As accountants, whatever our business, everything is orderly and makes sense in the world when we can get it in a spreadsheet. I’m sure there’s a few micro businesses happily running on spreadsheets.

However, there are other tech solutions you might want to consider. Let the robots be your first team member!

Accounting software

There’s a saying, ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’. Years ago, I thought I was following this by having a wide range of clients, interpreting the saying to mean I should have variety in my client base. Then, unexpectedly, a significant issue arose with the accounting software I used. After a few stressful weeks, I realised that I’d effectively placed all my clients in a single software basket by relying on one software. I learned from this and discourage loyalty to only one solution.

Competition is good and pushes our industry forward. With respect to your core general ledger accounting software for a micro or small practice, I’d encourage you to be open to looking at Intuit QuickBooks, MYOB, Xero and Zoho Books. I personally use Xero; however, as someone writing about accounting tech, I strive to be educated and open to all solutions.

As a trainer, I use both Google Workspace and the Microsoft 365 Business platform. I prefer to sit in Google Workspace because it gives off a more casual vibe, while I find Microsoft feels quite corporate.

Tech and cybersecurity should go hand in hand. For password management, I use 1Password. It’s convenient, creates complex passwords and allows me to securely share passwords with virtual support if needed.

Practice management

For a practice management solution, initially I used a spreadsheet with a tab for each service and had a list of activities under each tab. It served me well for many years. I then moved to the Kanban style tool, Trello. I found Trello easy to set up and use, and aesthetically pleasing. I liked that I could adjust the colours and add images.

Then I engaged a virtual assistant, who said she knew how to use Trello. Within a few days, she’d destroyed all my Trello templates. I clearly needed to provide training in my workflows and how to use Trello templates. All of my Trello boards became unusable.

For a while I moved back to spreadsheets. Once I’d emotionally recovered, I looked around and the new kid on the block was XBert. XBert has released many features and functionalities since then, but at its core it offers smart workflow tools, plus data quality checks. I still use Trello for side projects; it was user error, not Trello’s fault.

Cash flow and payments

As a knowledge worker, my time is valuable. I never answer an unknown number or take unscheduled meetings. All meetings need to be booked through Calendly, which allows me to set up different types and lengths of meetings. The meeting details create a Google Calendar event and populate it with a Zoom link. Zoom is the online video chat solution I use for meetings and webinars.

Clients without an existing retainer agreement need to use their credit card to book a Calendly meeting. Yes, I’m reiterating this again: all of my time is paid for in advance.

For tracking time, I use MinuteDock. It’s simple to set up and use, and replaces Post-it notes tracking snippets of client time scattered everywhere. Based out of Wellington, the solution records time against clients, projects and budgets. You can invoice directly from MinuteDock, or push invoice details into the popular accounting solutions. I know there’s a lot of chatter in the market about value pricing and thus not billing by the hour. If you choose not to bill by the hour, it’s still wise to monitor and review how long activities take. MinuteDock does not populate payroll timesheets, so you would need a payroll solution for that.

For automatically collecting direct debit payments, I encourage clients to sign up to the online payment processing solution GoCardless and use the recurring invoice feature within my accounting software. All clients are on a base monthly retainer, so the invoices are automatically sent to them and the money collected before work is undertaken. I also have Stripe and PayPal accounts to receive payment by credit card for ad hoc invoices.

I use the receipt capturing tool Receipt Bank, oops Dext Prepare, to extract the bills and receipt details, and push them into my accounting software. Optical character recognition (OCR) solutions are a horizontal solution: that is, they can be used across any industry. There are a lot of other OCR solutions in the market so, while I’m happy using Dext, if I was starting again I would review some of the other popular solutions.

Engagement letters and admin

For client engagement, I adapted the text from the engagement letter tool on the CA ANZ Tools and Resources webpage.

I use the esignature solution Annature which offers a pay-per-use offering and is currently listed with a discount for members on the CA ANZ Member Benefits webpage. Another option is FuseWorks, co-founded by Brisbane CA Melissa Voss.

Marketing

I use Mailchimp to collate a client mailing list and send out newsletters for marketing purposes. If you’re a micro business, it is always worth double checking if there’s a ‘lite’ free option to start on. While some solutions offer them, other solutions never offer pricing and functionality suited to a lean startup business. I’ve used Mailchimp for a decade and have never paid.

For simple marketing material, social media, and visually stunning presentations, I use Canva.

In conclusion

Each solution saves time and enhances efficiency, and now ChatGPT can offer water cooler conversation! For a micro business, technology can really be like your first employee.