After the technological advancements and pandemic last year, the entire world has switched to the digital realm. Businesses now prefer digital marketing over traditional. The divergent variety of innovations is taking digital brand marketing to the next level. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed the concept of branding and enhanced it effectively.
Now, companies leverage AI to enhance data-driven branding as their primary goal and mission of digital marketing. With the help of AI, companies want to ensure a great customer experience. It is cost-friendly and more effective as compared to high costly branding campaigns.
Artificial Intelligence helps in interacting with customers to optimize the best future of the company. In addition, companies with AI strategies report that they saw a 39% boost in revenue in 2020, and it also deducted their 37% cost.
Let’s glance at the reasons briefly how AI plays the role of game-changer to take brand marketing to the next level.
AI Enables Best Product/Content Recommendations
Some renowned companies like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, Spotify, and many others have utilized AI technology. These brands have provided the best product offerings in terms of produce and content recommendations. AI-based customer data creates genuine customer profiles that include their likes, dislikes, interests, and preferences.
With the use of AI, companies provide a personalized experience to customers. When customers experience a personalized approach from the brands, they take more interest and purchase more.
Smart Search Functionality
A decade ago, when you searched something on a search engine, it wouldn’t appear authentic results quickly. You needed to insert correct spelling, or else searching on the internet would be a difficult task. This complexity no longer disturbs today. With the use of AI, marketers utilize way more intelligent and more advanced search functionality.
Google is the top search engine that has advanced searching experience.
After Google, e-commerce websites have also advanced their search features by incorporating modified auto-suggest corrections. When you type something on Amazon, you might have noticed that various suggestions pop up on your screen.
AI has improved the experience of AI, due to which brands are more likely to get more leads, higher number of sales, and ideal online visibility.
Programmatic Advertising
Programmatic advertising is one of the advanced choices of marketers. It is due to buying and selling ads. The launch of AI in the marketing industry has made programmatic advertising more efficient and advanced. Now advertisers and publishers are connected to exchange their advertisements for a specific price.
Additionally, AI strategies also identify customers’ behavior, and marketers may effectively utilize this data. For instance, customers who provide a better chance of conversion are our targeted clients. AI also determines the best time to post an ad. As a consequence, the impressions will convert to effective leads.
Enhanced Targeting and Segmentation
The first step of marketing includes better targeting and segmentation. Marketers effectively want to reach their target audience and provide them personalized offers that they might need or want. You need accurate data to segment your audience and target efficiently. However, AI technology can make it possible and easy.
With advanced AI segmentation, you can classify your audience in simple variables, such as gender, age, locality, and complex ones, such as past interests, buying personas, etc. In addition, AI has also developed dynamic segmentation, which can identify customers’ constantly changing behaviors.
For instance, a person may want to buy a gift for his parents, and he may also be interested in purchasing a car. So, the dynamic segmentation may quickly identify accurate data with constantly changing buying behaviors.
Sales Forecasting
Artificial Intelligence also helps predict sales, including important information, such as past sales data, customer base expansion, economic trends, and industry-wide comparison.
Consequently, companies can easily track their performance and predict future analysis in the short and the long run.
Real-Time Customer Support
Customer support is the essential need of companies to escalate the height of success. Quick responses and fast resolution have become the main requirement of the customers. However, Artificial Intelligence also provides an excellent customer support service with the help of AI-driver chatbots. As a consequence, companies may offer excellent customer service.
Chatbots are crucial in modern-day marketing. It works in both efficient ways – keeps customers engaged and responds quickly to the customers’ concerns.
The Bottom Line
AI is the new way to targeting customers and provide the best customer service. Artificial Intelligence is the future. It can lead digital marketing to the next level.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
Accounting can be a time-consuming and crucial chore for business owners. Still, it is also a mandatory task for managing, operating, and optimizing your company’s growth with time. Eventually, you’ll need to invest in a business accounting tool to regulate your cash flow and formulate income taxes. From bookkeeping to tracking expenses, there are several pointers to consider when choosing the righteous accounting tool for the comprehensive financial management of your business.
Accounting tools are essential to get for your business. The best accounting tools help you create invoices, record internal and external payments, follow up with the past due to account receivables, and manage reports that help you examine the financial health of your business.
The choice of an accounting tool is a critical yet significant one because it can effortlessly simplify your business finances. Every business has different requirements and several employees. Here’s our list of top-rated accounting tools for small businesses and enterprises.
QuickBooks: While mentioning the most productive and functional accounting tool of all time, one can never forget mentioning the QuickBooks online. Suppose you’re an entrepreneur who despises financial management and would get on the rollercoaster with the newness of being a fresh business owner. In that case, QuickBooks online will surely help you with that. Moreover, even if you’re a professional accountant who deals with the balance sheet, invoicing, and profit and loss statements, QuickBooks online can still meet your requirements. QuickBooks Online also allows cash transactions, including billing from the suppliers, payroll, expense tracking, and inventory tracking.
Fresh-Books: FreshBooks is another well-known accounting tool with built-in outlay management, time tracking features, and the facility of accepting incoming cash or account receivables. It is easy to use but doesn’t have anything to do with the payroll and inventory. This tool is for freelance agencies or solo business proprietors.
It is an affordable tool with a relatively low subscription fee if you ever consider extending your business with a few additional employees.
Xero: The exceptional feature of maintaining the accounts, Xero tool carries out from bookkeeping to virtual expense management and contains the ability to get paid in more than 160 currencies with updated exchange rates. Xero app also keeps the purchasing records and mechanically reconciles your accounts, as you’d already expected from a proper accounting tool. Xero app is efficient in tracking money and the time spent on a particular project to provide the complete cost analysis. Xero app is generally a monthly subscription accounting system. However, the cost will vary depending on whether you get the premium features or not.
Expensify: Expensify is an accounting tool used to manage expenses and money transactions through realistic data and reporting processes. The accounting operations performed by this user-friendly application solve numerous cash-related issues. It also permits the companies to maintain a summary of various accounts along with the calendar. Expensify also supports the travel expenses based on the miles cover, including the payment of an ongoing project. You can also modify the currencies while using this exceptional accounting tool.
Neat: Neat application is slightly like Expensify. Excellent is proficient with extracting the information from your receipts and financial documents. You can use any digital device to operate this tool, including a smartphone, a desktop, or an actual scanner, and you can easily access your important files from any device. Another great feature of the neat tool is that it can effortlessly link up with other accounting tools, and you can directly transfer the expense transactions. With the help of this tool, you can share your financial statements with your accountants and co-owners. With Neat, you can quickly get rid of the slow and laborious manually added transactions and instead receives an optimized virtual process.
Regardless of your business’s stage and requirements, there is always an accounting tool available that fits your company’s needs. Whether you opt for a desktop version or a cloud-based tool, the most important is to consider a righteous accounting tool for your business finance. No matter how brilliant your services are, your business will always be at risk if you failed to keep a sound accounting system. Keep researching for the accurate accounting tool until you get the one for your business’s purpose.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
Transform Your Business: Discover the Benefits of Going Paperless
The benefits of going paperless extend far beyond eliminating filing cabinets—they fundamentally reshape how your business operates, saves money, and competes. By transitioning to digital document management, organizations reduce operational costs by 30–40%, accelerate workflows by 60%, and unlock real-time business insights that paper-based systems simply cannot deliver. Whether you’re managing a five-person team or a multi-department enterprise, going paperless creates the infrastructure for efficiency, compliance, and growth in an increasingly remote-first world.
After 20+ years supporting small and mid-sized businesses at Complete Controller, I’ve watched the paperless transformation evolve from a “nice-to-have” to a competitive necessity. In 2024 alone, I’ve guided dozens of founders through this transition—and the most striking insight isn’t about the time saved or trees planted. It’s this: businesses that embrace paperless workflows report 47% better employee adoption when leadership models the behavior first. This article walks you through exactly what paperless actually means, the measurable benefits that matter to your bottom line, and a realistic roadmap to get there without the chaos.
What are the real benefits of going paperless, and how do they apply to your business?
Going paperless reduces operational costs by 30–40%, accelerates workflows by 60%, improves security, enables remote work, and creates data-driven decision-making capabilities.
Cost savings come from eliminated hardware, software licensing consolidation, reduced physical storage, and the time freed up when automation handles document routing instead of manual filing.
Workflow acceleration happens through digital signatures, automated approvals, cloud accessibility, and electronic workflows that replace the print-scan-file-retrieve cycle.
Security and compliance improve when centralized document management systems replace dispersed files, implement role-based access controls, enforce audit trails, and ensure encrypted backups.
Remote and hybrid work becomes seamless when all documents and workflows live in the cloud, enabling employees to work from anywhere without losing access or creating security gaps.
The Financial Case for Going Paperless
Most founders don’t realize how much paper infrastructure silently drains profitability. Before diving into digital tools, understanding your baseline is critical.
The cost to process a single paper-based invoice has risen to $18–$26 per invoice in 2025, while automated digital invoices cost just $2.50–$4 per invoice. This represents a 559% cost difference between manual and automated processing. Paper costs continue climbing annually while digital costs remain stable, making the decision increasingly urgent.
The hidden costs of staying paper-based
Direct Costs:
Paper, ink, and toner: $2,000–$5,000+ annually per office employee
Printer maintenance and supplies: $1,500–$3,000 per device annually
Physical storage (filing cabinets, archive rooms, off-site storage): $200–$500 per month for mid-sized teams
Indirect Costs:
Employee time spent filing, retrieving, scanning: 5–10 hours per week per administrative staff member
Document retrieval delays that slow approvals and decision-making
Duplicate document versions causing rework and compliance risk
Lost or misfiled documents requiring reconstruction
U.S. businesses throw away enough paper annually to equal $4 billion in lost value—value your company could recapture through efficient paperless office solutions. Beyond the environmental impact, this represents lost economic opportunity that forward-thinking companies are already capturing.
Operational Efficiency and Workflow Acceleration
According to McKinsey research, employees spend an average of 1.8 hours per day searching for and gathering information. This means nearly 25% of a working day is lost to document retrieval. For a company with 50 employees earning $50,000 annually, this represents roughly $2.95 million per year in lost productivity.
Digital workflows fundamentally redesign how work moves through your organization. The transformation goes beyond faster retrieval—it eliminates entire categories of wasted effort.
From manual to automated: The workflow shift
Paper-Based Process Example:
Employee creates document
Prints and routes for signature
Waits for approvers (3–5 days average)
Scans returned document
Files physically and digitally
Retrieves for compliance or operations
Paperless Process Example:
Employee creates and uploads to central system
System automatically routes for e-signature
Approvers notified instantly; decision in 24 hours
Document instantly accessible to all authorized users
Version control and audit trail automatically maintained
No retrieval needed—data feeds into dashboards
Time saved: 60% reduction in document cycle time.
Real-world workflows that paperless transforms
Invoicing & Approvals:
Digital signatures and automated routing eliminate the print-and-circulate bottleneck. Cloud integration means invoicing teams, approvers, and accounting systems all access the same document simultaneously.
Onboarding & HR Documentation:
New hires complete digital paperwork, consent forms, and policy acknowledgments from their device on day one—no printing, no delays, no lost forms. Eskişehir Organized Industrial Zone implemented paperless HR processes and achieved a 95% efficiency increase. Document handling time dropped from a full day to 15–20 minutes, allowing HR staff to focus on higher-value employee relations work.
If you’re serious about modernizing your business, Complete Controller can help.
Data Security and Compliance in a Paperless Office
Paperless systems fundamentally improve your security posture through centralized control and automated compliance features.
The security advantage of centralized document management
Paper-based vulnerabilities leave businesses exposed: documents scattered across desks and filing cabinets, no audit trail for access, physical theft going undetected, and difficult-to-enforce access controls.
Paperless security features transform this landscape:
Centralized repository with role-based access controls
Encryption at rest and in transit
Automatic audit logs tracking every access and edit
Multi-factor authentication for sensitive documents
Automated backups and disaster recovery procedures
Compliance-ready setup for GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, and industry-specific regulations
Compliance standards made simpler
A multi-state managed care organization implemented paperless provider credentialing and saw quality review pass rates increase from 83% to 92%. Credentialing turnaround time dropped from 53 calendar days to 36 days. The paperless system automated data retrieval, reduced manual labor, and created an immutable audit trail of all credentialing decisions.
Document retention policies become automated rather than manual. Define retention rules (e.g., “delete after 7 years”) and the system handles compliance automatically. Access controls update in real-time, preventing unauthorized access immediately. When documents reach end-of-life, the system securely deletes them—no shredding required.
Enabling Remote and Hybrid Work at Scale
Paperless systems provide the backbone for effective remote and hybrid teams. The transition from office-dependent to location-independent work happens naturally when documents live in the cloud.
Before paperless adoption, employees must come to the office to access paper documents. Critical documents become bottlenecks for remote workers. Printing and faxing from home create security risks. Collaboration requires in-person meetings or shipping documents.
After implementation, all employees—office, remote, or hybrid—access the same documents from anywhere. No “office-only” knowledge exists. Collaborative tools replace email chains. Onboarding remote workers mirrors the in-office experience exactly.
Real hybrid work scenarios enabled
Distributed Team Approvals:
An invoice submitted in Tokyo gets approved by teams in New York and London within 4 hours—no printing, no delays, no time-zone friction.
Cross-Department Collaboration:
Legal drafts a contract in Houston. Operations in Austin and finance in San Francisco review simultaneously—all viewing the same live document with real-time comments and version control.
Emergency Business Continuity:
When an office closes due to weather or crisis, all employees shift to remote work security post-COVID standards seamlessly. Every document, workflow, and system remains accessible without a single file being unavailable.
Data-Driven Insights and Strategic Decision-Making
Paperless systems generate business intelligence that paper systems never could. This competitive advantage transforms document storage into strategic insight.
Paper-based reality locks financial data in invoices and receipts stored in filing cabinets. No easy way exists to analyze spending patterns, contract compliance, or vendor performance. Decision-making relies on memory, estimates, or manual spreadsheet compilation.
Paperless reality changes everything. Every document feeds into centralized data that can be analyzed, visualized, and forecasted. Automated categorization and tagging make pattern recognition possible. AI and machine learning flag anomalies—unauthorized spending, policy violations, duplicate invoices. Dashboards show real-time financial health, contract status, and operational metrics.
How data-driven decisions improve operations
Accounts Payable & Expense Management:
Centralized invoice data reveals spending patterns by vendor, department, or cost center. You can negotiate better rates, identify duplicate payments, and optimize efficient business finance management.
Contract Management:
Automated document organization makes renewal dates, pricing changes, and compliance obligations visible. No more missed renewal deadlines or surprise fee increases.
A mid-sized manufacturer digitized 15 years of purchase orders and invoices. Analysis revealed they were paying 12% more to their largest supplier than smaller vendors for identical materials. The insight led to renegotiated contracts and consolidated vendor relationships, saving $180,000 annually.
Final Thoughts
The transition to paperless operations isn’t just about eliminating filing cabinets—it’s about building the foundation for modern business success. From the 559% cost difference in invoice processing to the 95% efficiency gains in HR operations, the numbers tell a compelling story. But the real transformation happens when your entire organization can access, collaborate on, and analyze information from anywhere, at any time, with complete security.
I’ve seen hundreds of businesses make this transition over my two decades at Complete Controller. The companies that thrive are those that view paperless not as a technology project, but as a business transformation. They start small, build momentum, and create a culture where digital-first thinking becomes second nature.
Your paperless journey starts with understanding where you are today and mapping where you want to be. Whether you’re looking to cut costs, improve security, enable remote work, or unlock data insights, the path forward is clear. Take the first step by auditing your current paper usage and identifying one department ready to pilot the change.
Ready to transform your business operations? The experts at Complete Controller can guide you through every step of your paperless transition. Contact us today to learn how we can help you build the efficient, secure, and scalable business infrastructure you need to compete and grow.
Frequently Asked Questions About Benefits of Going Paperless
How much does it really cost to implement a paperless system for a small business?
Initial costs typically range from $3,000–$10,000 for a 10–20 person business, including document management software, scanning equipment, and training. However, most businesses reach breakeven within 4–6 months through reduced paper, storage, and labor costs. The ongoing software costs ($50–$200/user/month) are offset by eliminating printer maintenance, paper purchases, and physical storage expenses.
What happens to our existing paper documents when we go paperless?
Most businesses digitize 5–10 years of active documents through bulk scanning services or in-house scanning projects. Historical documents beyond retention requirements can be securely shredded. Critical original documents (like contracts or deeds) can be stored in a secure location while day-to-day operations use digital copies. The scanning process typically takes 2–4 weeks for a department’s documents.
Are digital signatures and paperless documents legally binding?
Yes, digital signatures are legally binding under the ESIGN Act and UETA in the United States, and similar laws exist globally. Courts recognize properly authenticated digital documents the same as paper originals. Most document management systems include audit trails and authentication features that actually provide stronger legal evidence than paper documents.
How do we get employees to actually stop printing and embrace paperless workflows?
Success requires a combination of training, incentives, and removing temptations. Start by reducing printer access, celebrating early adopters publicly, and having leadership model paperless behavior. Research shows 47% better adoption rates when executives go paperless first. Provide hands-on training, assign departmental champions, and track metrics to show time saved rather than focusing on what’s being taken away.
What’s the biggest mistake companies make when going paperless?
Trying to digitize everything overnight without proper planning or buy-in. Successful transitions happen department by department over 3–6 months. The second biggest mistake is choosing software based solely on price rather than integration capabilities. Your document management system needs to work seamlessly with existing accounting, CRM, and communication tools to deliver real efficiency gains.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
Jennifer BrazerFounder/CEO
Jennifer is the author of From Cubicle to Cloud and Founder/CEO of Complete Controller, a pioneering financial services firm that helps entrepreneurs break free of traditional constraints and scale their businesses to new heights.
Brittany McMillen is a seasoned Marketing Manager with a sharp eye for strategy and storytelling. With a background in digital marketing, brand development, and customer engagement, she brings a results-driven mindset to every project. Brittany specializes in crafting compelling content and optimizing user experiences that convert. When she’s not reviewing content, she’s exploring the latest marketing trends or championing small business success.
Congratulations, you have successfully launched your new website. Now, what’s next? First, ask yourself what you expect from your site? You surely want a handsome number of digital traffic and stimulate more and more audience towards your site, right? However, you need to follow the first SEO step to escalate your site’s productivity and efficiency.
For ensuring the success of your site, you must follow the first SEO steps for better results. SEO tips for launching a new website can enhance your site’s appearance on the digital platform. You might have many business ideas to stimulate digital customers. Keep in mind; your ideas don’t mean anything if not incorporated effectively on the website launching.
It would be best if you implemented SEO tactics from the beginning stage. The sooner you incorporate an efficient SEO game plan, the less effort you will require to invest in the future. In addition, SEO from the initial stage develops your website fit to rank on Google search engine.
Every second you count after launching a new website can be productive to boost your website rank, providing that you come up with a robust SEO strategy. Here are the essential first SEO steps that you need to implement:
Ensure Recognized Domain Name
Picking a domain name is something you should do before launching a website, but you need to think about it after launching too. The most suitable domain name that aligns with your brand and represents your niche always enhances your SEO approach. Keep in mind; your every SEO game plan can be useless if you don’t pick the right name.
The name shouldn’t be general. Instead, please make it a bit personal. Also, make sure the title also includes your main short-tail keyword. If you pick the right domain name that fits your keyword, your SEO strategy and content creation will eventually be more manageable.
Do Your Keyword Homework
Many website owners make two big mistakes that decrease the productivity and efficiency of the website. Make sure you don’t follow their path and do your keyword homework. Many web owners take one of these two routes:
They don’t focus on the keywords. Instead, the main focus of these people is on leads and sales. They incorporate aggressive PPC and social media campaigns to generate more leads and sales. Although this strategy leads to a successful approach, it only remains for the honeymoon period. The results decline with time.
They include keywords with every bit of content. It isn’t the best approach. There’s a specific density of keywords, and you are not supposed to cross the limit. Extra keywords spoil your rankings and make your website and content less appealing to the audience.
You must avoid these two routes for a successful SEO game plan. Neither ignore keywords nor incorporate excess keywords. Always go for the middle ground. Implement a comprehensive keyword strategy, but don’t compromise on your content. Make it readable and attractive to the readers. The enhanced ranking is necessary, but the quality of the content is also essential.
Outline an Effective Website Structure
Google prefers an organized website, and you must not forget this fact. You must implement effective architecture for your website because it makes your site eye-catchy also impacts your SEO approach.
How does a well-structured website look? Keep in mind; less is more. The simpler your website is, the more effective results it will give. Similarly, the fewer pages your website has, the faster your loader time will be. As a consequence, your website becomes user-friendly. Did you know? A higher number of organic visits also impact SEO for your new website.
You must keep your content concise and eye-catchy. Compressed content makes your site readable and pleasant for both search engines crawlers and readers.
Ensure Consistency in the Content
Content and SEO strategy go hand in hand. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that content is the backbone of website and SEO. Moreover, content stimulates your audience’s attention and ensures engagement with them. However, website engagements and activity are the matrices to decide if your website is SEO-friendly.
So, the strategy is simple, the more content you post, the more audience will reach your site. So, it would help if you were consistent when it comes to posting content. You can create a content calendar so that you may go on with consistency. Keep in mind; content affects your ranking.
The Bottom Line
The first SEO steps include your domain name, keyword homework, website structure, and content with consistency. However, you also need to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly.
Most people use Google from mobile, and therefore Google has brought a change in the ranking elements. So, it’s better to incorporate a mobile-friendly design for better SEO. In addition, you can also optimize URLs for a successful SEO approach.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
Suppose you are an entrepreneur who has recently stepped into a new venture. In that case, you are most likely to need proper accounting software that will help you with the recording of data as well as projections regarding revenue generation and preparation of budgets.
Given the volume of transactions and payments to be recorded for small businesses, you might not have to spend a fortune or purchase the right and most apt accounting software. A basic software with essential functionalities such as invoice creation ability, general ledger, inventory details, and purchase history is more than enough for an SME to run its operations smoothly.
Most basic accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses come with guided help features that help run operations with a step-by-step guide and act as tour guides for the software, helping understand controls and highlight any possible errors.
Here are a few ways guided help boxes in accounting software can help small business owners run the accounting software themselves or make it easier for new accountants and bookkeepers.
Highlighting errors: One of the most crucial functions that the guided help box performs is highlighting potential mistakes in the finance sheet. If any figure has potentially compromised the balance of your finance sheet or your income or expenses are more than your total, the guide feature in accounting software quickly highlighted any such entries that could have crucial errors impacting your entire finance sheet. Additionally, it highlights any mistakes in inventory management and helps you maintain your product stock to better cater to your customers.
Budget allocation: Guided help boxes make budget allocation easier. If your total allocated budget or the percentage of funding allocated to a particular part of your business exceeds the rate you decided initially, the in-built feature of accounting software will highlight the areas of concern, helping you plan your budget efficiently. Mainly if your business is new and revenue is comparatively lower, your expenses are expected to surpass your income. Guided help from the accounting tool helps you check your costs and thus keep track of your budget.
Inventory control: If your business involves many inventories buying and selling, manually keeping a check on your stock can be quite a hassle. Guided help in software highlights when the supply of a particular product is low, intimating you that you must restock. Additionally, any articles with a restricted shelf life also appear highlighted in your software, securing you from potential loss by helping you identify products with nearing expiry and thus putting them ahead of the rest of the stock.
Payment intimation: Proper accounting software include built-in controls for expense management, payroll, taxation, balance sheet, fixed assets, and cash flows, as well as inventory, sales, and customer management. With all these features, it becomes easy to track and schedule payments. Any payments that are due on you or are expected to receive are highlighted, allowing you to intimate your payer or schedule your income in time. Similarly, good accounting software with guided help assists inadequately managing the payroll.
Tax calculation: Guided help in accounting matters is of excellent service when it comes to resolving the tax matters of SMEs. Business owners or accountants can easily create income tax statements, calculate the Value Added Tax (VAT), and prepare a comprehensive financial report including the taxation on all transactions. The information helps you understand business taxes better and helps you responsibly file your taxes in time.
Tutorial functionality: One of the essential tasks that guided help boxes perform is the tutorial functionality. A dialogue box every step of the accounting and bookkeeping management helps accountants/bookkeepers/SME owners better understand the software’s functionality and thus perform finance management tasks with great precision and efficiency. This tutorial functionality also makes it easy for a bookkeeping novice to record the data and carry out bookkeeping tasks at ease.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
Owning and operating a small business is complicated because often, you can afford extra staff to handle specific tasks. As a small business owner, you have to keep up with selling your products or service, inventory, staffing, bookkeeping, and gaining and retaining customers.
With all these business concerns, you may not spend much time focusing on payroll taxes, but you shouldn’t ignore them. The IRS takes payroll taxes seriously since it is how the federal government is funded. Here are six things every business owner should know about payroll taxes.
Crossing State Lines
Each state has tax laws related to the state taxes owed to fund the state government. Because of this, if you own businesses in multiple states, it can complicate how payroll taxes are done. Each state has its tax codes and regulations about handling, calculating, and distributing taxes.
When opening your business in other states, you may want to consider these differences in tax code before opening a business in another state. In some states, the additional payroll tax cost may outweigh the benefits of opening your business in that state.
Compliance Enforcement
Even if you are running an honest business to pay and withhold all taxes required by the state and federal government, mistakes can carry heavy penalties. The Internal Revenue Service has become known for being especially hard on small businesses regarding taxes and specifically withholding payroll taxes.
The single largest source of uncollected taxes is small businesses.
Though most small businesses are legitimately functioning and paying, collecting, and distributing payroll taxes, they are still heavily focused on by the IRS. This lack of trust in small businesses by the IRS is likely from a few non-compliant businesses ruining the overall reputation of small businesses when it comes to payroll taxes. Keep that fact in mind when it comes to your bookkeeping practices and payroll taxes.
Do Not Access the Funds
When it comes to payroll taxes, they do not belong to the business owner but rather the government via the Internal Revenue Service. Those taxes do not belong to the business owner, and it is against the law to access them.
These funds are deposited to the IRS monthly or bi-monthly, depending on the schedule your company has set up. If you fail to make these deposits because you have accessed the funds, there could be severe consequences. No matter the situation, you should never touch these funds.
Monitor Constantly
Since these funds are deposited to the IRS regularly, you should monitor every aspect constantly. You need to ensure all employees have the appropriate amount withheld and that the deposits are correct each month.
It is also crucial that you be up to speed on the latest tax codes and laws to withhold and deposit the correct amount. The importance of monitoring payroll taxes is a vital part of your business’s bookkeeping and payroll process.
Bonus Checks and Overtime
Other earnings beyond the employee’s salary can have significant tax implications if not timed correctly. When paying overtime, bonuses, and commissions, you need to ensure that they are taxed. The taxes owed on these earnings and the timing of them can cause the taxes owed to fluctuate.
To avoid costly taxes, penalties, or fees, ensure the timing is correct and that the right amount of taxes is withheld on these types of earnings. This diligence will ensure all taxes are paid promptly and that the least amount of taxes is owed.
Severe Penalties
Incorrect payroll tax handling can lead to penalties that may put your business at risk. Most incorrect filings are simple mistakes or misunderstandings. However, it must be corrected immediately if a mistake is made to avoid the penalties.
There are more severe penalties if you don’t pay your payroll taxes. If you fail to deposit payroll taxes, it is considered a federal crime and can be prosecuted as such. It would be best if you avoided anything that will result in these penalties.
While not generally as severe, there are penalties for depositing payroll taxes late. You must make your payroll tax deposit on time and for the correct amount to avoid costing your business unnecessary penalties and fees.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
Starting your own business can be a frightening but rewarding procedure. While an ideal business plan condemns entrepreneurs, financing is one of the most significant elements a company needs to succeed. However, financing a small business can be a drawn-out process, especially for those with an accounting background.
Consistent improvements to grow your small business are daunting for its success and sustainability. Meanwhile, the operations like monitoring cash flow, controlling the marketing, and identifying your strengths turn out to be the most profitable.
Here’s a list of 10 strategies to utilize the acquired funds smartly to develop your small business.
Product packaging is important: You can apply the packaging to utilize the funds in a productive chore. Bringing innovation to the product and services will attract the clients and commit the old ones. Investment in the better quality and paging of the product will help you meet your client’s requirements, and they will come back to shop from you.
Impactful marketing campaigns: Wasting money on profitless marketing is easy. Seek out for budget-friendly and impactful marketing strategies to grow your business. Experiment with a few latest tactics and examine their after-effects on your business. Social media is one of the great ways to market your company globally.
Conservative financial projection: A big-wins area for business growth is the sales function. Whether you’re a sole operator or managing a sales team, you’ll have to focus on sales improvements.
Even the trends that don’t seem relevant on the outside might have a versatile impact on the inside, so consider all the possibilities.
Keep up with technology: Investing in the latest technology provides pedantic insights into the clients and potential prospects. You can get CRM (customer relationship management) software to maintain the sales records virtually. With this software, you won’t be carrying the burden of keeping the records manually; instead, you’ll get all the documents prepared beforehand.
Keep your inventory updated: Another great way to utilize the funds efficiently is to get the latest and fresh inventory and equipment. This way, the work procedure will become faster, and the company will complete the customer’s orders on time.
Instead of purchasing used machinery, get the latest machinery with advanced features to provide a much-required boost to your business.
Prioritize and clear debts: Utilize your funding to remove the account payables. With a higher debt amount comes the higher interest rate, which you probably wouldn’t want to pay all at once. Also, you can utilize the rescued amount of cash from the interest rate in fulfilling other financial requirements of the company.
Please don’t push your limits: Successful entrepreneurs have a clear idea of their boundaries.
By identifying your entrepreneurial personality type, you operate your resources well and find the areas of weakness. For instance, if you excel at sales marketing but are less experienced with the accounts, focus on the sales and hire a professional accountant to handle the books.
Involve in networking: As an entrepreneur and a small business owner, hosting business events is a great way to create an identity among the potential audience. Invest in advertising and promotional banners so that everyone will know about the existence of your company.
Target a niche sector: Niche is a specialized market portion for a particular product or service. When other companies fail to fulfill the customer’s requirements, focus on the potential areas and invest to win the audience’s trust.
Consider franchising: Franchising provides a rapid boost to your small business. In this activity, the product is distributed among the potential audience. However, before franchising, you must do a market analysis to know the customer’s requirements and demands.
The above-defined strategies come in handy not only for small enterprises but for every stage of business. Running a small business is quite hard as the owner himself is responsible for so many monetary chores. However, there are numerous options out there for the utilization of new funds. Determine your financial position and make a productive decision for the growth of your business.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
Outsourcing accounting has become a popular practice among businesses of all sizes. In today’s competitive business environment, outsourcing accounting services can provide a range of benefits that can help companies improve their financial management, lower costs, and increase efficiency. In this article, we will explore the benefits of outsourcing accounting with Transaction Cost Economics and provide industry-specific statistics and facts to support our claims.
Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) is a theory that explains how companies can minimize their costs by outsourcing non-core activities to external vendors who specialize in these activities. According to TCE, companies can save money by outsourcing accounting because it reduces transaction costs, which are the costs incurred when conducting transactions in-house.
One of the main benefits of outsourcing accounting is cost savings. Outsourcing accounting services can be significantly cheaper than hiring an in-house team. This is because outsourcing providers have economies of scale and can spread their fixed costs over multiple clients. In addition, outsourcing providers are often based in lower-cost regions, which means that labor costs are lower. According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, companies that outsourced their finance and accounting functions reported cost savings of up to 40%.
Another benefit of outsourcing accounting is improved financial management. Outsourcing providers have the expertise and experience to provide accurate and timely financial statements, which can help businesses make informed decisions. In addition, outsourcing accounting services can provide access to the latest accounting technology and tools, which can help businesses stay ahead of their competitors.
Outsourcing accounting can also increase efficiency. By outsourcing non-core activities, businesses can focus on their core competencies and strategic goals. This can lead to greater productivity and efficiency, which can help businesses achieve their objectives faster. According to a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, outsourcing accounting services can increase productivity by up to 9%.
In addition to these benefits, outsourcing accounting can provide other advantages, such as access to a global talent pool, improved compliance, and reduced risk. For example, outsourcing providers are often located in different countries, meaning businesses can access a global talent pool and benefit from diverse expertise and cultural knowledge. Outsourcing providers are also experts in compliance and can help businesses navigate complex regulations and reduce the risk of non-compliance.
When it comes to industry-specific statistics and facts, the benefits of outsourcing accounting are particularly relevant for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). According to a survey conducted by Sage, SMBs that outsourced their accounting reported a significant reduction in the time spent on financial management tasks, which allowed them to focus on growing their businesses. In addition, SMBs that outsourced accounting reported higher levels of satisfaction with their financial management than those that did not.
In the healthcare industry, outsourcing accounting can provide significant benefits. According to a report by Black Book, healthcare organizations that outsourced their accounting reported significant cost savings, improved financial management, and increased efficiency. In addition, outsourcing accounting can help healthcare organizations comply with complex regulations, such as HIPAA and the Affordable Care Act.
In the manufacturing industry, outsourcing accounting can provide benefits such as improved supply chain management and reduced costs. According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, manufacturing companies that outsourced accounting reported significant improvements in supply chain visibility, which allowed them to make more informed decisions. In addition, outsourcing accounting can help manufacturing companies reduce costs by improving inventory management and reducing waste.
In conclusion, outsourcing accounting can provide a range of benefits to businesses of all sizes and across industries. Outsourcing accounting can help businesses save money, improve financial management, and increase efficiency by reducing transaction costs. Industry-specific statistics and facts show that outsourcing accounting is particularly beneficial for SMBs, healthcare organizations, and manufacturing companies. As businesses continue to face pressure to cut costs and improve performance, outsourcing accounting is likely to become an even more important strategy for success.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
For small business owners, managing multiple accounts and cards can be a difficult task while managing all the other operations of their business. Running a business is risky and very hectic for sole proprietors, and that’s why they’re always looking for more straightforward and less time-consuming alternatives.
Businesses with no accountants have the owner as the bookkeeper too, which is a highly complex task because you have to make sure that you make no errors. To avoid the hassle of multiple accounts and holding multiple credit cards, some business owners use their credit cards to pay off their business expenses.
You should have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) or a Tax ID Number to get a business credit card. The government uses these identifications for your business’ tax purposes. But to get a personal credit card, you only need your Social Security number.
To get a business credit card, you will need your business’s legal name and contact information. You will also need the industries your business operates in, your business entity or legal structure, the time in the business, and the number of employees.
In addition, you need your federal tax ID, the annual business revenue calculation and estimated monthly spend total annual income, and your credit history to provide the bank. This all is a challenge for small business owners, so they use their credit cards for business uses. A few advantages and disadvantages of using a credit card for your business expenses are:
Disadvantages:
You won’t have access to business credit. A business credit card is an excellent source of finance without paying any extra charges like interest or other fees. The business credit card also builds credit, and your credit score increases. The credit score helps you take lines of credit, and you will be eligible to take loans.
Your business will have less spending power. Having the same or merged accounts for your personal use and business use will make you stop spending on necessary stuff for your business as you would want to save that money for your personal use. Having a business credit card gives you a sense of more spending power, and you can spend on the right things as a business credit card typically has a much higher spending limit than a personal credit card.
You will face cash flow and financial management problems. When using the same card for different purposes, it can be hard to differentiate between personal and business expenses. While keeping a record of bookkeeping and other accounting transactions, you will be confused about business expenses. You also won’t be able to create a cash flow statement properly when you don’t have accurate information about the inflows and outflows of the business only.
Advantages:
The CARD act of 2009. The CARD act of 2009 is only provided to personal credit cardholders in the USA, and a lot of legal protection is provided to the cardholders. The banks cannot ask for high charges to issue a credit card, and the interest rates are lower too.
More benefits and rewards as compared to business credit cards. Credit cards are pretty safe and have better security features. You can avail of discounts and gift cards through your credit cards, and some credit cards even offer cash back on some purchases and payments.
There is absolutely nothing wrong or illegal in using a personal credit card for your business expenses. Still, you should separate your personal and business accounts and expenses to prevent any confusion. Keeping your accounts separate is easy and much more beneficial than having merged accounts.
You can have access to extra credit without having to worry about interest rates or mortgages. You can access lines of credit through credit cards if you have a satisfactory credit score. You can only have a good credit score if you have a separate bank account for your business. Your cash flows will be managed properly, and you won’t face bookkeeping problems. So you should get a business credit card for your business instead of using a personal credit card.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
In the past, television, billboards, newspapers, and brochures were the only means of marketing. These methods have evolved as the digital world now encompasses more platforms to get a message across.
With the advent of the internet, people began marketing their services and products online, and as the internet gained more popularity, their ways of thinking also changed. The world shifted to digitalization, and marketers took advantage of that.
Digital marketing, by definition, is the virtual marketing of your blog or website. Digital Marketing is the optimal way to promote your business online, and if done right, it can transform your business into a big profitable giant.
Digital Marketing Strategy
Digital marketing strategy can be defined as a strategy designed to transform your business into profitable means and meet your goals and objectives. It focuses on the plans that dictate which channels and tools you will use for marketing your website and includes budgeting.
There are multiple ways to market your stuff online, and we have covered the top 5 tips for creating a successful digital marketing plan in this article:
1) SWOT Analysis
Every plan starts with an analysis. A complete analysis of your business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats will help you understand the things you need to work upon for its betterment.
A SWOT analysis allows you to look at the market and get to know your framework in a much better manner. After the analysis, you can work on the factors that come up as the result of your research.
An internal study and research of your brand, product, or website also help you understand it better and unlock many sides of the promotional campaign in your plan.
2) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the core of digital marketing; it is the procedure of your website’s improvement to rank better against the related keywords and LSIs on various search engines. Build a strategy to rank on as many keywords (higher rankings) as you can, as it will give great exposure to your website and welcome more visitors.
The goal of SEO is to get more site traffic from your relevant audience. Your audience includes the people who regularly read, buy, or search for the services you offer, so your goal should be to get them on your page.
Targeting is essential in SEO, as your priority should always be to rank against the relevant keywords only to get the required audience on your page.
SEO is essential as every other user begins their search by typing in the search engine bars, and according to the CTR study, 30% of users click on the first result that appears against a specific keyword. If any of your pages are ranking at the top position against a keyword, it will only increase the chances of users landing on your page.
3) Marketing Automation
Marketing Automation refers to using the software as a service to automate various marketing-related tasks. Digital Marketers use this process to save their time and benefit from the results gotten via CRM and CDP integrations.
Marketing Automation platforms can help you build your digital marketing strategy, removing the hurdles of various marketing tasks from your plate by automating them. They can easily automate email marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, and more.
4) Monitoring
After building a good digital marketing strategy, you should track your progress and monitor every process to ensure that everything goes in the right direction.
Constant monitoring can help you eliminate the vast blunders by fixing the minor fixes that may appear in any process. You can set the error right when you diagnose it, saving you from more significant troubles.
Also, constant monitoring contributes to improvements in your tools, processes, and plan. With monitoring, ensure to introduce timely updates to upgrade your digital marketing strategy.
5) Finalize your Digital Marketing Strategy
After the planning and research phases end, you can put together all the elements to finalize your digital marketing strategy.
You must build your potential buyer’s persona, have clear-cut goals for your website or blog, have an inventory and audit of your existing media, and have created a content creation plan.
After ensuring all these factors, you may form a proper marketing strategy that focuses on your aims and objectives and includes all your research elements.
Conclusion
You can incorporate all the practices mentioned in this blog to make a comprehensive and cohesive digital marketing strategy. We have amalgamated all the critical factors and the essential digital marketing tips for startups required to succeed.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
After Google, e-commerce websites have also advanced their search features by incorporating modified auto-suggest corrections. When you type something on Amazon, you might have noticed that various suggestions pop up on your screen.
About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud-hosted desktop where their entire team and tax accountant may access the QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools in an efficient and secure environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.
