For entrepreneurs who want to drive their business to success, good accounting software is essential. It should not only be able to offer a rapid summary or full presentation of profits and losses, but it should also keep you in compliance with the legal requirements of the specific region or nation in which your business operates. Aside from meeting changing regulations, your accounting software should enable you to automate time-consuming accounting operations, speed tax preparation, and limit the danger of human mistakes in the workplace. This article will provide you with a complete conclusion of accounting software and explain the features of accounting that help you run a business, and provide you with a list of potential apps to assist you in acquiring a perfect system.
Did you know?
There are more than one hundred accounting softwares in India but most business enterprises use only the top ten.
Defining Accounting Software
Accounting software is a basic programme that allows a company to record the movement of money for internal and external inspection and enables an audit on them. It is the principal tool for evaluating an organization's financial health and fulfilling legal compliance using tools such as general ledgers, purchase orders, account payables and receivables, stock management, and billing. This software is used by all professional accountants as well as book-keeping personnel to effectively manage accounts and automate all the systematic operations.
This software includes a wide range of functions which helps save time and increases the overall efficiency. Accounting software features must include all client programmes, customer invoicing, accounts receivable data, and dues. A programme that is clear, lucid, and transparent will simplify the business balance sheet and make cash flow easier.
Also read: What is Bank Reconciliation in Tally.ERP9
Examples of accounting software
There are several additional examples of popular and dependable accounting software. Some of the examples of accounting software are listed below:
TallyPrime: Tally is an accounting software that accesses and organises all accounting data effortlessly in a time-efficient manner. It gives an insight into how an organisation is performing financially. This enables the creation of appropriate future budgets. From invoicing to key business insights, Tally is an accounting package that allows you to handle several aspects of your organisation in an integrated way. It assists in recording business transactions and creating sophisticated reports.
Freshbooks: This is a feature-rich and easy-to-use client invoicing and time-tracking system utilised by over 5 million businesses worldwide. Ideal for freelancers and small enterprises wishing to accelerate their sales cycle while adhering to standards and rules. The solution is mobile-friendly and well-integrated.
Netsuite: This is a cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting software, primarily intended for small to medium-sized organisations. The system simplifies end-to-end back-office operations from sales to CRM to eCommerce workflows and includes a full suite of inventory, accounting, warehouse management, order management, and CRM features.
Quickbooks: This accounting software has powerful functions including automatic tax calculations, spending tracking, invoice management, balance sheet reporting, bill management, sales monitoring, and more. QuickBooks Online, an Intuit product, connects smoothly with other Intuit programmes such as QuickBooks Payments and QuickBooks Payroll.
Also read: How to use Tally ERP 9. Release 6 for GST
Tipalti: Accounts payable software that is hosted in the cloud and is a powerful tool for automating the whole accounts payable process. The technology automates worldwide payables processes, saving suppliers tens of thousands of dollars in yearly international bank transfers. Supplier management, payment remittance, tax computations, regulatory compliance management, and invoice automation are just a few of its significant features.
Xero: Accounting software available on the cloud Xero is a user-friendly all-in-one accounting software designed specifically for small enterprises. Xero assists businesses in processing payments more quickly, saving time on data input and enabling them to make better business decisions. A user-friendly platform includes features like invoicing tools, bank reconciliation, financial reports, and more.
Types of Accounting Software
Invoicing and Billing Systems: Using the billing and invoicing system, routine chores such as check writing and contacting clients about dues payments may be completed promptly. The tool improves the end-perception of users who make use of the service by making it more professional and genuine and also affirms the client’s trust in the brand. It also aids in the documentation of billing and invoicing operations in preparation for any validation or authorisation that may be required.
Time and Expenditure Management Systems: These platforms were created with the goal of speeding up billing processes and approving pending charges while on the road. They are also adjustable enough that businesses may make changes at their own speed. The goal of adopting this platform is to speed up payment collection and sort out procedures that were previously sluggish and unproductive. You may create a thorough and graphical presentation on how time and resources are being used in the firm using the time and expense management software.
Payroll Management Systems: The payroll management system allows you to handle both payables and receivables from a single location. The programme can calculate an employee's income, transfer it straight into their bank accounts, make leave deductions, generate payslips and tax forms, and much more. In the long term, the payroll management system saves you money by allowing you to decrease costs and provide precise reports as needed.
Enterprise Resource Planning System: Product planning, material purchasing, inventory management, distribution, finance, marketing, accounting, and human resources are all included in the enterprise resource planning programme. The latest ERP packages also have the ability to interface with your CRM, allowing you to learn from your present marketing efforts and build stronger ones in the future.
What are the features of accounting software?
Accounting software may boost your firm in a variety of ways, based on its major features and aims. Accounting systems come with a variety of extras that are not even possible without a proper system, ranging from basic invoicing to intricate tax reporting.
Given below are some of the accounting software features:
1. Core Accounting
Accounting is the backbone of every system, and it is the feature that organisations should prioritise when seeking a dependable solution. A general ledger, fixed assets, accounts payable and receivable, and bank reconciliation are all examples of accounting. They are the most fundamental and vital, although complex systems provide much more to their users.
2. Creating Invoices and Billing
Certain accounting systems are solely dedicated to billing and invoicing, but the majority of them nevertheless see billing and invoicing as an essential component of any financial process. Although it may provide value to some firms, most companies nowadays choose a small ERP system that not only creates invoices but also performs a full range of accounting and financial duties, as well as meeting tax compliances, such as TallyPrime software.
Also read: How to do Payroll Management in Tally ERP 9
3. Payrolls Management
The payroll administration tool may be used to calculate and handle employee payments. You will be able to prepare and print their checks without any difficulties, and you will be able to respond to legal activities and tax obligations without making any mistakes. The payroll administration module is quite popular, and businesses who do not have it can install it later as an add-on module.
4. Preparing Budgets and Predicting Outcomes
This is a packaged feature of accounting software that most accounting software packages provide as part of their mainline. This category allows you to calculate and understand financial performance for the current year, as well as forecast the budget for the following year based on the previous year's data trend. Companies may use this tool to develop estimations and set realistic and enthusiastic sales goals.
5. Inventory Management
It's a function that accounting systems give for stock control options depending on data provided by them. It is in this plant that firms will discover all of the tools required to offer their product lines a longer shelf life. It also means they will be able to monitor product availability and movement, as well as avoid delivery concerns like overstocking and understocking.
6. Asset Management
These features of accounting software, known as "fixed asset management," can be used as a standalone tool or as part of a larger module to assist handle financial data more precisely. This category includes functions like audit history, cost records, calculating depreciation, distributing resources to departments, etc.
7. Reporting canvas
Accountants today have a lot of tasks in an organisation, such as looking after business data and information. Accounting software provides all-time solutions that accountants require to accomplish their jobs, just as a professional uses tools to perform his duties. Today's accounting systems include powerful reporting and analytics features that substantially aid decision-making in financial and statistical problems. It gives accountants and finance managers critical financial insights and precise financial data, which they may then present to management for direction.
8. Interoperability
Other corporate software can leverage the data entered into the accounting software. HR, CRM, sales, shipping, and other departments may need to use the information. As a result, the selected system should be able to work with data from other programmes as well. In most businesses, a variety of software is employed, as a result, the accounting platform you select should be able to function in tandem with other software.
9. Tax Management
The Goods and Service Taxes Act, which was enacted in India, is a good illustration of how tax legislation develops through time. Accounting systems can assist you in meeting all of these compliance needs by automatically calculating sales tax (GST) and payments, as well as withholdings for employee payroll (ESI, EPF, and other direct taxes rules like Tax deducted at Source) (TDS). The possibility of getting fined for late payments is minimised, if not eliminated because the accounting software keeps you current and informed through automatic reminders and organising everything.
Conclusion
As per the conclusion of accounting software, the ERP system is centred on offering entire process automation with the goal of relieving accountants and financial experts of their enormous obligations. And GST could be used as an example, where salient features of tally ERP 9 not only made the journey on GST pathways a cakewalk by providing a return filing module, but it also updated its software solution as and when changes to the GST law were made. The best conclusion of tally ERP 9 could be the integration of the E Way Bill prep module into Tally's latest software module.
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