We hear a lot about app stacks when we go to cloud accounting conferences – but what is an app stack? Really it is looking at what combination of apps will give you the best functionality to make it easier for you to run your business well.
As accountants we spend a lot of time trying to stay up to date with different apps on the market, and particularly ones that work well with Xero. If you have an app that integrates with Xero then it means that the data will flow well from one to the other and make things as easy as possible. However the list of apps in the Xero App Marketplace is now nearly a thousand long so this can be a bit of a mission! One way that we narrow down the enormous choice is by identifying app stacks that work well for different industries.
The Best Apps for Professional Services
We work with a lot of businesses that provide professional services, and being a professional services business ourselves this is one industry that we are particularly familiar with. Two of the biggest challenges are keeping track of expenses, and making sure that you get paid promptly.
Throw Away Your Receipts
We have been working with Receipt Bank for several years now, and in the last 30 days alone our clients submitted almost 2,500 receipts and invoices using Receipt Bank. This is one of my personal favourite apps, I used to be really bad at keeping on top of my receipts, and now I just take a picture using the Receipt Bank app and throw away the receipt. No more losing receipts at the bottom of my handbag or trying to figure out what a faded one was for. This is one of the easiest ways to ensure that you don’t miss out on obvious tax deductible expenses.
If you have employees then an alternative solution such as Expensify or Xero Expenses might be a better option for you.
Collect Customer Payments Automatically
Would you like payment for your sales invoices to be automatically collected on the due date? That is exactly what GoCardless does. Your clients can sign up to a mandate that allows payment to be collected automatically, and if that wasn’t enough it will also link with Xero and reconcile the payment for you. Quick and easy to set up, and much less expensive than a traditional direct debit arrangement, this is close to a no brainer.
Chase Late Payments Automatically
If you aren’t collecting payments automatically then it wouldn’t be surprising if you make up part of the horrifying statistic of UK SMEs that are owed an eye watering £225 billion in late payments. Businesses don’t fail because they aren’t profitable enough – they fail because they don’t have enough cash. Chaser allows you to automate a significant part of your credit control, and as well as dramatically improving your cash flow, will also save you potentially hours each week. We are such big fans of Chaser we have built a whole Virtual Credit Control service around it.
If you want to take advantage of some of these fantastic time (and money!) saving apps then get in touch to chat through what app stack would work for you. Not in professional services? We also offer other app stacks for different industries.