Do you ever feel like you just don’t have a good grasp on your business’s financial situation? Does money seem to go back out the door just as fast as it comes in? Running a business is often like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. There’s just too much information coming at you at one time to take all of it in.
It doesn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of tools out there that can help you get a handle on your finances and gain more transparency into your business’s financial health. Many of these tools are available as apps on your iPhone or Android, so you can track important financial information on the go.
The days of waiting until the end of the month or the quarter for financial results are over. Savvy business owners stay informed in real-time. They know where their expenses are, what invoices are outstanding, and what cash flow they can realistically expect at any given moment.
Applications to Manage Your Business Finances
For many businesses, that kind of real-time insight can mean the difference between success and failure. Most businesses fail not because they don’t have a great product or their poor marketers, but rather because of cash flow issues. Having deep insight into your finances can help you avoid the next cash flow crisis.
Here are five apps that can make you a more financially-savvy business owner:
Invoice2Go
Invoice2Go does exactly what its name implies. It allows you to create and manage invoices on the go. This is especially important if – like many owners – you double as owner and sales rep. Are you out in the field on a regular basis meeting with customers? What if they have questions about their most recent invoice or their invoice from a few months back?
Invoice2Go lets you pull up the invoice immediately on your phone. You can also make edits to invoices and even collect payments. Even better, Invoice2Go will report on how much cash you can expect to receive in the next 15, 30, 60, and 90 days, so you can always get an instant update on your upcoming cash flow situation.
LoanCalc
Raising financing is just a part of life as a business owner. Sometimes, you need to get financing in a hurry. In that rush, you may not actually take the time to fully understand the terms of the loan.
LoanCalc makes borrowing easy. You simply enter the most important terms of the loan, like the amount, the interest rate, and the term. Then, LoanCalc gives you graphical, easy-to-understand displays about how much the loan will cost you, how long it will take to pay off, and how much interest and principal you’ll pay every month.
You can also enter information for multiple loans and LoanCalc will compare the two. Then, you can make an informed decision about which loan works best for you.
Currency Plus
Do you do business with international customers or vendors? If so, then you probably always have to keep an eye on international currency. Currency+ does the dirty work for you. It has information for every kind of currency on the planet and its exchange rates update instantly.
With Currency+ on your phone or tablet, you can negotiate with international clients with confidence because you’ll always know exactly how the currency will convert. Currency+ is only available on the iPhone, but there are other similar apps available for Android.
Expensify
One of the biggest benefits of owning a business is the ability to write-off many of your business expenses. However, that benefit is meaningless if you forget to record the expense. Expensify resolves that problem. It also makes filing expense reports simple for your sales team.
With Expensify, you simply take a picture of your business receipt. The app then turns the picture into an easy-to-read expense report. With the push of the button, you or your team can then submit the report to your accounting team.
It’s free to use for individuals and $5 per month per user for businesses. However, businesses get two free accounts to start and are only charged for additional accounts if the app is actually used. That means that if you have a salesperson that doesn’t submit a report in one month, you don’t have to pay for their subscription.
Expensify is an easy way to make sure that you’re accounting for all your business expenses.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a time tracking app that has a wide range of features that make it an incredibly useful tool beyond measuring your team’s productivity. It shows you not only the total number of hours your team has tracked, but also how much you’re spending on each team member, project, and client.
With its project budgeting feature, you can see a detailed overview of your team’s active projects, who’s working on what, and how much you’ve spent so far. You will be notified as budgets are approached so you can make adjustments as needed.
Hubstaff has a payroll feature that automates sending payments to your team. The app can calculate the amount based on your team members’ pay rates and total hours worked, or you can manually send fixed amounts. It also has an invoicing feature that automatically generates invoices and sends them to clients after projects are completed. You will receive notifications when a client receives the invoice. Clients can send payments in Hubstaff via PayPal as well.
The app is available on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android.
