Make running your small business easier with powerful software solutions for small business accounting and payroll.
Sage has more than 40 years experience perfecting accounting, payroll and HR software, and makes running a small business easier for over 2 million customers.
Get paid faster, get organised, and get your taxes right first time with Sage Accounting or Sage 50cloud Pastel. Calculate employee pay and deductions quickly and accurately with Sage Payroll.
Perfect for freelancers, sole traders, and small businesses. Get a 30-day free trial, then from R200/month.
Pay your people securely, accurately, and compliantly every time. Get a 30-day free trial, then from R77/month.
Get the reliability of desktop accounting software and the flexibility of the cloud. From R670/month.
Take your small sized business to the next level with accounting, payroll and payments software from Sage. Find out more today.
Although it's possible to run a small business without accounting software, this approach is more time-intensive and error-prone. For example, spreadsheets typically don't update in real time and can't be used to reconcile lots of payments across multiple bank accounts automatically.
Modern accounting software enables business owners to prepare accurate, compliant tax returns. It can also save businesses up to five hours of a week typically spent on admin. Accounting software also enables effective collaboration with other people in the business or with an accountant.
If you're running a small business, you may need a variety of software for marketing, sales and managing the books.
A basic CRM system can keep track of customer details. If you're running an online business, you may use software like Google Analytics and Google Workspace to manage a company web presence and business email.
You may also need software specific to the nature of your business. For example, a graphic designer running a small agency may require software like Adobe Creative Cloud.
Accounting software is also popular with many small businesses. It enables you to get paid faster, spend less time on admin and submit accurate tax returns.
The software needs of a business vary depending on its size, industry and requirements.
For example, a micro-business may need project management software, like Trello or Asana, for managing projects with contractors. They may also use file storage software like Dropbox and Google Drive to manage and store files securely.
A business who accepts payments from customers may use a payments portal like Paypal or Stripe.
Similarly, a business may use software like Sage Payroll to pay employees quickly and accurately. Most growing businesses use some form of accounting software, like Sage Accounting or Sage 50cloud Pastel, so they can manage the books more efficiently and prepare accurate, compliant tax returns.
Ideally, online financial software for small businesses should solve a particular problem.
For example, if Jane struggles to keep track of all the items on her to-do list, she should consider investing in project management software to keep track of multiple projects. Similarly, time-tracking software is sometimes useful for billing.
If Jane works with people remotely, she may find software like Slack and Dropbox useful for collaboration.
Similarly, if Jane spends several hours a week examining profit and loss spreadsheets and reconciling bank transactions, she may be spending her time ineffectively.
Although understanding profit and loss is important for business owners, Jane's time is probably better spent growing the business by serving customers or creating better products. In this case, accounting software, such as Sage Accounting or Sage 50cloud Pastel, should free up several hours in Jane's week that she can spend on higher-value activities.
Accountants use software that can help them collaborate with clients and or submit tax returns on their behalf. Sage Accounting is an example of accounting software popular with accountants who work with small businesses.
Accountants also use accounts production software for running their practice and payroll software, such as Sage Payroll, for paying people they employ.
If a practice supports a larger business, they may use an advanced financial management solution like Sage Intacct.
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