From A to Bookkeeping – How to Improve Your Business’ Financial Setup

Staying ahead of the game in today’s competitive business environment requires business owners to make smart and diligent decisions to improve an organization’s use of its resources. One sector that is a key component to the success of a business is its financial business processes. Making improvements to your business’s financial setup can serve a number of benefits across your organization, including a more efficient and streamlined way of working. In today’s article, we look at some simple ways in which a business can improve its financial setup, so read on to find out more!

1- Ensure That You Are Compliant

One of the most important factors to look into, if not the most important, is if your financial setup is compliant with ATO standards. As of 30 September 2019, all small businesses will be required to switch over to Single Touch Payroll, also known as STP. Transitioning into STP will see businesses no longer having to provide annual payroll summaries to the ATO. Instead, with the aid of STP software, businesses will send digital reports to the ATO on a payment-to-payment basis. Employee payment reports will also be replaced with online records that your staff can access via their myGov accounts. Ensuring that you stay compliant is absolutely essential, as doing otherwise may land your business in hot water with the taxman.

  2- Automate Your Payroll 

Automating your payroll system is one of the best ways to truly streamline your financial setup. Instead of having employees spend hours and hours organizing payrolls, switching to an automated payroll system will eliminate unnecessary hours being spent manually preparing them. Automating your payroll system is also a fantastic way of avoiding errors as your software can automatically work out payroll calculations and deductions quicker. Generating payslips, calculating bonuses, and holiday pay is made that much easier with the assistance of payroll software. You can also use an income tax calculator like Taxfyle to make tax calculation easier and more effective. Automating your payroll system is also a fantastic way of increasing efficiency as time spent manually preparing payrolls can instead be used on more revenue-generating activities such as advertising and sales. 

3- Improve Collaboration Between Departments

When it comes to your business finances, the main department in charge is your accounting and finance team. Whilst they carry the bulk of the burden, your finance team still needs to work hand in hand with other departments to get their job done efficiently. Requesting data from multiple departments is a time-consuming process, which is why most successful businesses utilize cloud-based ERP software. Enterprise resource planning software can assist your business in integrating various departments, thus allowing your finance team to fetch the data they need within seconds. This not only creates a more efficient financial setup but also allows your business to handle day to day tasks in a streamlined and harmonious way. 

4- Train Your Staff

Even with the luxuries of automated accounting and payroll, it is highly important that your staff is well trained and is continuously upgrading their skills. The people in charge of your accounts need to be highly proficient and experts at what they do. This is why it is recommended that you conduct regular training sessions to ensure that your finance team is always ahead of the game. Some great options are in-house seminars, conferences, and one-on-one training. Whichever route you choose, it is important that your employees are up to date with current financial trends and requirements.

5- Communication Is Key

Last but not least, communication is key. It doesn’t matter if you have the most advanced software or the most expert team in-house; if you don’t communicate your needs and expectations to your team, they’re essentially rendered worthless. Clearly communicating your vision, expectations, and concerns with your finance team is the best way to give them clarity on exactly what they need to do to improve your business’ financial setup. Be open and accepting of any suggestions or advice that your team may offer, and always work together towards a shared goal that everyone is passionate about. 

Creating a more efficient and streamlined financial setup needn’t be difficult – with these simple solutions, you’ll find that your business is always one step ahead of the finance game. We hope that this article has given you some ideas on how you can go ahead with improving your business’ financial setup. 

Fawad Malik

Fawad Malik Technology geek by heart, blogger by passion, and founder of nogentech.org, He regularly explores ideas and ways how advanced technology helps individuals, brands and businesses survive and thrive in this competitive landscape. He tends to share the latest tech news, trends, and updates with the community built around Nogentech.

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