Choosing the right set of tools for finance teams is crucial in getting the job done right and on time. They are needed for financial planning activities, staying compliant with regulations, efficiently overseeing payroll and money related HR services, and creating a single source of truth for finance stakeholders.
Choosing the right software will not only help the finance team do their job better, but also help the entire company be more efficient and confident in the numbers. Some of these benefits include:
- Financial transparency
- Improved compliance
- Streamlined processes
- Better planning and productivity
Based on these benefits, there are 5 main categories (accounting, FP&A, HR, payroll management, and payment processing) in the finance team’s job description for which software tools can help propel efficiency to the next level. For each category there are two software solution suggestions. Each software was chosen based on important criteria such as price, data security, scalability, and implementation time.
Accounting
1) Freshbooks
Freshbooks is one of the most famous and topmost accounting softwares. Although it was traditionally used for small and medium sized businesses, it now caters to any size. Freshbooks has features such as invoices, time tracking, accounting, and reporting, and integrations with over 100 apps, making it one of the most complete software solutions that can take care of all your accounting needs in one go. With affordable prices starting around $10 a month (for the basic yearly option) it’s no wonder that Freshbooks has been used by over 30 million people since it was founded in 2003.
2) Wave Accounting
Most people didn’t expect a free solution to make the list, but Wave Accounting provides a 100% free, professional accounting solution with no strings attached. How does the company make money, you might wonder? Exclusively from their credit card processing and bookkeeping and payroll services.
Although it has its limitations (meant for SMBs, doesn’t provide as many integrations as paid services, etc.) Wave is excellent for bookkeeping efficiency and streamlining bank reconciliation with features such as invoicing, payment tracking, billing and finance management. No matter what size the company is, there is no excuse for a CFO not to start by implementing an accounting solution that’s 100% free!
FP&A tools
3) Datarails
When talking about types of software solutions that benefit CFOs, it’s impossible not to mention FP&A tools as one of the first. FP&A software solutions cover everything on the checklist: Saves loads of time, centralizes data, lowers the chance of mistakes, and overall allows the finance team to go much deeper with the data they have. Datarails covers all of these benefits plus more.
One of the biggest differentiators is that Datarails is completely native to Excel, meaning that it’s an easy and smooth transition for the finance team. With this benefit and competitive and low prices, it makes it far easier to get the rest of the company on board as the two main executive worries are taken care of: time and money. In addition, the solution offers a long list of solutions they integrate with and an easy to use dashboard to go along with the automated budgeting and forecasting tools.
4) Anaplan
Anaplan is also one of the most complete FP&A tools on the market that you can’t go wrong with. With a host of functionalities that combine data from finance, sales, HR, marketing, and the supply chain, the solution allows you to gain deeper insights into company forecasts. Although Anaplan doesn’t have a native Excel function, it has a long list of add-ins (including Excel and Power BI) that allows each company to combine data the way they want. Anaplan was founded in 2006 and works with over 1,700 businesses of all sizes.
Human Resources
5) Workday
Workday is a big financial management company that covers many aspects, but one thing that it excels at is its HR software tool. The solution comes with advanced analytics, time tracking capabilities, payroll administration, self-service tools, and anything else HR related that an organization needs. As with all of the software solutions on the list, Workday comes with automation solutions that greatly reduces manual processes in the field of HR and saves lots of time across the board.
6) Breezy HR
Breezy HR focuses on optimizing the hiring process which companies have been spending more time on than they want to recently. With features like candidate sourcing and management, job advertising, and career portals, Breezy HR takes care of all the aspects of recruitment from A-Z. Combining a hiring process tool such as Breezy with a top payroll solution such as Paychex will optimize all HR aspects and ease the manual process tremendously.
Payroll Management
7) Deel
Deel focuses on the hiring process, something very time consuming in the era of the Great Resignation, but also automates onboarding and payroll. As one of the best HR, hiring, and payroll solutions rolled into one, Deel is a popular tool used by over 4,500 companies around the world. The software has become particularly popular in the past few years as it’s optimized for global employees in different countries who all have different currencies, languages, and regulations.
8) Paychex
Paychex is one of the leading payroll management softwares that comes with HR services, health insurance, hiring, advanced analytics, tax deposit notices, etc. In addition, it has a user-friendly interface and allows companies to process payroll on the go. Paychex works with over 700,000 businesses mostly in North America and Europe.
Payment Processing
9) PayPal
One of the earliest payment processing and money transferring web solutions (led by Elon Musk in its early days) PayPal is still one of the best tools out there. The solution allows you to receive payments anytime and anywhere and has the added benefit of being a well-known, and therefore secure platform from a customer point of view. Paypal has checkout solutions, payment solutions for recurring payments, and even buy now pay later options.
10) Stripe
Stripe is another great payment processing option that is ideal for internet sales and businesses of all sizes. With easy to use APIs and a variety of functions for each individual business such as managing spending, sending invoices, beating fraudulent activities, and receiving payments in different types of currencies. To top it all off, Stripe’s system is used by companies such as Google, Amazon, Slack, and Shopify, making it a no-brainer for other E-commerce businesses.
