These days, a significant component of running a successful business is prioritising techniques and services that can help you become more efficient in both your daily and long-term operations. Whether that’s in terms of time or money (or both time and money), one of the best ways to do this is by means of modern technology.
It’s no secret that artificial intelligence-powered software and platforms are contributing a great deal to these types of efforts, automating certain processes as well as performing tasks that weren’t even possible before.
In terms of the latter, for instance, AI is able to manage and organise big data in a way that humans simply can’t – or, even if they can, they just wouldn’t be able to do it quickly enough for the results to be worth anything.
One of the most helpful ways that this is being used in business these days is in banking. Nowadays, there are ways in which businesses can link their operations to their finances by means of integrating business bank accounts with financial software.
Why Is It a Good Idea to Integrate Your Business Bank Account with Financial Software?
The integration of business bank accounts and financial software allows for the streamlining of accounting processes and it also helps you improve the accuracy of operations and it saves time too. By syncing all your transactions, employees won’t need to waste time manually entering data which ultimately not only saves loads of time, but it’ll also reduce human error and make it easier to track cash flow.
In addition, integration also makes the process of expense categorisation far more simple, assisting with budgeting and helping with tax preparation too.
In the long run, implementing financial software into your banking and business operations will make it significantly easier to produce and access financial reports, allowing you to maintain greater control over your finances and ultimately, make better, more informed decisions.
How to Integrate Financial Software Into Your Business Bank Account
Knowing that integrating financial software into your business bank account is a good idea is one thing, but actually doing it – and doing it properly – is another.
Here’s how to get the process started.
Find the Right Software
One of the most important things to do is pick the right software, and that’s all about finding something that suits your business needs. Prioritise your company’s goals in terms of budgeting, expense tracking, payroll, invoicing and more.
Different platforms tend to prioritise different features, and often, finding the right software is largely about the size of your business, as small companies tend to have different needs to large corporations.
Prepare for the Integration Process
It’s not as easy as just connecting your account. First, you need to make sure that your financial data is up-to-date and organised.
To do this, you’ll need to verify your account details, review all transaction categories and ensure that you’ve reconciled any outstanding transactions. Having your data in order ensures smooth integration and reduces the chances of any discrepancies popping up down the line.
Link the Software to Your Account
The actual linking process is normally quite straightforward. It involves inputting your login credentials or a secure API connection. Once you’re logged into your business account via the software, all of your transactions from there on out should sync automatically, eliminating the need for manual entry.
Customise Settings and Permissions
Go through all the software settings and adjust them to suit your business’s requirements. This will include things like setting up categories for transactions and assigning different access levels to different employees based on superiority.
Automate Routine Processes
Most software platforms offer some form of automation – this includes things like expense categorisation, recurring billing, budget tracking and more.
The intention behind this is to save time and reduce errors that may occur as a result of manual input.
Prioritise Compliance and Data Security
Financial data is incredibly sensitive, so it’s really important that when you integrate software into your business bank account, you make sure that it not only complies with the relevant regulations but security standards too.
This includes things like making use of two-factor authentication, updating passwords regularly and ensuring that you’re in contact with your software provider to ensure compliance with data protection standards.
Conduct Regular Reviews
One of the most important things that people forget is to keep monitoring and conducting reviews. This will help ensure that data accuracy is maintained.
You can use software tools to generate reports on all types of things, most importantly, profits, expenses and general cash flow. Reconcile your accounts on a monthly basis so that you can make sure you pick up any discrepancies immediately and you can keep your financial records in good condition.
