9 Great Apps to Help Small Businesses

“There’s an app for that!”

Long gone are the days of spending hours looking for solutions to ongoing challenges in your business. Nowadays, you just have to head to the app store and you can be sure to discover a clever little tool that can solve your niggling issues.  The app market has exploded in recent years and created a world free of complications and in many cases paperwork and admin. Here we take a look at our 9 favourite apps on the market for your small business and we give them our rating.

Cloud Accounting Solutions like QuickBooks and Xero

Cloud accounting software solutions will keep all your business financials in one place. Set up customers, raise invoices on the go, check payments and link it to your banking to create a seamless, streamlined accounting process. Our favourites are QuickBooks and Xero.

Easy to set up: 7/10

Easy to use: 7/10

Timesaver score: 9/10

ReceiptBank for Receipt Management

If you are running a small business and wish to track and record your expenses via a simple app, then ReceiptBank will free up your wallet, pocket space, glove box or anywhere else you use as storage for pesky receipts.  Whilst receipts are essential to marry up with payments as proof of a business expense, they can clutter your space and clutter your mind - adding additional time and admin to your month.

ReceiptBank is a great addition to your accounting process as it allows you to snap, store and categorise your receipts, and then link to your cloud accounting software.

Easy to set up: 8/10

Easy to use: 8/10

Timesaver score: 10/10

Digital Banking like Revolut and Tide

As the original ‘challenger’ banking app, launched in 2015, Revolut has grown to become one of the world’s most recognisable names in app banking.  Geared towards those travelling and using muti-currencies, Revolut has paved the way and revolutionised the world of international digital business banking. Tide provides a mobile-first business banking service for small and medium-sized enterprises with the main aim of “simplifying expenses”.  It enables businesses to set up a current account and get instant access to various financial resources as well as linking to various cloud accounting softwares.

Now Starling has joined the marketplace as an online bank competing with the traditional high street banks, there’s an array of online choice and easy to set up and operate banking solutions.

With online functions ranging from making transfers, paying bills, requesting your pin, freezing your card, applying for overdrafts and even paying in cheques it’s no wonder traditional high street branches are running skeleton staff or even closing altogether.  Whoever you bank with, its highly recommended to have your money at your fingertips.

Easy to set up: 9/10

Easy to use: 8/10

Timesaver score: 9/10

Salesforce CRM

One of our true favourite cloud tools is Salesforce, which is currently one of the leading CRM providers around. This is an amazing resource to capture client data and set up and monitor KPI functions throughout your business. Their core aim is to help small and medium sized businesses increase sales and reach more customers, and improve service. We have used Salesforce for around 10 years and it has allowed us to measure and track our performance and the services we provide to our clients and is the starting point of our day. This app will integrate with so many other solutions, there’s no doubt it’s the hub of our business.

Easy to set up: 7/10

Easy to use: 9/10

Timesaver score: 10/10

GoCardless for Direct Debits

GoCardless enables you to automate payment collection for your invoices, via Direct Debit, which puts you in control of when you get paid, and means your customers only need to enter their payment details once to automate payments. This can help improve cashflow as invoices are automatically collected on the due date, so no more chasing late payments.  It will reduce your admin time and you can easily reconcile payments in your cloud accounting software.  The cost is low at 1% plus 20p per transaction, capped at £4. No more chasing outstanding debt as this app makes sure you get paid on time!

Easy to set up: 7/10

Easy to use: 7/10

Timesaver score: 10/10

Payment Gateway Apps like Stripe and PayPal

As a small business, it’s essential to make it easy for customers to pay you.  No more waiting for cheques, cash or bank transfers, these apps allow instant collection of payment and should integrate smoothly with your cloud accounting platform. But beware, it can take a little longer to get the actual cash in your account and as our expectations and demands become quicker, it’s important to find the right solution for you and understand all the pros and cons.

Easy to set up: 6/10

Easy to use: 7/10

Timesaver score: 9/10

Vend

Vend is a cloud-based point-of-sale app that allows retailers and service providers to run their business in-person and online as it is both a point of sale solution and an inventory management software. It is particularly useful for ecommerce and stock management and can integrate with other financial and business cloud solutions to streamline your retail journey.

Easy to set up: 7/10

Easy to use: 8/10

Timesaver score: 9/10

Point of Sale (POS) Solutions such as iZettle

There are many point of sale apps available and one of the most commonly known and used by our clients would be iZettle. There are others, such as Sum-Up, so you can be sure to find the right solution for you. These apps allow you get paid easily in your business by accepting card payments. Pair it with a handy card reader so that you can collect payments in minutes, even when on the go, so it’s perfect for pop-ups as well as permanent establishments. In this age of ‘quick’ a POS system could be the difference between making sales and not, so it’s an essential tool for any business that needs to take immediate payment for goods or services.

Easy to set up: 8/10

Easy to use: 8/10

Timesaver score: 10/10

Pre-paid Money Cards like Soldo

A pre-paid money card is a great way of allowing your team to incur their expenses without the need for complex internal processes to manage staff reimbursements and expense claims. It’s also a great incentive for clients and staff as well, and can be useful for monitoring costs when on a budget. It can be integrated with your other cloud products and tools.

Easy to set up: 9/10

Easy to use: 9/10

Timesaver score: 9/10

Whether you use any of these apps in isolation or ‘app-stack’ them, these solutions will help you run your business more smoothly and help you to streamline your processes and efficiencies so you can spend more timing doing what you love. So now’s the time to app-up and grow your business to mark sure you are on the up.

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FUSE is an independent Chartered Certified firm of accountants and tax advisors based in Highgate Village, North London. We provide a dynamic range of services to clients working in property, media, entertainment and professional services. Our clients vary in size from self employed sole traders, small enterprises and medium size businesses. We believe that comprehensive financial planning and sound business financial advice are the keys to growth and profitability.