In an age of 24/7 activity, information overload is becoming a very real issue. When juggling the pressures of running a business even keeping up with your inbox can be a challenge. Ryan see this as an opportunity for freelancers to get ahead. “It’s a competitive marketplace and freelancers can often be working with multiple clients on multiple contracts, all of whom expect regular communication. One way to deal with this is to move away from traditional communication tools like email and to adopt software such as Slack which allows you to easily segregate clients, teams and communication topics.” And so, to probably the biggest issue which prevents professionals taking the leap of faith into self-employment: the F word – finance. You’ve established your career, honed your skill set and even set up a list of prospective clients, but the one thing which seems to frighten most people away from starting up on their own is the dread of having to manage accounts and invoices.
A major downside of being a freelancer used to be that after a long week of travel you would then have to devote a whole evening or even a weekend to sorting out your finances, be that invoicing, chasing debts or just writing up your accounts. This has all changed since online accounting platforms like Xero came on to the market. The latest easy-to-use accounting software enables you to create and send invoices, snap expenses (that automatically process themselves) and reconcile your bank all from your tablet or phone – which means that you can now issue an invoice from wherever you are. The Xero software allows for integrations with other add-on apps such as Stripe which is a payment solution and debt chasing tools like Chaser. In Ryan’s opinion there is only one way for the future and that’s to go digital: “When moving from a salaried job, cashflow suddenly becomes the number one issue, so adopting online tools and apps to help manage cash flow, and ultimately get you paid sooner has become a necessity rather than a luxury. There are so many tools out there now to help you, software like Fludily can even help you predict when cashflow may become an issue. Xero’s open API connections (in other words the interface between a client and their server) means that you can build bespoke solutions so that your financial tasks, projects and document management are all integrated into Xero giving you a more accurate picture of where you finances are and help you get paid faster.”
As apps and online technologies continually develop and enhance the way individuals can control their business finances, the relationship between client and accountant is evolving. As Ryan points out: “Gone are the days where you might have had an annual meeting with your accountant to go through your books, the relationship now between accountant and client is much more an advisory one. Whereas in the past we would have based our advice to clients on a quarterly or even annual set of accounts, the introduction of real-time financial reporting means we can see what the client sees and in real time. Consequently, we can offer much more accurate advice to our clients of how best to manage their cash flow and operations. The major difference for us as advisers is that we now need to stay one step ahead of the new technology, and to be educated enough to be in a position where we can advise clients on the software they should be considering.”
If you would like more information please contact one of our Digital Business Advisory Specialists on 0330 058 6559 or email hello@scruttonbland.co.uk
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