Cape Town, 26 Mar 2018
2018 has certainly gotten off to a running start with many economic upheavals and political changes, says Craig Johnston, Marketing Manager of Bluekey Seidor. South African businesses need to, now more than ever, be robust and innovative enough to remain profitable in order to maintain sustainable growth. Here are some important steps that SMEs can take to ensure better financial management for the year ahead.
Accounting control
Having control over accounting functions is imperative for small and medium enterprises, as it ensures that there is sufficient cash flow to drive the business forward. By having accurate and real-time insight into the financial status of a business, you are able to see what the expenses are, where it is being spent and for what purpose it is being spent.
The most effective way to manage this is to have a business management system that allows automatic handling of all key accounting processes, such as journal entries, accounts receivable and accounts payable. This allows you to seamlessly track fixed assets, monitor project costs and control overall budgets in real-time. A comprehensive birds-eye view of all accounting functions means that you can be proactive in managing your cash flow and ensure that funds available are optimised to generate business growth.
Simplified planning and reporting
While we cannot predict all future problems or shortfalls, it's a lot easier to execute and take remedial action when the correct planning and reporting structures are in place. In order to make strategic decisions to adapt to environmental changes, your reporting system needs to deliver instant reports that are customised to deliver information that is essential to your business.
By implementing an integrated management system, you are able to get accurate and real-time insight into stock levels, sales orders, current financial status of the business and customer queries. This kind of instant data enables you to make informed decisions to match your supply with demand and to ensure that your business has the cash flow available to drive production. Management of fixed assets can also be automated, which frees up employees' time to focus on core job functions, reduces the possibility of human error and removes the need for repetitive manual data entry.
Integration
Integration is key for your business to function as a cohesive unit, as there is complete insight into how each and every department benefits or affects each other. Key business functions, such as accounting, stock control, sales order processing, customer retention management (CRM), banking and reconciliation can be integrated into a single, comprehensive management system. This kind of inter-departmental insight drives competitive advantage for the business and will lead to sustainability in the long run. From a financial perspective, ensuring that all business functions are integrated means greater control and oversight, which will allow you to navigate any obstacles that the year ahead may throw your way.
This year is certainly already proving to be a challenging year. So, it's best that you proactively act now to ensure that your business thrives in 2018. Investing in an integrated business management solution gives you the essential tools to navigate and strategise the way forward to ensure the growth and longevity of your business.
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