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How Digital Technology Systems For Finance and Operations Help Your SME – Software Buddy

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Digital Technology Systems

Whether you have ten staff of a hundred a ten, running a small business is a never-ending task of juggling jobs, stock management, chasing late payments, dealing with recruitment and worrying about cash flow.

After all of this, thinking about digital technology may be the last thing on your mind.

But trust us when we say that digital transformation can help especially – if you pick the right digital systems for your finance and operations needs.

You can read our beginners guide to digital transformation, what is digital transformation read our beginner’s guide here. In this blog post we want to look at how your SME can benefit from implementing new digital systems for finance and operations.

How Your SME Can Benefit

“Digital technology transformation promises more revenue, a better customer experience and a new level of productivity that you have never seen before.” Forbes

Whilst Making Tax Digital may have forced your hand when it comes to digital transformation, there can be a huge number of benefits to making the digital shift and will even mean that your systems are modern, up-to-date and up to the job.

finance and operations

From making it easier to keep tabs on cash flow and payments to improving how efficiently your team works, there are a lot of advantages to be had – if you choose the right systems.

This article from the Harvard Business Review highlights that, as the business leader, you need to prioritise where digitalisation should take place and have a clear idea of how it all fits together across your business operations.

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Finance

Before the MTD legislation was published, a research study, commissioned by HMRC found that, whilst there was some resignation,  some small businesses could see the benefit of having a quarterly, digital technology system.

They said it could make things clearer, give them more confidence and force them to be more disciplined. Those same benefits also apply to having up-to-date financial systems such as Xero or Quickbooks or Sage.

  • Automated reports mean you can easily monitor finances and cash flow, giving you more control over your business finances
  • Billing and invoicing tools can take the legwork out of manual invoicing – you can also automate chase-ups when payment is late and, integrate with online payment systems so that you get paid quicker
  • Payroll functionality removes the need for manual data entry saving time
  • Easily run forecasts, management reports, approve expenses and reconcile banking transactions
Sage Logo
Xero Logo
Quickbooks

Operations

Job management software, like ServiceM8 or SimPro can help streamline your day to day operations. Including multi-stage project management, operative tracking and staff scheduling.

Job management software can also help make sure the right equipment is with the right people at the right customer location. As well as monitoring progress and even estimate, schedule, invoice or order new parts at each stage of your workflow.

Some systems can also make working as a team a lot more efficient as well as speeding up invoicing and job completion times.

All of this means that you will have a more profitable team and happier customers.

ServiceM8 Logo

Inventory

Whether you’re a plumber or a wholesaler, having a digital technology stock system can make life a lot easier. Modern stock systems can give you more control over your inventory and even make sure that you don’t run out of materials or equipment by sending you reminders to restock when supplies get low.

Using inventory software can also give you a better handle on how you are doing financially. Good news good news for your bottom line.

dear inventory
Dear Inventory

Project Management Systems

Installing a project management system can make running a team of staff a whole lot easier. When you have clear lines of communication in place, you can run better projects.

A lot of project management systems, like Teamwork or Trello also come with a mobile app. Making it possible to keep in touch with members of your team whilst on site, letting you see the status of the job, billing deadlines and what the associated costs are.

Trello
Teamwork PM

HR Systems

Recruitment can be a long – and expensive process and looking after your current staff can easily slip, especially during busy periods, so investing in a HR system can be beneficial. These tools will allow you to better manage your hiring, conduct more useful reviews and better track team performance – so you can identify problems and reward successes as they happen.

Some great HR systems for small businesses are BambooHRWebHR and CharlieHR

BambooHR
Webhr
charlie hr
SB - finance and operations

Want more info? Read our no-nonsense guide to digital transformation for small businesses or book a consultation with a Software Buddy pro now.

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