Adopting the latest cutting-edge technology can make the difference between increasing the value of your offering and becoming obsolete. The changes seen in the accounting industry over the last ten years are here to stay. Think about how payroll and expense reporting has gotten easier and simpler thanks to cloud accounting. Software is eating the accounting cycle. These alternatives to the brick-and-mortar ways of doing accounting can automate the process and help your business save time and valuable resources while generating more value for your customers.

In this simple go-to list, we will be exploring five Canadian-based cloud accounting apps that you can use to take your bookkeeping to the next level. Each app or system will target a different accounting function.

Number #1 Wagepoint (Payroll)

Based out of Calgary, Alberta, Wagepoint is a great solution for small business payroll. Wagepoint will simplify and automate your payroll process. The app calculates amounts owed to employees, vacation pay, workers' compensation, and various other payroll deductions for you.

Do you remember the numerous payroll deductions and taxes you need to calculate? Their app automates this task. Payroll deductions are withheld for Federal/Provincial income-related taxes, Employment insurance/Quebec parental insurances, CPP/QPP, and year-end reporting. Wagepoint is also committed to sticking to its small business payroll model, which means every client will always matter.

The app allows bookkeepers and payroll personnel the tracking feature they need. Say goodbye to your old punch card. The Track feature enables employees to enter their hours into the Track timesheet and have them approved later. This feature helps automate the process of calculating amounts owed to employees.

Finally, its payroll solution integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero, eliminating the burden of manually recording your payroll.

Website: https://wagepoint.com/ca/

Number #2 Hubdoc

Acquired by Xero in 2017, Hubdoc is a receipt management app. Although Xero is based in New Zealand, Hubdoc has kept its base of operations in Toronto. It takes away all the headaches related to receipt management and keeps it all in one manageable place. Instead of panicking at the year-end looking for your receipts from different physical folders and various websites, simply snap a picture and Hubdoc will safeguard it in a virtual environment for you.

After taking a picture of your receipt, it will extract the important information from the receipt to make sure you aren't missing anything important. Hubdoc integrates directly with QBO and Xero, allowing you to create rules, reducing the amount of manual classification you'll have to perform.

Website: https://www.hubdoc.com/

Number #3 Plooto

Based out of Toronto, Ontario Plooto will help you eliminate your paper trail in your payables and receivables. Their app will make your accounts receivables and accounts payables easier to manage. It can efficiently handle all your business payments and facilitate the retrieval of receivables by sending requests for money owed within the system.

ALL your vendors and suppliers can be available on the platform. Yes, you heard that right: Plooto can connect you to all your payees within their system in mere seconds of integrating. It gets better. Whether you make your payments via cheque, credit card, e-transfer, ACH or EFT, you can consolidate all your payments on the app.

The process for utilizing this app is simple. To initiate a payment, select the payee, enter the amount, and Plooto guarantee’s proper payment delivery. Importing all your invoices into the app allows you to send payment notifications to the client. Once received, the payment is reconciled within your accounting software. They also recently raised eight million in a Series A investment round, further fueling their growth as an online payables and receivables solution.

Website: https://www.plooto.com/

Number #4 Budgeto (financial projections)

Based in Quebec City, Budgeto helps business owners and managers make sound financial projections. It helps you to stop looking behind and start looking ahead. The app integrates with your QuickBooks Online to enable you to create better budget projections.

Within Budgeto’s application, you can fill out various Sales, Expense, Employee, Loan, and funding forms. Filling out these forms will adjust your financial projects automatically. It will adjust and prepare new profit and loss statements, cash flow statements, balance sheet statements, and financial ratio statements for each adjustment you make. For example, if you recently hired a new employee and are paying them $75,000 a year. You can fill out an employee form which then allows the system to create new financial projection considering the financials from this new hire such as their salary. Creating financial projections just became a stress-free task. Say goodbye to the headaches of adjusting forecasts after each new transaction; the app does it seamlessly for you.

Their click-click boom feature is also a game-changer. Budgeto uses the historical data from your QuickBooks/Xero account to provide financial projections in just two clicks. Within their app, you can also create different scenarios for your business projections depending on specific outcomes you may encounter. The scenario function allows you to analyze multiple scenarios such as a worst-case, a standard case, and a best-case scenario.

Website: https://budgeto.com/en/

Number #5 Helm (Short-term Cash Flow)

While short-term cash flow management may seem like a tedious task, insufficient cash flow can have a big effect on your business. Helm, based in Calgary, AB, is a cash flow management solution that helps your business avoid cash crunches and various cash flow-related issues. Making payments and paying employees on time is important in building a good reputation. Helm will help you maintain that good business standing through the power of its algorithm.

The app integrates with your QuickBooks Online systems and your bank accounts. Through its cash flow management algorithm, they can identify when you may run into cash crunches and propose solutions to manage the problem. Helm may postpone a particular payment due on June 3rd until another client pays their outstanding balance on June 9th. It can identify patterns and provide solutions to maintain proper cash flow management.

They also recently brought a new feature to its platform in the form of a cash flow score. Through its data algorithms, Helm will give each of your clients a cash flow score to identify which clients are the best and worst at managing their cash flow. This cash flow score will enable you to find out which clients need more support in managing their cash flow.

Website: https://www.takethehelm.app/

Bonus: Stamped (Year-ends)

Software is eating accounting, from banking to payroll, all the way to the year-end auditing process. Many alternatives exist in the cloud accounting space for the 5 functions we’ve looked at today, but the year-end auditing process is yet to see a solution. We're addressing the year-end process in a new way at Stamped.

Our goal is to offer a new way of thinking about the year-end process. Instead of a year-end process crunched into deadlines that come one after the other, we do the work over a continuous year-long process. The platform allows you to regroup all the collaborators in a 100% online and paper-free system that is rapid and efficient.

This new thought process means year-end financial statements are ready within a fraction of the time regular CPA firms complete them. It's easy and done in 3 simple steps. Meet with a customer success manager/CPA, connect your system to stamped, and receive your financially certified documents. If our services can save your business time, come talk to us.

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