Management tips

4 tips to
improve the
management
of your SMB

Are you ready to see your business grow and evolve? In this step of your business path, you will likely benefit from a revision of your various management tools and procedures.

After all, if your business evolves, your tools and techniques should evolve at the same time and adapt to your changing needs. These updates of your daily processes will enable you to improve the management of your business and favour its growth for the coming years.

At first glance, Excel may appear to be the right choice to manage your accounting. Given its low cost and familiar interface, it is the tool that many new entrepreneurs choose. But don’t be fooled, choosing a spreadsheet is not a good business decision.

The benefits of this tool are very limited when it comes to managing your business’s accounting. For example, tax standards and accounting practices change and an accounting program can adapt to these changes, whereas Excel cannot. There are also fewer risks of error with a software program that does not allow you to use the same invoice number twice, or make an entry that does not balance. For these reasons, Excel is rarely the best option.

With the right software, you will discover several solutions that Excel simply cannot offer you, which will make your accounting management easier and greatly limit the risk of errors.

If using Excel can cause all sorts of problems for your accounting, it can do the same for your inventory. We have nothing against Excel. In fact, it is a very useful general tool. But like any general tool, for specific uses like inventory management, it doesn’t even come close to a specialized tool designed specifically for this task.

Are you still using an Excel file to manage your inventory? If so, don't worry, you're not alone. It is one of the 5 inventory management mistakes that we still see all too often.

Simple and low-cost methods can be implemented in order to remain efficient and avoid losses and mistakes as much as possible:

• A good SKU system.
• Appropriate procedures for counting merchandise received.
• An inventory management system adapted to the needs of your business.
• Etc.

Not only will sound management of your inventory help you limit mistakes and losses, it will also protect your revenues by avoiding stock outs.

Your customers don't always pay their invoices on time? There are no miracle solutions, but you can favour the rapid payment of your invoices by implementing measures to invoice more efficiently.

With a good billing process, you will be able to create and send your invoices faster, which means you will also be paid faster. You can reduce late fund entries as much as possible by using appropriate practices: clearly establish your terms of payment with your customers, properly number your invoices, perform a strict follow-up, etc.

You've acquired accounting software? Don't let it sit there!

Nowadays, even the simplest accounting software is loaded with technology that aims to facilitate, accelerate and solidify your management processes. For example, a number of your accounting operations can be automated. Make sure you have a good understanding of how your software works in order to use it to its full potential!

Your business and your management needs will evolve over time and, eventually, the software that you chose when you started out may no longer be appropriate. It is important to keep up-to-date in order not to hinder your operations.

The speed of your software, ease of use and its technological limits are a few of the signs to watch for to know when it is time to replace your management software.

Room for improvement

For each of your business processes, there is a solution that can lighten your workload while making you more efficient. It is therefore important to take the time to find solutions that meet your needs and to reassess their effectiveness throughout your career. Keep in mind that the business needs you have when you start out will no longer be the same a few months or a few years later.

The management techniques and tools that you choose in each step of your path will help you to constantly improve the management of your SMB and will likely have a major impact on the success of your business.

About Acomba

As developers of accounting and management software programs, each day we help more than 40,000 Canadian SMBs manage the essential aspects of their operations.

Whether you are in the start-up phase or growing fast, we would like to work with you by providing you with solutions adapted to your reality and which will help you reap the maximum benefit from your entrepreneurial project.

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