8 ways to save time for your small business

As a small business owner, it is likely that you are very busy. Not only do you have to run your business, you are a major component to its success, plus you have to ensure your business meets all its tax and legal obligations. This can take up a lot of time, and time is money. So how can you free up some time to allow you to focus on your business goals?

We have put together a list of 8 ways you can save time in your day to instead focus on achieving your goals and creating a sustainable business.

1. Digitalise supplier bills

Reducing manual data entry goes a long way to saving time. If you have to deal with a lot of supplier bills, chances are the manual data entry from these takes up a lot of time. But, this time can be reduced with digital accounting software like Xero. Within Xero, data which you would normally need to enter manually can be automatically extracted from email and pdf bills, auto-populating bills within Xero. On average businesses who use Xero save 25% of their time spent on entering bill information. This could give you 2.5 hours more time to focus on your business.

2. Streamline employee expense submissions

It is important that employee expense submissions do not eat up time, and leave you with a hidden cost you did not expect to pay. Because of this it is extremely helpful that employees file their claims correctly.

With Xero, employees can snap a photo of their receipt and upload it directly, automatically scanning their receipt to fill out the claim. This helps to reduce errors and time spent chasing up these submissions to fix any errors. There are also a range of extra features like multi-currency, mobile notifications, and analytics to save you even more time.

3. Automate data collection and capture

You can save a lot of time by automating tasks like financial document collection and data entry. There are many accounting practices which can be automated. This will allow you to spend time analysing the data and working on your business, rather than chasing clients and inputting data.

A side benefit of this is the reduction in human errors which are also time consuming in themselves. Now you can free up your time from chasing up errors, and give yourself further peace of mind with your business.

4. Approve transactions quickly with automation

Bank reconciliation is often a pain, and a common, constant hassle which business owners will face. But, this process can also be streamed with automation. Xero will automatically learn and approve transaction matches based on bank rules you have applied to the software. With this, you can free up time manually approving transactions to instead focus on your business.

5. Invoicing and payment reminders with AI

Late payments can be a big drag to your cashflow. We all have experienced clients who pay a month late and only after a lot of reminders. Chasing up invoices can be a time consuming and frustrating process. Fortunately, software like Xero can also make invoicing easier. By automating invoice reminders, Xero can speed up the time it takes to get paid, while also reducing the amount of time you have to spend chasing clients up. Xero also integrates with the nationwide e-invoicing framework which standardises and accelerates the invoicing process.

6. Streamline payroll

Xero can also help you out with streamlining payroll. Pay your employees on time with a single click. All leave requests can also be approved in one click as well. In the background, Xero will simply calculate the amount of leave used, the employee’s pay, taxes withheld and superannuation for you based off pre-input settings. All you need to do is press a button.

Xero is also connected to the Single Touch Payroll system, so your business obligations will be met easily.  

7. Digitalise tax filing

Completing the taxes for your business can be time consuming. This is especially true when your process is manual, requiring a lot of time to input data and correct errors. If your taxes are spread across multiple excel spreadsheets, physical documents, and receipts it can be difficult to consolidate these together. Visibility across these documents would also be low, reducing speed and accuracy.

Xero can also help you out here. With its regular updates, Xero is always programmed with the latest tax regulations. You can easily see all of your accounts and complete your taxes within an environment that allows you to collaborate closely with your accountant in real time. All of this saves a lot of time and reduces errors.

8. Access your business anytime and anywhere

Have you ever been on the go, in a meeting or after one with a client, where you want to be able to access your business’ invoicing or other data there and then? Maybe you wanted to send an invoice to the client you just met, or needed access to payroll, or you got an alert from your staff and wanted to check the data. With Xero you can see how your business is going, and access all of its functionality at anytime from anywhere. This means you have complete control and peace of mind no matter where you are.

Conclusion

Xero is a powerful piece of software which businesses across Australia love using. It offers a range of features which will save you time and money. All of this is packaged within a beautiful, and intuitive application. If you are considering switching to Xero, come have a chat with our team and we can help you with set up and training.