A crucial aspect of running a business is managing expenses. Expenses are made on essential items needed to run your operations, yet, it is important to learn proper management of such so that bad estimates do not cut into your company profits. More importantly, proper expense tracking makes your tax processing and computations easier come tax season because you’ll have all your supporting documents in place.
All that said, being on top of your financial accounts may pose as a challenge, but, if you have the correct tools and know how to effectively utilize them, you can make this accounting, bookkeeping, and auditing process more simplified and organized. To help you with your accounts, here are some tools that can help your business track expenses.
1. Mint
Mints is tracking software for expenses that are marketed to small businesses and freelancers that aim to keep better track of financial expenses. It is a straightforward software that enables entrepreneurs to focus on managing their income between rent, products, deliveries, and other business transactions.
It provides a goal and budget tracker that enables such financial tracking and also offers cash tracking, bill tracking, and even a purchase reminder feature. It also provides a summary feature called Mintsights that shows a summary of all financial activities to keep you updated on your expenses. Lastly, it also offers solutions and strategies for cost-saving. This software is available on iOS, Android, and web browsers and is completely free.
2. Expensify
Expensify is a software that allows for the management and tracking of expenses in real time. Its primary feature allows for the automated recording of expenses and the automatic updating of accounts, reducing the hassle associated with manual data encoding.
The app is very simple as it allows you to scan and log receipts for all outbound and inbound transactions in your company. It then generates reports that are submitted to you for approval. To ensure that reports are accurate, this app digests your company policies so that the accounting reports you receive ones that are properly done and analyzed.
This app also offers additional software that has an automatic reimbursement system. Data is also stored on a cloud ensuring that you do not lose important financial data. A plan with Expensify depends on which of their services you will need, but they begin at USD 4.99 monthly.
3. Hurdlr
Hurdlr is also an expense tracking app that does simple and automatic tracking of expenses and helps to increase tax deductions. This allows for automated tracking of even mileage like delivery and courier fees, taking into account every financial deduction and transaction made with clients.
All status updates are also posted in real-time, before and after your income tax deductions. It is essentially a one-stop shop for all your financial needs, and you may also link your business accounts to the app ecosystem, for automatic tax filing submissions to your chosen Certified Public Accountant. The best part is if you are not ready to commit to the app fees, there is a free version that lets you test out limited features.
4. FreshBooks
FreshBooks is an easy-to-use, entrepreneur-friendly software that is primarily marketed toward small firms that do not have the budget to access in-house CPAs. The app aims to limit the hassle that goes along with dealing with spreadsheets and file folders as it centralizes your data into one location.
It automatically imports your expenses and sorts them upon linking with your business accounts. It also offers receipt attachments, tax-friendly categories, automated financial reports, and summaries, remembering of frequent clients and suppliers, and multi-currency access.
This software is compatible with iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. Plans start at US 15 monthly but a free one-month trial is offered, and pricing is tiered depending on the size of your client base.
5. QuickBooks
QuickBooks is one of the most efficient, effective, and popular accounting software that caters to companies of all sizes, big or small. It offers real-time dashboard updates as well as downloadable bank data. It is also compatible with different platforms and is great for tracking across different platforms.
It also enables tracking of client invoices and small receipts. For small businesses, tracking invoices is important to ensure that you don’t have missed payments from consumers, which may lead to financial complications.
This software can be accessed by Windows and Mac users and is also accessible to mobile devices. Its prices range from USD 15-30 depending on the services you choose to avail of in the form of plans. There is also a free one-month trial if you want to see that this software is indeed good for you before committing to full service.
Can You Use the Tools Effectively
Accounting tools can make your life easy, but only if you know how to use them properly. If you’re not diligent in tracking down your transactions and analyzing that data you’ve compiled, you’re just wasting money. If you need help, call our team of CPAs because we can help you monitor your company’s fiscal health and ensure success.
