Accounting Frontier Blog

There will often be times where a software may not connect to your accounting software, but you can still automate the entry of data through an excel upload template. Bookkeeping automation is about getting your data entered as quickly and accurately as possible so that you can analyze your data and use it to drive your business’ performance. You should always be thinking of ways to streamline and improve processes. Excel upload templates essentially act as bridge connection on your wagon wheel when a direct connection doesn’t exist. In accounting softwares like Xero or QuickBooks Online, you can upload contact data like vendor or customer information, but you are also able to upload transaction data for bills, invoices, or credits. Xero stands out in this area due to its open platform and the fact that excel data importing is an included function of the software (see Why Xero instead of QuickBooks link). QuickBooks allows transaction uploads, but it’s provided through other vendors who charge for the service.  

We’ve spent time discussing the structure of bookkeeping and the necessary tools to get a complete and accurate product. In this section, we’re turning our focus to a second layer of tracking called project accounting. This adds another level of complexity to the accounting process, but with the right system, it can be done efficiently and effectively. Often times the success or failure of a project-based business is determined by how well they can execute this process. 

Most businesses have a disjointed process for submitting, reviewing, and approving purchase requests. Many don’t have a process at all. If you’ve spent anytime using a spreadsheet to track purchase requests, you know firsthand how difficult, time consuming, and frustrating this process can be. A poor functioning purchasing system leads to a disconnect between your company’s financial goals and what actually gets spent. There is a solution though and it functions within the wagon wheel of your automated bookkeeping system! A simple purchase request system that is integrated with your accounting software will bring enhanced financial controls to your business, align your actual spending with your budget, and improve communication between accounting and operations.

A core bookkeeping automation tool is a document collection / bill entry software.  This type of software is incredibly helpful and serves several important functions.  First, it acts as a central document collection hub for your business.  Employees can upload bills and receipts directly to the application via email or by taking a picture of the bill or receipt on their mobile phone. In addition, anyone outside your organization can upload bills by sending a pdf attachment from an email.  This effectively decentralizes the entry of bill data by getting it into your document hub from multiple sources.  The second function of this type of software is it reads the scanned copy of the bill and pulls important data from the document such as vendor name, invoice date, due date, invoice number, and amount and then enters the data into fields for your review.  After quickly reviewing the data, you publish both the bill data to your accounting software and a pdf copy of the actual invoice to the transaction in your accounting software.  You can set it up so that no bill goes into your system without your review or have bills automatically enter the system once they are uploaded after you become more comfortable with how it works. The software also remembers previous entries so if you use a vendor frequently, it will pull all the data from the current bill and then remember the general ledger account you assigned to that vendor previously. 

Most people are familiar with the online bill pay feature included with their bank, but did you know there are bill payment platforms specially designed for small businesses?  These systems not only print and mail checks for you, but they can do direct electronic payments with your vendors as well. The banking profile of the vendor can be managed by the vendor without you ever being involved with it. Wires, domestic and international, can all be handled within this system. And perhaps the best feature is the interaction with the bill payment system and your accounting system. Bills automatically sync between both systems for a seamless experience. This drastically reduces the amount of time for data entry. In this article, we’re going to discuss why you should consider moving away from hand-written checks and move toward a bill payment platform.

When should you consider outsourcing your bookkeeping? What are the benefits of outsourcing? In today’s post, we’re going to share some bookkeeping warning signs and then discuss the benefits of outsourcing your bookkeeping.

In its simplest terms, a budget is a realistic estimate of future revenues and expenses. This is an important exercise for a business to do at least annually just prior to the new year. Budgets should include your normal operating revenues and expenses, but also factor in capital improvements, staff additions, infrastructure investments (like software or equipment), and other long-term purchases. A great budget allows the team to plan future expenditures that align with the mission and vision of the organization.

Now that you have a company credit card, it’s time to implement a system to oversee it. The two big players in the industry are Abacus and Expensify, and both would meet the needs of most businesses. These accounting applications are designed to solve three problems: (1) data entry and efficiency, (2) recordkeeping, and (3) oversight.

Bookkeeping is the daily recording of financial transactions so you can tell how much income your business made, how much you spent, and how much was left over.  The purpose of bookkeeping is to give you an accurate set of books, so you know how your business is performing.  Bookkeeping is one of the things that often gives business owners a lot of heartburn and many view bookkeeping as a necessary evil.  You likely started the business because of a passion you have, because you wanted the financial freedom that comes with owning your own business, or maybe it was a combination of both factors.  Bookkeeping became a necessary function of your business as you grew but one you would probably choose to skip if you could.  It doesn't have to be difficult though and you can learn to love how your accounting helps you monitor your business' performance.  There are so many resources and tools that are available to businesses these days and it is easy to set up a business' books in an accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks.  In addition to that, there are countless tools available for every industry to help streamline accounting processes, reduce the time involved in bookkeeping, and save your business money. 

The future of accounting is in the cloud and the future is here. Before we dive into this topic, you must understand that your approach to accounting needs to change. Gone are the days where you use one accounting system. Cloud accounting applications are designed to be narrower than your traditional “one-size-fits-all” model. Each application has one primary function and they do it with excellence. If you just tried to use that one application, you would have an incomplete system. But if you combine these applications into one single system, you can customize it to meet your needs and still see the benefits we will discuss later. Today, I want to share three reasons why you should consider a move to cloud accounting.