Small business owners and employees hold a lot of responsibilities. When you have to handle finances, issues, and day-to-day operations, it can quickly become overwhelming. There are hundreds of business applications out there designed to help you run your SMB, but which ones can you trust with your data? We’ve selected some of the best apps to help run your business this year.
Our Top 8 Apps For SMBs
Finances and Accounting
QuickBooks
QuickBooks is an app already used by many small businesses in order to track sales and expenses, send invoices, view financial statements, and more. It has the ability to connect to and upload data from all kinds of accounts, like your credit card, PayPal, and Square. QuickBooks Online also allows you to access your QuickBooks account from your phone or tablet.
Wave
Wave is an inexpensive alternative to the other accounting apps offered around the Internet. The free, ad-supported version of Wave offers basic financial management software, though you’ll need to pay for added features like payroll. The app was designed for small businesses with 9 or less employees, though, so if you have more than that, you’ll have to use a different app.
Team Building and Communication
Slack
Slack is a channel-based instant messaging platform. The ‘channels’ in question allow you and your team to keep discussions to a relevant section; for example, if you’re discussing a current project, you can move to the channel dedicated to that project. This allows for organized conversations, either private or public, and makes it far easier to navigate to previous conversations. Slack also offers voice/video calls, app connections, and the ability to share files.
Skype and Microsoft Teams
Skype has been the top video conferencing app for many years now, and it’s not leaving any time soon. Skype offers video/voice calls, messaging, screen-sharing, and group calls up to 25 people. For a more business-oriented option, Microsoft offers Microsoft Teams as part of its suite. Teams has been designed for business collaboration, and is better suited to communicating with an SMB team.
Project Management
Trello
Trello is a free project management software involving ‘boards’ for your separate projects. A board uses cards for each separate task needed to complete a project. Within these cards, you can add due dates, checklists, documents, and more, making your project management far more streamlined and organized.
Asana
Asana’s interface is similar to a checklist, allowing you to prioritize certain tasks, chart your progress, and assign due dates. That’s not all it has to offer, though – Asana also provides communication, attachment capability, and integration for all your other business apps like Slack and Google Drive.
Receiving Payments
Square
In order to receive secure payments online, you need an app you can trust. Square is a great fit for many SMBs. Users get a portable card reader that attaches to mobile phones and tablets, and just like that, you can accept payments from your customers easily and efficiently. You can also send digital receipts through text or email, apply discounts, and even receive tips from your customers.
PayPal Here
Like Square, PayPal Here offers a portable card reader that you can attach to your phone for quick payments. PayPal Here also comes with a few extra features, such as electronic invoices and processing cheque; however, the money is deposited into your PayPal account, where it can take a few days to transfer to your bank account.
Want Extra Support in Running Your Business?
At Streamline IT Solutions, we provide efficient and effective IT management for all of your business needs. We can work with your existing apps and infrastructure, or help you develop your own with custom software solutions. We’re here to help you with all of your IT and cybersecurity needs. Contact us today to discuss how we can improve your daily operations with software that fits your needs perfectly.