At the times of emerging technology and software growth, fintech and financial software development are one of the key priorities for different companies from any industry.
The financial accounting software is not an exception, as it helps to increase the business efficiency mostly by tracking the accounting transactions, managing the accounts of business (including the account payables, account receivables, business payroll, general ledger, etc).
Consequently, the growing market for accounting software solutions has significantly influenced its further development: in 2020 the total value of the accounting software market was estimated at $12.01 billion and, at a CAGR of 8.5% within the next 5 years, is expected to reach $19.59 billion by 2026.
The main reasons for the increasing demand in accounting software development are mostly related to the brilliant perspectives and numerous workflow improvements it can bring to the different businesses.
In this article, we’ll discuss what financial accounting software is, its main types, and the key benefits it can provide to the companies after the implementation.
Main Functions of Financial Accounting Software
Financial accounting software refers to the software that performs numerous accounting and bookkeeping tasks. This software is mainly targeted for streamlining the processes, reducing operational complexity, and optimizing the technology used for the core finance processes.
As a result, businesses can get a huge increase in the main KPIs, improved tasks’ efficiency, control, and quality.
Additionally, the accounting software solutions are cost-efficient and effective options for businesses to boost their competitiveness and enhance the performance for the successful partnership and fruitful collaboration.
According to PwC, the financial accounting software can also assist in accelerating the numerous decision-making processes using the finance process intelligence and cash intelligence features. For instance, this type of financial software can:
- Integrate different types of business data in a centralized hub
- Generate numerous cost-efficient business decisions via the scenario planning
- Display the suite of various KPIs and metrics using the specific dashboards and multimedia solutions
- Leverage the agile “what-if” solutions to analyze the future cash flow scenarios
- Provide businesses with dynamic data and advanced performance analytics
Thus, by implementing accounting software development, businesses can significantly improve their performance, uncover the effective options of accounting automation, gain valuable insights about the further dynamics of development and its enhancement as well.
The Main Types of Accounting Software
Needless to say, the types of accounting software are determined according to the specific financial operations the business employs. At present, we can classify the 3 basic categories of financial accounting software.
Invoicing / Billing Software
The financial accounting software that handles the invoicing/billing operations is traditionally responsible for the basic billing activities of the company. Additionally, they cover the daily accounting tasks of a business that includes cheque issuing, various payment notifications for customers, etc.
Payroll Management System
These accounting software systems cover the basic payroll registers, calculation of the employees’ salaries, cutting deductions, depositing the salaries directly into the staff member’s bank accounts, producing tax forms, and plenty of other different tasks.
Enterprise Resource Planning System
Also known as an ERP system, that type of accounting software solution is in charge of the entire operating system that covers product planning, material buying costs, inventory management, distribution and accounting, marketing, HR, finance, and more. Basically, that’s a huge system that handles the entire business performance from a financial aspect.
Benefits of Financial Accounting Software
No matter which type of software a business has intended to apply, any of these operates with strong potential and numerous benefits for the organization from any industry. Here, you’ll find the basic features of accounting software that companies would like to make use of.
Enhances and Simplifies the Accounting Processes
One of the major reasons why companies apply accounting software development is its availability for the non-accounting audience. The financial accounting software benefits the various accounting processes by automatically performing the key tasks and providing a clear explanation to each operation.
Saves Lots of Costs
With its automation feature, the accounting software can greatly enhance the numerous calculations and administrative procedures. However, it also enables the control of the companies’ revenue, which means the businesses become less dependent on the finance management experts outsourcing.
Provides the Transparency of Complex Processes
Another great benefit of using financial accounting software is that it can provide cost-efficient business solutions and prevent recurring human errors. For instance, this software can effectively calculate the accurate totals or provide the reporting data in time, which is essential for the successful performance of any business.
Assists With the Tax Laws Compliance
Good accounting software automatically contains the taxation laws compliance in its internal structure. With this feature included, the businesses can easily avoid the penalties and some other serious tax laws issues that can be detrimental to the company’s performance.
Improves the Customer Service
The current accounting software systems can significantly enhance customer relationships as well. Now, businesses can manage the billing and invoicing, reduce possible delays and prevent miscommunications as well.
Additionally, the accounting systems can send notifications and business emails, reminders of outstanding dues, and different types of notes, which increases the business's credibility.
Therefore, the companies will boost customer retention and customer loyalty via the features applied in the process of accounting software development.
Thus, having spent some time and resources on software training, the accounting software systems allow the business owners to complete the basic accounting operations and comply with legal standards with ease and simplicity.
Tips to Develop an Outstanding Finance Accounting Software and the Core Features to Include
Accounting software development implies not only advanced knowledge in programming but also a deep understanding of the financial accounting processes. That is why finance management experts recommend including the following features of accounting software:
- Cash flow tracking
- Accounting analysis automation
- Transaction processing and management
- Payroll processing
- Auditing
- Tax laws reporting
- Invoice processing
- Budget management
- Smart prediction
- Data encryption
In order to save the accounting software cost, the companies tend to use the free accounting software or purchase ready-made options with specific configurations that can hardly be changed.
Consequently, the companies end up with the need of creating their own financial accounting software that will fully correspond to all the business goals and would provide the maximum data protection.
And that’s where the Intellectsoft development team works best: we’ve created the detailed step-by-step strategy for creating the feature-rich, cost-effective, and easy-to-use software solution that is directly targeted at your company or business. The essential steps for accounting software development should cover the following:
Research the Problem
Talking about the first step of any type of software development, it’s important to make detailed research regarding the main goals, specific needs, and pain points of a business the software should either resolve or enhance. According to PwC best practices, the preliminary project stage consists of:
- Conceptual formulation of ideas and alternatives;
- Determination of the key performance requirements and essential features to include, and also estimate the total cost of accounting software development;
- Presenting the demonstrational sample of the software, its concept, and how this can fulfill all the business needs;
- Research for the alternative methods of the development of the specific features, if available;
- Set up the performance requirements needed to comply with the business goals;
- Select the person in charge of the accounting software development process, who will run the final testing and make the adjustments.
Develop the Prototype
Before the development team goes directly into the coding, it’s essential to design the product prototype. By creating a model of the financial accounting software for a specific business, the clients can provide clear ideas of what they expect to see in the final software version.
Additionally, at this stage, it becomes much easier to determine all the features that should and shouldn’t be included in the accounting software as a result.
Start the Software Development
After the prototype is ready, the developers start working on the custom accounting software creation. At this stage, the team writes the code, performs the testing and debugging, adapts the software to the changes, and prepares the product for the general release.
Testing and Release
When the software is presented, it’s essential to monitor the financial software system for any failure indicators and security vulnerabilities, and adapt the product to the emerging industry trends. The professional team of developers will be also able to maintain the system and keep it up to date according to the basic business requirements.
Summing It Up
Accounting software development has become an essential yet efficient part of business improvement within any industry. Its implementation can provide numerous benefits for the small and large business units, including processes automation, informative performance insights, and smart development scenarios, which can assist in optimizing financial management.
Creating feature-rich accounting software solutions requires a deep knowledge of financial software development and detailed research of the specific needs of your business.
Cooperating with a dedicated team of developers, in this case, is the most effective option to get the best financial software that perfectly fits all your needs.
Intellectsoft has years of experience creating innovative solutions for the financial industry, so we are well-aware of the modern market trends and the needs of end-users. We treat the client's business as our own, so we deeply immerse ourselves in the project in order to offer the best-fitting technological solution.
Are you looking for a reliable development vendor to create high-quality accounting software that would help to take your business to the next level? Then, contact Intellectsoft, and let’s transform the industry together!
