5 Cloud-based accounting tools that make life easier for creative agencies

Once you’ve decided that cloud accounting is the way forward for your creative agency, it’s time to start putting your dream team together. Not a team of people, but a team of cloud-based accounting tools that will work in perfect harmony to streamline your studio’s finances. 

Here we profile some of the best cloud accounting applications out there for agencies - all compatible with Xero, the UK’s most popular cloud accounting platform and the software we recommend to all our clients.

Receipt Bank 

If you barely go a day without one client meeting or another, it’s highly likely you’ve got a stack of expenses receipts on your hands. Petrol, train tickets, coffees, that sort of thing.

Manually inputting all this data into your accounts is a long and pretty thankless task - but Receipt Bank makes life a whole lot easier.

Simply use the mobile app to scan a photo of your receipts, and the data (including the date, tax, total value and more) will automatically appear in your Receipt Bank account. 

Thanks to integration with Xero, you can then import that raft of data straight into your books. Hours saved!

GoCardless 

Has your agency started setting clients up on direct debits yet? It seems something of an industry trend, and cloud accounting tools like GoCardless make it really simple to do. 

With GoCardless, collecting payments on time (crucial for cash flow) is easier than ever. It’s a fully automated process with no opportunity for human error, transaction fees capped at just £2 - and best of all, there’s no monthly fee or set-up cost to pay!

Spotlight

We mentioned cash flow a moment ago, and regular visitors to our blog will know that cash-flow forecasting is something we’re pretty hot on! Spotlight is our go-to tool, bringing together a budget creator, 3-way forecasting and a ‘what if?’ scenario builder in one simple forecasting application.

With Spotlight, you can import data from Xero, and convert the figures into profit and loss reports and balance sheet projections in just a matter of minutes.

WorkflowMax

Of course, building a successful agency isn’t just about getting your finances right. You need to deliver some pretty impressive projects too, to keep clients coming back time and time again.

So, it’s great to have tools like WorkflowMax or Streamtime in your cloud-accounting armoury too - project management applications that help you take care of time-sheeting, job tracking and job costing, and make sure you’re running your projects as efficiently as possible both for you and your clients.

Linking beautifully with Xero,  these project management apps enable you to produce reports during or after a project that give you a clear picture of where your time (and your client’s money) was really spent.

Going forward, that allows you to quote more accurately and build better profitability into your projects. Can’t be bad, can it!

Want to know more about these cloud-accounting tools or discover the other applications that can benefit your business? Give our team a call on 0121 667 3882 or drop us an email.