Streamlining Business Finance with Modern Solutions

Jack Perkins is the founder at CFO Hub, which provides on-demand CFO, Controller, Accounting, and HR services.

There’s never been more technology available to help businesses manage their finances. From sophisticated machine learning platforms to more affordable outsourced CFOs, you can truly find whatever forms of financial support you need.

However, with so many options to choose from, it’s not always clear which are worth the cost. Here’s a closer look at five modern solutions for streamlining business finance to help you decide which make sense for your company.

Modern Bookkeeping Software

Accounting software helps companies collect, record, and manage transactional data. Modern versions save time with automated features for data entry, generating financial statements, and syncing data across departments. This can save your company money by reducing the hours of labor it takes to manage finances.

New bookkeeping software also helps businesses learn from their financial data. They integrate with other systems, like your CRM, to offer deep insights into a company’s financial strengths and weaknesses.

Leaders can take this information and leverage it to make smarter financial decisions. The net result can be a more optimized business strategy with less wasted time and money.

Outsourced Accounting and Financial Leadership

Modern accounting software can be helpful, but you’ll still need internal financial expertise to get the most out of its insights. That’s something small and medium-sized businesses don’t always have.

That’s one reason to consider outsourcing some of your financial management tasks. You can hire accounting experts, back-end specialists, and even part-time CFOs via outsourced financial management firms.

These let you pay for financial expertise when you need it without having to add a high-priced specialist to your full-time team. They can help you with:

• High-level strategic decisions around your financials
• Week-to-week accounting support
• Financial statement preparation
• Compliance and regulations
• Management and training of internal accounting staff
• Scaling your business
• And more

The key will be finding the right outsourced firm for your needs. That can mean setting up a few consultations and comparing prices to ensure you get the best deal on the talent you want.

Artificial Intelligence

The ongoing AI revolution is also influencing the world of business finance. It's integrated into many popular financial tools and helps with:

• Accounting: By automating transactional processes, reducing errors, and constantly monitoring cash flow.
• Risk management: By processing large amounts of data faster than humans can.
• Financial analysis: By analyzing all of your data to identify trends and forecast future performance.

If you want benefits like these, look for business financial software with AI capabilities. It can help you get more done without increasing the amount you spend on payroll.

Billing and Invoicing Software

Another aspect of streamlining your business finances is optimizing how you get paid. Billing and invoicing software helps with that. It can automate tasks like creating invoices, reminding customers to pay them, and tracking billable hours or expenses.

Plus, your software will help you gather and analyze payment data. You can use this to learn more about how your customers pay your business. The information you get can help you make more informed decisions in your billing department.

Financial Planning and Analysis Software (FP&A)

You can also find standalone tools designed specifically to help with financial planning. These incorporate data from all of your internal systems to illuminate problems, find solutions, and help your business plan for a better financial future.

You might benefit from using FP&A software if you want help with:

• Identifying new opportunities
• Measuring risk
• Building detailed financial models
• Predicting how different decisions would impact your business finances
• Preparing more optimized budgets

Is Business Finance Software Worth It?

All of the tools on this list can help your company improve its financial processes. The question is which are worth paying for. That can vary based on your company’s current status and future goals.

For example, if you want to pursue growth, FP&A software can help you come up with optimized strategies. But if you’re just trying to get your monthly accounting tasks done on time, hiring an outsourced expert could be a smarter investment.

That being said, business finance software is often worth paying for. Its automated capabilities alone can save enough labor hours to make up for the price tag. 

If you’re unsure what type of software or outsourced solutions are right for your company, consider reaching out to business finance experts. They can help you evaluate your needs and come up with the right solution to reach your goals.

Final Take

Modern solutions have made it easier than ever to optimize your business finances. Once you identify which are right for your company, the next step will be choosing specific products. You can use online reviews and guides to evaluate the pros and cons of your top options.