Business software tools can make your company run with maximized efficiency. They’ll allow you to communicate with your team members and clients, schedule appointments, keep track of finances, and even give you to-do lists! These tools can become foundational to your company’s culture and operation. So, whether you’re just getting started or looking to update, make sure to assess your needs, do your research, and choose the tools that work best for you.

A look at the popular tools out there…

There are several options for management, communication, and accounting tools. In fact, there is perhaps too many. That’s why your first challenge might be merely sifting through the overwhelming number of tools available to you. However, the following might be a good place to start your search. These tools are considered the most popular options. These have recently received praise for their exceptional efficiency, affordability, and usefulness.

Accounting: 

1. Quickbooks Online. If you look up the best business software tools out there, Quickbooks will undoubtedly pop up in your search results. It is rated highly among small business owners to manage your payments. This all-inclusive accounting software is designed specifically for small businesses and contractors.
2. Freshbooks. This is also an excellent option for your accounting needs. It is a comprehensive tool designed specifically for service-based small businesses.

Online Payment Tools:

1. PayPal. With mobile capabilities, this helps you handle the processing of your payments with trusted security. 
2. Shopify. Shopify is your online store solution. It takes a lot off your plate from marketing to payments all the way to shipping.

Communication:

1. Slack. Designed so you could focus on specific projects and departments with your group. This tool emphasizes efficient teamwork and easy collaboration.
2. Basecamp. Similarly, Basecamp is a great resource for collaboration and simplified communication. It focuses on productivity among your team and clients and includes messaging, to-do lists, and a doc file-sharing system.

Document Management:

1. Google Docs. This is a highly used tool for so many. With it, you can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations all in one place. One of its best features automatically saves your documents so you’ll never fear their spontaneous loss ever again!

What we use…

These are some tools that we at Prospect Financial have grown to love. So if you were wondering about the usefulness of any of these, we’ve found them quite helpful. However, these may or may not work for you as well as they work for us. Each company’s needs are profoundly unique, and you likely have far different requirements. That said, this is our two cents on the following programs.

1. Karbon. This combines email, discussions, tasks, and workflow. It is designed to keep everything that your team needs accessible all in one place and within the correct context. Karbon has helped us manage projects more efficiently and to stay organized. 
2. Thomson Reuters File Cabinet. This is designed specifically for accountants and acts as an electronic file cabinet. So, it is useful for our purposes because we have so many important documents that cannot be lost. Rather than risking them in a physical filing system, we merely store them here and rest assured that they are safe. This tool also frees up space in our office and allow us to view and email documents instantly. 
3. Quickbooks Online  stated above, this is a great tool that has served us well!
4. Outlook. This tool from Microsoft brings together all emails, calendar events, and files in a web-based suite of webmail, contacts, tasks, and calendaring. 
5. Ring Central. We use this for phone calls and text messaging, which is helpful within our team. It is a cloud-based communication and collaboration tool that is basically an all-in-one phone. It’s great for team messaging, video conferences, and client communication.
6. Practice Ignition. This is very helpful if you send out a lot of proposals. With Practice Ignition, you can send a proposal along with the contract and payment software, making the entire process easier for you and the client.
7. Calendly. Finally, Calendly, which is probably our favorite, is great for scheduling appointments, sending emails, making calls, scheduling interviews, meetings, demos, and everything else in-between. Calendly provides a “Schedule a Time With Me” button you can place on your website so clients can easily do so. This significantly simplifies the process and eliminates the need for everyone’s favorite game: phone/email tag.

We hope that these reviews of popular software tools are helpful for your business endeavors. But don’t just take our word for it. With so many options out there, make sure to diligently search for the tools that are most useful and applicable to your requirements. Picking the right software for you involves analyzing your needs, doing thorough research, asking the advice of those that you trust, and considering the challenges of everyone on your team. Upon choosing an application, be sure to integrate it into your everyday processes and get everyone on board. If it is not used as intended, then it may become a disservice.

When used correctly and appropriately for your needs, these software tools can help maximize productivity and ensure optimal efficiency within your company. So, be sure to implement any number of tools that could be of service to you!