A Digital Era

In today’s digital world, technology has revolutionised the way small businesses operate. With the advancement of mobile and web applications, there are a plethora of tools available to manage and grow your business. That being said – there are so many that it can be hard to identify the good and bad ones.
In this blog post we’re sharing our top 5 apps at BKSP that help streamline processes, improve efficiency and help in all aspects of business management.

1. Xero

Xero is a cloud-based accounting software that can greatly benefit small businesses by simplifying financial management, improving efficiency, and providing valuable insights into their financial health. Secure, access granted collaboration with your bookkeeper and accountant reduces time spent chasing up details saving you time and money.
Some of our favourite features include:

Streamlined Accounting: Xero automates many accounting tasks, such as invoicing, bill payments, bank reconciliations, and expense tracking. This automation reduces the time and effort required for manual data entry and bookkeeping. Integration with a wide range of e-commerce platforms and point-of-sale systems makes accounting much smoother.

Financial Reporting: Xero provides a variety of financial reports, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and budget vs. actual reports. These reports give you insights into your business’s financial performance to help you make informed decisions for your business.

Tax Compliance: Xero provides tools to help you calculate and prepare taxes and lodge BAS with accurate data. Xero simplifies the tax-filing process and reduce the risk of errors.

2. Dext

Dext (formerly known as Receipt Bank) is a cloud-based AI software platform that streamlines the financial aspect of small business by reducing time spent on data entry on expenses. Not only does it save time, but also digitises your receipts so there’s no need to keep piles of paperwork! Dext integrates with Xero so once receipts are published, you can find them in Xero allocated to the correct chart of account ready for tax time.
Some of our favourite features are:

Mobile Accessibility: Dext offers a mobile app that enables you to capture receipts from your phone camera and upload your expenses on the go. This is especially useful for small business owners who are frequently on the move such as tradies.

Email forwarding: You can use your Dext email-in address for suppliers to send invoices directly into your expenses or you can forward a invoice attachments directly from your inbox saving you time.

Automation of Data Entry: By eliminating manual data entry and automating data extraction, Dext reduces the risk of data entry errors and frees up your time for more valuable tasks in your business.

Digital Record Keeping: Dext’s digital record-keeping system ensures that you have access to all your financial documents whenever you need them, simplifying tax filing and financial reporting.

3. Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft Office is a suite of productivity software applications that can greatly benefit your small business by enhancing efficiency, collaboration, professionalism, and all of your business data management in one easy to operate interface. Here’s how using Microsoft Office can help your small business:

Document Creation: Microsoft Word is a powerful word processing tool that allows you to create professional documents such as business proposals, reports, internal and marketing materials. PowerPoint is another useful tool for creating visual documents and presentations for your business.

Spreadsheets and Data Analysis: Microsoft Excel is a versatile  spreadsheet program (and a favourite to many bookkeepers and accountants) that enables you to manage and analyse business data, create budgets, financial statements, and perform complex calculations.

Collaboration and Communication: Microsoft 365 offers cloud-based collaboration and email communication (through Outlook), such as real-time co-authoring and file sharing through OneDrive and SharePoint. This allows your team to work together securely on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations from anywhere.

Scalability: As your business grows, Microsoft Office can scale with you, allowing you to add more users, emails and features as needed.

4. Calendly

Calendly is a scheduling and appointment booking app that can significantly benefit your small business by simplifying the scheduling process, enhancing customer engagement, and improving overall efficiency saving you precious time. We also love that it integrates and syncs with many calendar apps so you won’t forget any meetings!
Some of our favourite Calendly features are:

Streamlined Appointment Booking: Calendly provides a user-friendly interface that allows your clients or customers to schedule appointments with you without the need for back-and-forth emails or phone calls. This saves time by using your availability preferences to avoid scheduling conflicts.

Time Zone Management: This is helpful for those with clients across different time-zones. Calendly automatically detects and displays available time slots in the user’s time zone, making it easy for clients in different locations to book appointments without confusion.

Automated Reminders: Calendly sends automated email reminders and notifications to both you and your clients before scheduled appointments, reducing the likelihood of no-shows and forgotten appointments.

Meeting Types and Teams: Not only can you set up various types of meetings (phonecalls to Zoom), If you have a team; Calendly Team features enable multiple team members to share their availability on one scheduling page, making it easy for clients to book appointments with the appropriate team member.

5. Canva

Canva can be a valuable tool for small businesses in various ways, helping to create professional-quality designs and marketing materials for print and digital, without the need for extensive design expertise or a large budget. Making use of Canva’s easy-to-use platform means small businesses can enhance their visual branding with ease.
Here’s how Canva can be used for small businesses:

Branding: With Canva, you can establish and maintain a consistent brand identity. You can create and save brand-specific colours, fonts, and logos within the app, ensuring that all your marketing materials adhere to your brand guidelines.

Social Media Graphics: Managing a strong presence on social media is crucial for small businesses in today’s digital age. Canva offers free and paid templates that are scalable for various popular social media platforms, making it easy to create engaging posts, cover photos and ads.

Presentations: Small businesses and sole traders often need to deliver presentations for pitches, meetings, or webinars. Canva provides templates and tools for creating professional-looking slideshows, infographics, and presentations as well as live collaboration for creative teams.

Mobile App and Collaboration: Canva’s app and collaboration features are also beneficial for small teams or businesses with remote employees. The mobile app allows you to edit and create designs on the go which is helpful for those business owners who are out and about and not always at their desk.

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– Team BKSP