Paperless is more: How to run your business more efficiently

A survey by SuperScript revealed 33% of 500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) said there aren’t enough minutes in the day to get everything done. Dealing with tax, managing cash flow and supply chain issues were mentioned as the most time consuming tasks. 

However, 88% of those polled stated technology has helped deal with that daily admin.  Furthermore, keeping on top of paperwork and chasing payments stated as the most challenging tasks. 

Using technology, as well as external expertise, allows you to spend time on the areas you’re passionate about.   

How can I keep track of receipts more easily?

Gone are the days of buying lunch for you and your business partner and having to keep track of the receipt. In the past, that receipt’s journey may have looked something like this: 

• lives in your pocket for a couple of days. 
• gets buried under a pile of paperwork. 
• Your accountant emails asking for this month’s expenses. 
• You find it, crumpled and coffee-stained, and send to your accountant along with a shoebox of paperwork. 
• They code it, enter it into your records. 
• The accountant returns it to you, where it sits in your cupboard for an eternity. 

Today there is online software, such as Dext, that can help you with that daily admin. This can save you precious minutes and hours and means you won’t need to sit down on a Saturday morning going through invoices and old receipts. 

The receipt’s journey can now look like this: 

• You take a photo of the receipt using an app on your mobile phone 
• It’s automatically uploaded to your accountant’s software ready to be approved and entered into your books 
• The receipt can be disposed of. 

Dext integrates with many leading bookkeeping systems including QuickBooks and Xero. It enables users to electronically capture and store receipts, invoices and other documentation and publish the transaction straight into your bookkeeping system for approval by yourself or your accountant. 

Don't miss out claiming for your business expenses

If you hold onto a receipt for weeks or months at a time, your books will not be up to date or accurate. This lack of real-time data may impact your decision-making and weaken visibility into your finances by:

• Increasing the chances of forgetting the receipt by up to 40%, leaving off potentially claimable items from your accounts.
• And that’s not to mention being incredibly time-consuming for you. You need to manually manage and store paperwork, while your accountant will do a lot of heavy-lifting to turn that into data for a spreadsheet.

This makes keeping your expenses organised quicker and easier than ever. No more paper!

It also means you can keep more accurate data for you and your accountant so they can advise you in a timely fashion. If you or your team frequently travel or work remotely, using a smartphone is perfect to share information within seconds. 

If you’ve been emailed a receipt, you can also forward this to a dedicated  email address for easy processing by Dext. 

Since all your documents are stored online, your data is exactly where it needs to be when you need it. All this without sitting at your kitchen table on a Saturday morning, exhausted and frustrated by having to go through and sort piles of paper. 

We can help

There has never been a better time to go digital and remove the paper. Our accountants know how to use technology to improve efficiency and would love to speak to you. If you need more information, call us today on 01257 277 999 or contact us online here to arrange a free initial consultation.

Date published 23 Apr 2019 | Last updated 29 May 2024

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.