Google Apps

Every small business has the same problem.

If you are a builder, a taxi driver, an electrician, an IT contractor, a masseur, cleaner or whatever, people want quotes and they want invoices. You need to keep records for tax and GST, and you need to keep details of who owes you money.

So what do you do?

Go out and buy MYOB or Sage / some other small accounting package, or you try to keep paper records using MS Word/Excel.

Both options are full of problems:

•  If you set up a small accounting package, you need to spend some cash.
  
•  You spend ages setting the software up and it's complex. You then need to keep installing updates.
  
• When your hard disk fails, you lose your records. Either that, or you need to be good at backup and restore.
  
• You need to be at your computer to create the quotes, or you write them out by hand while on site, and then need to rekey them as invoices later on, hoping you don't make any mistakes.
  
• If you use Word, you keep saving your invoices and deleting the old copies. You also can't keep track of who owes you money.
  
• Importantly, the setup won't grow with your business. As soon as you have more employees, need to open another site, employ an accountant or expand, you need to change software. Then before you know it you need to employ someone to look after the application.
  

So what's the solution ?

Googapps online invoicing. You don't need to worry about backup, keeping up to date with the latest GST legislation, updating software or expansion. Furthermore, because the software is online, you can create quotes and invoices from any computer with a browser and internet connectivity - even your phone.

On site with your customer and want to see how much they owe? Use your phone to access their account, then email them the details. Better still, if they are a googapps user too, they can import the invoices directly into their own googapps account.

Computer hard drive crashes? Get a new computer, borrow someone else's or use your phone. It won't affect your business.