Mobile Apps to Manage Your Business Finances

Technology is a wonderful thing and it is making business finances easier to manage than ever before. Everyone can turn their phone or tablet into a mobile accounting machine by downloading a few useful apps that will save you both time and money.

From sending out invoices and managing customers to credit card transactions and complex financial projections, there is an app for every business need. Small and large businesses alike will find these apps save valuable time and when you get everything in sync, your accounting may actually become enjoyable.

Each of these apps is available in the iTunes AppStore for iPhone and iPad as well as Android devices via the Google Play Store.

1

 QuickBooks Mobile

When customers review the QuickBooks Mobile App, they make comments like, "Life-changing."  It is integrated with QuickBooks Online, so you can manage your accounting from anywhere your job takes you.

Small business owners and anyone who handles the finances and accounting for a company will find that this app is invaluable.

QuickBooks Mobile can be used to create and edit customers, invoices, sales receipts, and estimates. Your data is then immediately available in QuickBooks Online.

If you are visiting a customer, you can prepare an estimate or invoice right there on the spot. There's no need to return to the office or turn on your laptop, now that's efficient

2

 FreshBooks

If you prefer to do your small business finances online, the FreshBooks app makes it easy.FreshBooks is cloud accounting and is known for its ability to streamline the invoice process. The app makes it quick and easy to make expense reports and track time, in addition to creating invoices electronically.

FreshBooks is a very good online accounting program, as well. The plans are designed to work well for businesses with just a few customers or those that send out many invoices every month

3

 Oracle Business Approvals for Sales Managers

Oracle Business Approvals for Sales Managers is an incredibly helpful app. While it may not, at first glance, sound like it is for small business financial management, it certainly is.

Sales managers can review sales quotes and endorse or decline them while on the go. They can also review expense reports, sales forecasts, and purchase orders. 

If you use Oracle, then the app will be a worthy addition to your business

4

 Shoeboxed

Shoeboxed makes managing receipts from business expenses very easy.It is a life-saver at tax time because all of your receipts are stored in one place and available whenever you need them. To use it, simply take a picture of your receipt, organize it in your Shoeboxed account and it's stored online.

You can also use Shoeboxed for contact management. Take a picture of any business card and it can be stored online. No more piles of cards on your desk!

5

 Square

Square is a great app for businesses on the go because you can complete all of your sales right on your phone or tablet. It is one of the best apps for mobile credit card transactions.

Square gives you a free credit card reader and the app is free as well (a rarity among today's business apps). Transactions are credited to your account within one or two days and the charge is 2.75% for each card swipe. You also do not need a merchant account, so there are significant savings over traditional processing.

There is no charge for cash or check transactions and Square gives you a daily sales report for everything. It is, in a sense, a mobile cash register. This one can also help you collect customer email addresses because you can email or text a receipt immediately.

6

 Intuit QuickBooks GoPayment

QuickBooks GoPayment is the mobile credit card transaction app associated with QuickBooks. It was obviously developed to compete with Square.

Like Square, GoPayment is a free app though the rates can vary. You can choose a 'Pay-as-you-go' plan with a swipe rate of 2.4% and keyed rate of 3.4%. If you have more sales, you can pay a monthly premium and get that rate down to 1.6%. There is a small transaction fee, but it's just $.25.

The credit card reader is small and free. If you already use QuickBooks as your accounting software, you can sync GoPayment with it. This may be a better option than Square for businesses that require the sync and have a significant number of transactions each month

7

 SurePayroll

The app is free but you have to have a SurePayroll account to get full access.You can pay your salaried, hourly, and contract employees. The app also allows you to enter all of the earnings, deductions, hours worked, and any other payroll data on demand. When needed, run quick summary reports or keep track of vacation and sick time or any other miscellaneous data.

As a bonus, your employees can download the employee app and have all of their personal data as well. No more questions about how much personal time they have left or asking you for paycheck verification

8

 InDinero

InDinero is a pretty awesome iPhone app which works with other apps like FreshBooks. It claims to be the Mint.com for small businesses. Some call InDinero a financial dashboard and most people call it just plain good.InDinero pulls your bank and credit card statements from all of your banks. There is no need to shoebox receipts due to this feature and InDinero puts your expenses in the proper categories for you immediately.

InDinero prepares financial reports like profit and loss statements, including some financial forecasting. Last, but not least, InDinero tracks your spending habits every month and reports back, which allows you to set up and maintain a budget

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Accounts Payable and Their Effect on Profitability

If you have a set of best practices in accounts payable management and you follow them, accounts payable can have quite a positive impact on your company's profitability.

First, the company has to pay its bills on time. A simple best practice, but nothing else will work if you don't do this.

Second, if you pay your bills on time, you can elicit trust between you and your suppliers, regardless of how many suppliers you have. If you have trust, your suppliers will try to help you in a number of ways discussed above, including offering you discounts which will positively impact your profitability in a big way.

Third, a best practice is to try to facilitate processing of your accounts payable with a minimum of staff and paperwork. You don't need several accounts payable clerks. Smooth out your accounts payable management and you will increase your profitability by decreasing personnel and time spent on paperwork.

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Supplier Relationships and Cash Flow

Accounts payable, located on a company's balance sheet, are what the company owes its suppliers or the vendors from which it buys its inventory and other supplies. Accounts payable are a current liability and they are listed on the right-hand side of the balance sheet. They are expected to be repaid to the suppliers within one year. Accounts payable are just like the unpaid bills you have as an individual.

Just like any other asset or liability, accounts payable, your company's unpaid bills can have a big impact on profitability. They can either improve company profitability or they can cause it to really take a hit. Two primary ways that accounts payable affect company profitability are the company's relationships with its suppliers or vendors and the company's cash flow. Let's take a look.

Relationships With Suppliers

Suppliers or vendors are the businesses from whom companies get their inventory and other supplies. It is crucial that business operations maintain good relationships with their suppliers. The single most important thing a company can do to maintain good supplier relationships is to pay its bills on time. Accounts payable management, unfortunately, can get big and unwieldy. As a company grows, the number of its suppliers grows as does the invoices it has to pay. Supplier Relationship Management becomes important on the company level.

Supplier relationship management involves a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and each supplier. Good supplier relationships provide a win-win situation for the company and the supplier. Suppliers will cut good deals for the company. They will suggest new and better products to the company

They will work with the company on delivery times and policies. Good supplier relationships mean increased company efficiency. Good supplier/company relationships have to be cultivated.

If the company pays its bills on time, actively cultivates good relationships with its suppliers, doesn't cut off suppliers with no reason, and keeps lines of communication open, a good supplier should then offer the company the best trade credit terms possible. Good trade credit terms will maximize the company's profitability!

Company Cash Flow

One of the most important metrics in the financial management of a business firm is its cash flow. Cash flow comes from firm operations such as investing and financing. Profit, on the other hand, is generated from sales after all expenses have been paid. Cash flow and profit are different. If a firm does not have adequate positive cash flow every month, it can't pay its bills and it will get in trouble with its suppliers.

Just that cash discount, if the business has enough cash flow to pay the invoice during the discount period and get to use the discount, can have a very positive effect on profitability.

Most businesses, even small businesses, have many suppliers who provide them with inventory and other suppliers. The bigger the business gets, the more suppliers it has. Just imagine. If the business can develop a good relationship with each supplier it has and get a cash discount with each one, and have enough cash on hand to take the discount, the effect on profitability will be very significant.

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 Managing a Petty Cash Account 

Whether your small business is a one-person, home-based business or a larger SMB with multiple divisions, you need a petty cash fund for small, daily expenses. If you have a petty cash account and keep track of your transactions out of that account, it becomes easier for you to track tax-deductible expenses, journal entries you should make, and separate personal from business expenses.

Here are 5 easy steps and 2 tips you should take to set up a petty cash account for your small business.

Easy Steps to Set Up and Manage a Petty Cash Account

Here's how your small business should set up and manage petty cash:

1. 1. Add a Petty Cash Account to your Chart of Accounts if you do not already have one. Start a petty cash fund by writing a check drawn on your company to "Petty Cash." Cash the check.
   2. If you have a one-person, home-based business, you may only need $100 in your petty cash fund. If you have a larger SMB with multiple divisions, you may need a petty cash fund for each division and it may need to be a bit larger. Base the size of your petty cash fund on the size of your business and your judgment as a manager.
2. Place the petty cash, from the check you cashed, in a designated petty cash drawer, which can be locked, or a locked petty cash box, or a safe. The drawer, box, or safe in which you place your petty cash should have a designated location within your office from which it should not be moved.

1. 3. With regard to the petty cash fund, the fewer persons with access to it, the better. You should give two people access to the petty cash fund. If you have multiple petty cash funds in multiple divisions, give two people access in each division. One person should have the responsibility for replenishing the petty cash fund.
   The second person should have responsibility for recording the petty cash transactions into your bookkeeping system.
   This custodian should make an entry in the cash disbursements journal. If your petty cash fund is set up in the amount of $100, then debit Petty Cash for $100 and credit Cash for $100
2. 4. Make a list of expenditures from the petty cash account as you make them. Attached to  the list should be receipts for each expenditure. These receipts are your source documents to back up your journal transactions. Debit each expenditure and credit cash in the cash disbursements journal
3. 5. Replenish the petty cash fund back to the approved amount as needed. Be sure and make your journal transactions from the source documents first..

4. Tips on Managing Petty Cash

5. 1. Replenish the petty cash fund when you cannot get through the day with the petty cash you have on hand.
6. 2. Set  a dollar limit on purchases that can be made from petty cash

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The Source Document

Each time a company makes a financial transaction, some sort of paper trail is generated. That paper trail is called a source document. If a small business writes a check out of its checking account for office supplies, for example, the source documents are the check and the office supplies receipt.

Why Source Documents Are Important

The source document is essential to the bookkeeping and accounting process as it is the evidence that a financial transaction occurred.

If a company is audited, source documents back up the accounting journals and general ledger as an indisputable audit trail. 

Keeping a source document for a business is just like keeping receipts for tax-deductible items for your personal taxes. If your taxes are audited, they provide the proof that you've made those purchases. The same is true for your business, but in business, you don't keep receipts only for tax-deductible expenses. You keep original documents for every financial transaction.

What Source Documents Provide

A source document describes all the basic facts of the transaction, such as the amount of the transaction, to whom the transaction was made, the purpose of the transaction, and the transaction date.

Here are a few examples of common source documents:

• a canceled check
• invoice
• cash register receipt
• computer-generated receipt
• credit memo for a customer refund
• employee time card
• deposit slip
• purchase order

How to Treat Source Documents

The source document should be recorded in the appropriate accounting journal as soon as possible after the transaction. After recording, all source documents should be filed away in some sort of system where they can be retrieved if and when they are needeD.
In certain instances, it may even be important to provide the chain of custody to be able to determine that the source document in question remained in your control.




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