The automation of bookkeeping, no doubt, brings great benefits and makes for the ease of completing specific activities within an organization. Business owners embracing this possibility can help organizations operate with commendable efficiency and accuracy while offering clients more scalable offerings. That said, it’s important to put certain things into perspective before incorporating the automation of bookkeeping into your business operations. This will be tackled by exploring five critical questions in this line.
How well does it align with your objectives?
You certainly don’t want to end up subscribing to something that will be unproductive in the long run. You don’t have to have a degree in financial intelligence to know this. Plus, since your organization’s structure and/or model may be different from what is attainable in other organizations, it is incumbent that you critically address this question. To do that, you may need to sit and re-evaluate your business goals and see where and how the software may be used in your business. Again, you should seek to know the features provided by the software. Most of these software platforms are usually integrated with features that would oversee bank reconciliation, expense management and tracking, payroll management, accounts receivable and accounts payable, etc.
How secure is it?
Granted that you now have a particular set of software in view, the next critical question you need to deal with borders on its security. This is because massive (sensitive) data/information exchanges will take place within the platform once you start using it. And, in the instance where the software is prone to security issues, the possibility of having your data manipulated or misused will be pretty high. So, you should do your due diligence by reading through online reviews and checking to see how trustworthy the software provider may be. Also, you have to ensure that you put specific security measures in place to curtail data breaches.
How about its functionality and usability?
You’re not going to be investing in a dummy item or resource. Therefore, you should intently assess software that would be flashed before your face while looking through ads online. You should find out about functionality which should speak volumes of the efficiency – online reviews may be helpful here, too. Furthermore, you should try to know how easy it is to use the software. You may ask if the provider allows you to test-run the software to understand its usage before fully subscribing to it. One thing that you should have at the back of your mind as you tackle this question is taking note of how well the software has been tested and trusted – to perform?
Can this software integrate with my financial system?
It would be unthinkable to go for an automated resource that would have you do extensive monitoring of the activities for which it had been purchased. This is why a test run is important. It’s necessary that you check to see that the software integrates with other financial platforms on your network – talk about your bank platform, accounting software, etc.IT