As well as now being necessary in most business cases, cloud accounting software has the added benefit of being able to connect other apps to your accounting software to further reduce the amount of time spent on data processing and increase efficiencies. Below we have summarised three of these apps which may appeal to your business needs.
Hubdoc For clients who want to save time on data processing. Hubdoc is a Xero product, currently offered by Xero at no extra cost to Xero licence holders, although it can also sync with QuickBooks at an additional charge. You start by taking a picture of your receipt, purchase invoice or bill you can then upload this to Hubdoc from the mobile app, email or laptop. Supplier names, amounts, invoice numbers and due dates are extracted from the invoices to create transactions in Xero and QuickBooks with a copy of the invoice attached.
Pros
- Currently offered free of charge to all Xero licence holders
- Processing time is simultaneous with uploading
- An efficient alternative to manual processing
- Use the mobile app to snap invoices on the go
Cons
- You must tell Hubdoc what type of document you’re uploading e.g. purchase invoice, credit note
- Hubdoc can’t analyse bank statements
- Hubdoc will allow you to mark an invoice as paid but doesn’t currently allow you to specify the accounts the bill has been paid from
For clients who want an efficient way of managing staff leave and hybrid working. LeaveCal integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook and Slack to show a shared calendar for full transparency across your whole organisation. This may be beneficial to organisations who offer hybrid working arrangements, to be able to see who is in and out of the office and when staff have approved leave. The price of LeaveCal is dependent on the number of employees included.
Pros
- A streamlined solution to sync employees’ calendars
- Greater sharing visibility for remote teams
Cons
- Leave can only be seen once approved
- When connecting LeaveCal to Xero, you will need a Xero “Standard User” with payroll access
Spotlight reporting enables advanced reporting, forecasting, budgeting, consolidation and more. It also enables businesses, franchises and not for profits to quickly and effectively report information and share benchmarking data. Spotlight Reporting integrates with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Excel, Google Analytics and Workflow Max to create powerful and visual reports, reveal key drivers that impact performance, advanced cash flow forecasting and more.
Pros
- A user-friendly dashboard to make it easier to understand the numbers
- Enhanced reporting features
- Summarises financial information into charts and graphs
Cons
- No phone support for smaller clients
- Training time is needed to get to grips with software as there are many different options and layouts available
