Financial management is a vital part of a startups growth and longevity — many fail due to mismanagement of funds or lack thereof. Many entrepreneurs never truly embrace accounting.
They’d rather focus on strategic growth, tactical execution and growing a businesses organically. However, accounting and financial management is a necessary evil for all startups that want to be “and stay” in business.
When I first got started in business, I utilized QuickBooks and knew of others that adored Peachtree. I quickly realized that bean counting wasn’t my favorite past time. Therefore, I sought out ways to lighten the load and increase productivity elsewhere.
Most entrepreneurs are ‘big picture thinkers’ … visionaries. So while, I adore reviewing a P&L statement or perusing break-even analysis reports I didn’t want to grind through the tedious back-office administrative work to get there.
This doesn’t mean you should be clueless about your cash flow – you should in fact watch it like a hawk. What it means is – focus on your strengths and find other individuals, processes and applications that you can leverage.
The other day I was dreaming that I would one day find an accounting software that fit an internet savvy, new technology, early adapter’s lifestyle – and have a clean, smart and simple interface.
My prayers have been answered (the sky is parting). I stumbled upon Xero.com (and man does this company make accounting sexy). It does things I wished Freshbooks could do – it makes accounting so much easier. So when you sync up with a virtual assistant there is no real learning curve – a 2 year old could maneuver this application.
Xero is an online accounting system designed for small businesses and their advisers. It’s simple, smart and secure. In a nutshell it gives you an over-arching view of your business in a simple & clean dashboard.
Here are some additional reasons why I love Xero.com:
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Access accounts and run your business from anywhere in the world on a PC, Mac or mobile device.
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A real-time view of your business at a glance with a snapshot of all your transactions.
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Easy bank reconciliation keeps your accounts accurate and up to date. Automatic bank feeds get your transactions in to Xero.
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Manage the individuals and organizations you do business with and have them easily appear in invoices and transactions.
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Get a single view of where your money is coming from and when. Create, send, receive and report on invoices all from one place.
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View and manage how much money you owe, what’s overdue and what’s waiting payment.
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Easily enter and manage personal expenditures.
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Generate and view interactive reports in real-time, anytime. Your financial advisers can also create and publish reports for you.
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And for my amazing Accountant – a full accrual accounting system which automates and simplifies your day-to-day bookkeeping.
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Lastly, you can sign-up for free and use the free demo instantly.
Let me know what you think about it or if you’ve run across any competitors that give Xero.com a run for their money.
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