All I Want For Christmas…
My perfect business wishlist
AS we head into the silly season to round out another year (I swear they go past faster and faster) I thought I would help out anyone who was having difficulty in deciding what they wanted for Christmas. Whilst this is no Oprah's Favourite Things, it will definitely bring a smile to any business owners face who is currently drowning in paperwork.
Shopify
First on the list is Shopify a powerful e-commerce platform that provides thousands of template online shopping websites. If you are not online, you are not in business! The reason I love Shopify is that it is so easy to use and it includes an incredible amount of features that are designed to make it so easy for your customers to purchase your products or services. You can have a shopping cart, receive credit card and PayPal payments, track inventory and barcodes, create shipping forms and invoices, provide gift cards, discount vouchers and so much more. It integrates with plenty of other software like MailChimp (perfect for email marketing) and most importantly, online accounting software like the next product on my wishlist; QuickBooks Online.
QuickBooks Online
With over 1.5 million users worldwide, this easy to use and time saving software helps manage all of the income, expenses and reporting needs of any business. While there are huge time saving features (automatically download your bank account transactions into QuickBooks Online to save data entry) the real reason that this is one of my favourite business products is that it is constantly evolving and enhancing and I don't need to worry about upgrading or backing up data. Every time I log in (on any device, whether PC/Mac/Tablet or smartphone) I receive every single brand new feature and update, instantly. This is also the same when you need to pay your staff, using KeyPay.
KeyPay Payroll Software
How much would you expect to pay for a system that allows your staff to Clock in and Clock Off (with photo capture), schedule rosters, email/SMS staff of their shifts (and payslips), provide a portal for your staff to update their details (bank/super etc), request leave, automatically pay superannuation, meet your ATO obligations with One Touch Payroll and my favourite ‐ integrate the Fairwork Award relevant to your industry (think Hospitality, Retail Awards) so that it updates itself whenever a staff member has a birthday or the award itself changes? $6 per employee per month, no limits (no minimum staff numbers, no maximum staff numbers). Even better is that this is an Australian made product!
Entryless
I work in the industry and I hate paperwork! That is why Entryless is on the list. Scan your documents to your custom Entryless email address (even get your suppliers to forward them directly) and use Entryless to upload the bill/receipt/invoice across into QuickBooks Online (including attaching the scanned copy inside of QuickBooks Online). Even better is that it remembers each of the suppliers, tax codes and accounts so you can just click to add! Even better again is that this awesome software is available for FREE, FOREVER and allows you to upload 300 bills per month. Pretty amazing right?
You will notice that each of these products is cloud based (online) and they all integrate with each other. The reason this is important is because it provides flexibility (you don't ever need to be at a single computer) but most importantly is that it reduces double handling, saving a heap of time and money. Which means you can buy whatever toys you like for Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone and here is to a fantastic New Year
(Originally published DUO Magazine December 2016)