciting. It immediately pushes out to the other platforms, through a custom software platform I developed. We also allow for mobile ordering, via SMS, email or Twitter DM.  As far as I know, no other café allows you to order a flat white through Twitter. We also provide free WiFi in the café that requires no login codes, so it’s super easy for everyone.

We also use Xero’s online accounting software to manage our finances, so technology is really at the heart of our business if every aspect.

Invest in staff, listen to customers

Amazing staff. Staff will make or break a café. We also listen to our customers, a lot. Our regulars are a big part of our business, and some of them come in multiple times a day. If they are having a slow day at work, they want to come to the café for a pick-me-up. It’s up to our staff to create those personal, genuine connections, to keep our regulars coming back. We are constantly making changes and improvements based on what they think.

Be willing to make changes fast

Besides lots of exciting new food options, we try many different things in the cafe around marketing. The interaction with our customers via social media, and using cloud-based technology like Xero, allows me to see what’s working and what’s not, and adjust our focus to suit.  The margins in hospitality are razor thin. If something’s not delivering, we need to change it, and fast. It may be too much wastage, or food priced incorrectly, so it’s far too late to do all these at the end of the financial year.

Use technology that speeds you up rather than slows you down

I do all the accounts, and have directorships in a handful of other businesses, so I am time scarce.  Xero allows me to reconcile my accounts in about 10 minutes and see how we are tracking. Bank feeds and invoicing are also major features for us. We can quickly and accurately code up our transactions, and run weekly profit and loss statements to see how we are tracking.

The fact Xero is cloud based is a must for me. I’ve just been in the US for two weeks, and was able to do my GST return and file it from a hotel in Louisville, KY.  This week I’m in Singapore, and I’m just as functional as if I was in NZ.

Find the metrics that matter and check them regularly

Xero allows me to be very efficient. I don’t have to spend a lot of time digging for the info I need.  It’s all there, ready for me to analyse and act on. I do a lot of reconciling on my phone and iPad, and I run reports on my laptop.

By being able to do weekly and even daily profit and loss statements, we can see how we’re doing in real-time and make any tweaks. It’s important to do comparisons from previous periods (such as the previous month, or even previous years) to make sure we’re still growing. It’s not enough just to see money in the bank; this can be a false sense of security. So I would say the real-time visibility and being able to see exactly where we are at has allowed us to grow because we can respond to things much quicker.

Anything else you’d like to add?

If you’re not using Xero you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Check out Tuihana Café and Foodstore on Twitter @tuihanacafe and Instagram  http://ift.tt/1AVRW9i

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How to charge what you're worth and get it

Resources: 

Pricing

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Happy workplace, happy business

In this guest blog, serial entrepreneur, CEO of Central Working and Business of Happiness ambassador James Layfield offers his thoughts on how a happy workplace supports a happy business. 

Imagine your ideal workplace. What do you think of? Do you picture conscientious, innovative colleagues, or a trendy office? Maybe it’s a plum view across the city?

For me, it’s the people you work alongside that make your job what it is. A business is only as good as its people but it’s not just about getting the recruitment right.

Creating a special environment is important if you want to build a happy and successful business. We’re not just talking about the workspace being stimulating. At its heart – and this is crucial – it should encourage regular human connections and the chance to chat.

The aesthetics should never trump the practicality of a working environment, but sadly they often do. As startups and entrepreneurs you have the freedom to choose your working environment, so make the most of that opportunity.

You dedicate the vast majority of your time to your business so doesn’t it make sense to spend it in the most effective way? In a nurturing environment, surrounded by people that inspire you, can help you grow, and that genuinely care about you doing well? An increasing number of businesses are realising that the current world view of an “office” isn’t helping them do that, so they’re looking for other options.

I passionately believe the best alternatives offer opportunities to collaborate. People need people; we work better and achieve more together. Of course there are times when working independently is vital for concentration and getting stuff done, so you need to offer options for different modes of working. But these occasions should be the exception rather than the rule if you want to make magic happen at work.

You can find the perfect physical space that encourages collaborative working and attracts top talent, but a supportive culture and a dynamic atmosphere still needs to be nurtured.

Try these three simple tips to discover a business full of smiling faces:

1. It’s good to talk

How often do you send or receive an email from someone across the room when a quick chat would have been far quicker and more productive? Or perhaps you get caught up in the confusion of a misinterpreted email. If a quick chat will do the job, head over or pick up the phone instead. It’s better to know there are no crossed lines and the bonus is that you might discuss or learn something really useful. Opportunities exist in the spaces between the facts; you can’t see them in an IM.

2. Listen up

It can be difficult to give people your undivided attention in today’s digital, ‘always-on’ world. But committing to this can lead to huge leaps in productivity and morale for your team.  Listening is harder than you think; most of the time you think you’re listening, but in fact you’re off in that next email or worrying about that next meeting. Stop, be clear and listen. You’ll get way more done.

And keep an ear open for opportunities to help colleagues and be aware of what’s going on around you. This might mean unplugging the headphones or taking the time to have a proper conversation when you next bump into someone in the kitchen.

3. Get personal

Chat about life away from work and take an interest in colleagues’ hobbies when you grab lunch or a drink together. Not only will this help build better relationships, but you’ll also uncover hidden opportunities, whether it’s an untapped client lead or a skill you didn’t know someone had.

There’s no complex equation or algorithm required to create a happy business. Instead it’s the little changes you can make every day that could help you realise you were in your perfect place to work all along.

James Layfield is CEO of Central Working, a leading network of business clubs with locations across London and Manchester. Central Working provides over 800 businesses of all sizes with the environment, community and support to thrive.

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Employment intermediaries rules: how to work out if you’re affected

You may not know if your business qualifies as an employment intermediary, and we couldn’t blame you. But it’s extremely important you know if you are affected by the legislation that was included in the Finance Bill 2014 concerning false self-employment (so-called Onshore Employment Intermediaries). Besides bringing new tax and National Insurance considerations for both businesses and contractors, this law means that ‘intermediary’ businesses will now have to make quarterly reports to HMRC in…

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