Over 82% of businesses use some kind of digital accounting tool, whether Zoho Books, QuickBooks, Sage, Xero, or the countless others available for desktop and the cloud. This steadily increasing number is not surprising considering the benefits digital accounting can bring to an organization: accuracy, productivity, and accessibility among them.

But you should treat choosing a digital accounting tool as carefully as you do your CPA. When you decide to make the switch, whether that’s from one accounting tool to another or from paper accounting to digital accounting, you need to be sure that you’re settling on the right tool for your needs.

• Cost: You’ll get what you pay for. There are plenty of standard, free programs available. These work well for individuals or small teams; however, they often lack the more advanced features businesses may need.
• Your Users: Who will be using this software? An experienced accountant? Someone who is financially literate enough to understand basic accounting terms? Or someone who wears many hats? For advanced bookkeepers, more advanced software will work well. For someone not as familiar with accounting, you need software that doesn’t have a steep learning curve.
• Features: How much do you want the software to do? Do you simply want accounts receivables and payables? Or do you want it to manage invoices, expenses, and inventory, too?

No matter which piece of software you decide on, there are a few things it should have to make the most out of your data.

• The Basics: There are a few basic pieces of functionality that any piece of accounting software should have. Without them, you’ll be unable to do even the simplest of bookkeeping tasks:
  • Accounts receivable/payable
  • Bank feeds
  • Profit & loss recording
  • Invoicing
• Integrations: As your business grows, your software’s functionality has to keep up. Your software should be able to integrate with third-party applications so that you can use it for inventory, vendor management, payroll, and purchasing should the time come.
• Reporting: The main goal of any piece of accounting software is to generate reports that can help in your business’s decision making. Any piece of software you go with should have reporting; if not, your efforts are wasted.

Sometimes no one tool can meet all of the needs of your growing business. That’s when our team highly recommends a custom solution. After all, your business is unique, so the way you manage payroll, invoices, or estimates should be too. While you may fear that a custom application will be out of your budget, it actually can save you thousands of dollars in the end. You won’t pay for subscription fees, updates, or users. Instead, you’ll have something to completely call your own.

If a totally custom application isn’t an option, Zoho Books is another great tool. It can integrate with hundreds of Zoho and third-party applications to collect data on customer satisfaction, time tracking, project management, inventory, and more. At KDG, we have a team of certified Zoho Developers who can customize features, modules, or workflows to meet your needs.

If you’ve just started your software search, or you’ve been searching for months and haven’t been able to find the right fit, we encourage you to contact us. With bookkeepers, developers, and business consultants on hand, we can help you move forward with confidence.