Beyond basic banking: when your business account can replace multiple tools

How many apps do you have on your phone, and how many do you really use? It's a problem that's bad enough in our personal lives. When it spills over into business, it can lead to serious headaches. 

Ready to choose a business account with an all-in-one dashboard that lets you control everything from a single platform? Read on to see how SumUp can help.

Your financial admin is too complicated — let’s fix that

Sometimes, tools designed to simplify can end up complicating things. As a small business owner, you sign up to different platforms and tools, download apps, and subscribe to programmes that can help you manage your company. What happens? One day, you wake up and find yourself drowning in logins, jumping from one piece of software to the next as you struggle to stay organised.

Having too many tools means you waste time, and you often end up confused. To make matters worse, you could have major problems down the line: if one app contains your expenses, another one looks after your invoices, and a third organises your taxes, you're creating potential pitfalls. The more balls you're juggling, the more likely you are to drop them all.

Luckily, there's a solution: a smarter business account. By making the switch to an all-in-one business account, you can handle everything from just one dashboard. That means learning only one interface, which helps to save time and reduce errors.

What today’s business accounts can actually do

Do you still think of business accounts as being for making transfers? It's time to update that mentality. Nowadays, a sophisticated business account lets you take control of so much more. Business banking tools mean you can handle everything from one platform: issue invoices, track expenses, upload receipts, record transactions, and more.

Some business accounts also integrate with other software. You may already use the SumUp POS system for your retail business. If so, you're familiar with the SumUp dashboard, and you'll be pleased to realise that your business account integrates with the dashboard.

Real-world scenarios

A business account with integrated financial tools can be a true game-changer for all kinds of businesses. Here are some examples of how switching to this system can help your company:

• When you work as a freelance contractor, staying on top of invoices is essential. The SumUp Business Account can be integrated with SumUp Invoices. Every time you send an invoice, your business account will track it, and paid invoices are synced automatically.

• Coffee shop owners have a lot of things to organise if they want to maintain a healthy cash flow: sales in the form of dozens of small transactions every day, overheads, expenses from multiple suppliers, plans for the future, and so on. Sometimes, there just aren't enough hours in the day. Take back control with an all-in-one platform that tracks your sales, invoices, expenses and everything else. SumUp Expenses automatically sorts your business expenses into different categories, so you can see at a glance what your coffee shop is spending money on.

• More and more people these days are turning to side hustles. That's a great way to earn extra money, until tax season rolls around, and your side hustle suddenly becomes a major headache. An all-in-one business account means you'll have everything you need in one convenient place, so you won't need to eat into your precious profits by hiring an accountant.

Cost and time savings: The big picture

The benefits of doing everything in one single place are numerous. First, you only need to learn to use one platform. That means you'll soon know exactly how the interface is organised and which buttons you need to click on. Every time you start to use a new programme, you'll have a new dashboard to figure out. That's not the case when you have a single, all-in-one business account with invoicing.

Secondly, with a single, powerful business account, you'll reduce human error. If you need four different apps to prepare to file your company tax return, the potential for mistakes is huge, and those mistakes can have enormous consequences in tax season. The right business account can reduce admin, save money, and help you stay compliant. It's almost impossible to tell at a glance if all your different pieces of software are on the same page, and you'll spend a lot of time checking that everything is shipshape. That problem disappears completely when you have one single platform.

Using a single platform can also save you money. You may be paying for several subscriptions to multiple products. Although individual subscriptions may be cheap, they soon add up. When you compare the prices of all your current subscriptions with the cost of a single platform, you might just be pleasantly surprised.

Another issue with using too many apps is simple: are you really using them? When you're time-poor and you have a lot of things to organise, it's inevitable that some will get left behind. You might find that you're paying for a subscription for an accounting app that you haven't actually touched in months. The best tool is the one you’ll actually use every day.

One thing you may not have considered is safeguarding. The more accounts you use, the more you risk your cybersecurity. If you have a dozen logins to look after, you've got a dozen potential weak spots. That risk gets even bigger if you're reusing passwords across your different accounts.

Finally, using a single platform that combines invoices and expense management with a bank account is good for growing your business. When everything is in one place, it's easier to see the bigger picture. That means coming up with a business plan for your company's next phase is a breeze. With every detail laid out in front of you, you'll be able to visualise the future of your business in a way you've never done before.

What to look for in an all-in-one account

You don’t need five different subscriptions to stay on top of your finances, but you do need a good system. A good all-in-one account should be user-friendly with an intuitive dashboard. After all, you're going to spend a lot of time working with it, so you need to be comfortable. The built-in tools, which should include features such as invoice-issuing and tracking software, expense trackers, and data analytics, should all be easily accessible. Your account should also export the vital data you need in a convenient format.

If you plan to use your all-in-one account on the go, you'll need a mobile-friendly design. For heightened security, that means a dedicated app, rather than just a website that has been optimised for mobile.

A good business account also has excellent customer support, with real people, not just chatbots. You may also want to consider scalability: if you want your business to grow in the future, you need an account that will grow with it.

Finally, don't forget HMRC compliance. Any good UK business account puts this front and centre. You'll be using your business account as the basis for filing your annual tax reports, so you need software that knows the system inside out.

When you still might need a specialist tool

It's worth remembering that you might not be able to abandon all your subscriptions. While a good business account can handle most of your small business accounting needs, there are some things that it can't deal with.

If you have staff working for your business, you may need separate accounting software to deal with your payroll. Your business account may not have integrated tools for managing your inventory or running other complicated aspects of your business. Be realistic about what your all-in-one business account can do. Even if you still need to keep one or two separate subscriptions, you'll still benefit from having a streamlined platform for most of your business finances.

Finally, a word of caution when it's time to file your taxes. While a business account with accounting tools is sufficient for standard tax returns, you'll have to consider the nature of your financial situation. A business with complex VAT will probably still need specialist software. If in doubt, it's worth speaking with a professional. Remember, when it comes to taxes, always err on the side of caution: you don't want to get yourself into hot water with HMRC.