The world of technology certainly moves fast, doesn’t it? Remember back when we all had flip phones and assumed that touch screens were just a trend? Or what about back when the internet was still in its infancy and many people believed that the internet was nothing more than a passing fad?
Technology has certainly grown a lot, and it’s done so rather quicklyBecause of the speed at which technology has progressed, it can be hard to keep up with what’s available, and even harder to know what will actually work the way they claim it willThat’s why we’ve decided to look at cash flow management system software.
There are countless companies that will claim to be able to help your company do a myriad of tasks, and not all of them are on the up and upIt can be hard to tell what is too good to be true and what is actually what it claims to be.
That’s exactly why we’re hereTo find out if cash flow management software is as good as it’s made out to beWe believe that it is ourselves, but all we can do is pass on the information that we’ve found and let you come to your own conclusions.
Table of Contents
What is Cash Flow Management?
In the world of business, there are a lot of words tossed aroundSome of those words you probably know, and some of them you might notThat’s just the nature of language at its core anyway, is it not?
In any case, let’s kick this article off with a quick little vocab lesson to be sure that everyone reading understands exactly what we’re talking about, as well as what area this kind of software would actually be able to assist with.
Cash flow management is the process of managing the flow of cash both in and out of your businessMoney makes the world go round, as they say, and if companies were people you could argue that money would be their equivalent of bloodBut, how much cash flow is there actually in a normal business?
Money changes hands in the world of business hundreds of millions of times a dayA single business could easily average thousands of points throughout their day where money is either flowing into or out of their bank accountHere are a few examples of how cash flows:
- From a customer to your company.
- This is the most common for most companies, especially for public-facing companies.
- From your business to a customer.
- This manifests in the form of refunds or rebates.
- From your business to an employee.
- Employees have wages that need to be paid.
- From your business to another company.
- Every company has other companies that they have to deal with, whether those companies help them keep items stocked, keep their plumbing running, or just help with things like marketing campaignsThis is the second most common for most companies.
- From another company to your business.
- Maybe you’re the company that helps other companies run marketing campaigns, or you’re something specialized like a law firm or an electrician.
- From your business to the government.
- Benjamin Franklin was once quoted as saying “the only things you can expect in life are death and taxes.” and businesses are not immune to taxes.
There are, of course, other instances where money flows in or out of your companyFor simplicity’s sake, we’re wrapping independent contractors in with other companies because they’re still separate entities that you have to interact with sometimes.
As you can see, there are a lot of companies that could easily have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars flowing in and out of their company every dayThat can be a little difficult to keep track of in general, which makes this kind of software very helpful.
What Does Cash Flow Management Software Do?
Now that we’re sure that everyone understands what cash flow management is, let’s take a look at what this software can actually do for you and your companyThere are a lot of things that it can help with and we’re going to do our best to cover as many of them as possible.
In essence, this kind of software aims to make your cash flow management experience as simple as possibleIt’s able to do this through a variety of methods, but do keep in mind that “cash flow management software” is a whole genre of software.
Because this is a whole genre of software, that means that every company might do things a little bit differentlyBecause we’re talking about this kind of software in general, we may have items on the list that we’re about to cover that don’t appear in whatever software you choose, and that software might have more featuresIn any case, here are some of the ways this software can help:
- Integrate your cashflow analytics into a single, easy-to-use platform.
- Provide access to old and current invoices without having to search for them.
- Digitization of important financial records.
- Automatic connection to tax software, with an easy way to export the information for your accountant.
- Make making payments that much easier.
By putting all of these great features in one single place, you can definitely get the most efficiency possible out of your cash flow management systemThis kind of software seriously makes these kinds of tasks a breeze to complete, which is great news for all sorts of people.
Do, however, keep in mind that it is a piece of softwareIt will only be able to run the way that you tell it to, not actively fix any problems that your current system might haveIf you need help fixing your current system you might consider bringing in a consultant.
Any given piece of software is a tool, and its effectiveness is entirely dictatedhow well you use itYou could use this software with great success, while another company could end up using this software and see no results at all.
Should Your Business Invest in This Kind of Software?
Now let’s get to the heart of the question, is this going to be something that will make your company work that much better? That’s really what anyone wants to know when they’re learning about revolutionary pieces of tech like cash flow management software.
This is a bit of a hard question to answer if we’re giving you the most brutally honest answer possibleWe don’t have any intention of selling your company a product you don’t need, and it’s very well possible that your company wouldn’t really get much use out of this software.
Every business has different needs, and without sitting down with you and looking at how your company runs and what exactly it is you do, we wouldn’t know for sure what would actually help your companyBelieve us, we wish we could magically have this informationWe’d be trillionaires with that kind of knowledge.
In any case, you can still find out for yourself if you do some researchThe first place that you should start looking within your companyFind instances where things could be optimized to make your company run more smoothly.
Once you have a list of those things and you have them running better, look online to find out what kind of software you can use to help you get ahead in those areasSometimes that includes automation, which is very exciting, to say the least.
Doing research on different kinds of software is the best way to make sure that you’re getting the most bang for your buck hereYou don’t want to spend a bunch of your company’s money on something that you won’t use.
From there, the sky is really the limit, assuming that that fits within the budgetWhether you end up with cash flow management software or something else entirely will depend a lot on your company, but getting the best things for your company is important for everyone there.
If you’re unsure about a particular piece of software, give their sales team a callOf course, a sales member will have an incentive to sell you on something, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to answer your questions accurately and in detail, which is probably the most important thing here.
Using Software to Improve Your Life
Software can be an incredible thing, depending on how you use itUsing the right piece of software in the right way can save your company a whole lot of money, year after yearThat’s definitely something that will impress your accountant.
Who better to impress than your accountant, after all? They’re the ones that handle your books and make sure everything is on the up and upThat makes a world of difference in the long run, and you could even have your company end up in an even higher tax bracketthe time you’re done.
