Why You Will Find A Small Business Accountants' App Very Handy!

INTRODUCTION: 

A few months ago we launched our small business accountants' app for clients and non-clients and we have had some very interesting feedback. With people spending more and more time on their phone whether they are travelling on public transport or when they are out and about, having an application that is easy to use, faster than connecting to a clunky website for information, more visual and more informative is always going to be useful for those that want to communicate and learn.

Figure 1: Having a small business accountants' app is incredibly easy for both clients and prospective clients to access information in their daily business lives. Photo courtesy Scolari Comerford Small Business Accountants Sydney & Dubbo

1. Simple & Useful Calculators

The calculators are very quick and easy to use. For example, if you want to know how much income tax you will pay on your taxable income this year or what you would pay if you earnt 'x' amount on your salary, simply type in the amount and press calculate and the annual amount, monthly and weekly amount showing gross, tax, offsets and net will be on your screen in a flash.

If you employ people and you want to work out how much you need to withhold simply go to the PAYG Withholding calculator and answer the 6 simple questions. The whole process will take you about 20 seconds to get your answer.

If you are looking at selling an asset that might be subject to capital gains tax, go straight to the CGT calculator.

For loan repayments, there is an amortisation schedule which is produced in about 15 seconds.

There are others which are all part of everyday questions that people often would like to access and use.

Benefits:

• hard to find calculators on websites are slow, clunky and hard to use (not with this app!);
• easy to use and view;
• answers in a jiffy!

2. Log Books

We have quite a number of clients using the GPS Logbook which tracks trips of their employees using GPS. Each employee uses the app and which will assist with minimising fringe benefits tax so that the best option for selecting the cheaper tax with motor vehicles can be made at the end of the fringe benefits tax year. This function is also useful for those working out their business use for taxation purposes - much easier than filling in a manual log book.

Trips and history of trips can simply be emailed and/or exported into excel worksheets if required.

Benefits:

• really easy to record trips;
• really easy to comply with taxation records;
• save more tax with more accurate motor vehicle logs (you can simply track all trips not just for a minimum 12 weeks which could actually push up your business percentage or work related claim).

3. Latest Small Business Tips through Blogs

All our blogs with small business tips can be found in the blog section of the app and are easy to see and read. Simply click on the Blog icon and search to find tips on the following and others:

• cash flow (debtor days, inventory days, supplier days, cash flow forecasts, etc);
• business valuations and how to grow them;
• business growth (the growth equation and how to use to quickly grow your revenue and profits);
• how to read a balance sheet;
• how to save tax;
• how to attract more customers and market;
• what your small business accountant should be helping you with.

Benefits:

Simple, easy to read tips on small business.

4. Interaction With Other Apps

The app has direct links to other accounting apps such as Receipt Manager which allows you to simply take a photo of your receipts and upload on to your cloud accounting software. You will be able to search and track copies of receipts in no time and is compliant with Australian taxation obligations.

Benefits:

Useful links to other financial apps in the one place;

5. Direct messaging Through Push Notifications

Similar to a text message, notifications will show up like message alerts. These days emails are very easily missed in the sea of messages filtering through. If you have an important message from your accountant you can be notified in this way reducing the chance you will miss something via email or the post.

Figure 2: Push notifications tend not to be lost in the sea of emails these days.

Benefits

• easy to read;
• less likely  to miss imprtant messages from your accountants.

CONCLUSION:

If you would like to trial the benefits of a small business app and have a look at it, download our free app right here for Apple or for Google click on the icon below.

We believe that in today's world, people use their phones for most things and being able to get useful financial information from their small business accountant only improves client engagement and customer service. This in turn leads to more loyalty which is crucial for any business to not only survive but thrive.