6 Of The Best Apps For VCFOs

In this second guest article from Sharon Brown, Founder of Magic Beans accounting practice, Sharon shares some of her favourite apps and reveals how they help her deliver seamless VCFO services for her clients.

Actively finding ways to streamline and improve workflows and processes is all part of being a valuable VCFO. Finding the right tools that work for both you and your client can make the difference between offering good, or great services.

Identifying and implementing the latest cloud technologies into your firm allows you to work more efficiently, helping you to work closely and more in-depth with your clients.

What are the best apps for VCFOs?

Here’s a look at what apps, tools and software that are currently being used for my VCFO services alongside Xero, my chosen cloud accounting platform.

At Magic Beans, our favourite apps are:

1. Float for cash flow forecasting and scenario planning. It’s my go-to cash flow tool to see instantly what’s going on in a client’s business.
2. Dext (previously known as Receipt Bank), AutoEntry and Lightyear for data entry. These automated data capture tools are very user friendly and get the bookkeeping done fast.
3. Tripcatcher for mileage tracking. This app takes the pain out of tracking mileage expenses and has a web and mobile app.
4. Stock & Buy for inventory management. This inventory management system has an easy-to-use integration between Shopify and my accounting software.
5. Unleashed and Cin7 for stock management. Both are great for stock management in a manufacturing environment. Gives you insights into what’s profitable and what’s not.
6. Vend for multi-store retail businesses profitability insights. Perfect for multi-store retail businesses, this point of sale (POS) software that lets you monitor which stores are profitable and which aren’t.

Cloud technology forms the backbone of any VCFO offering. Cloud-based software has helped us become more efficient and productive, as such systems can automate previously labour and time-intensive tasks. We only work with Xero, mainly because that has allowed us to become experts on one system and then work with the add-ons to make sure our clients have the best overall experience.

By using cloud-based software we can easily share or sync data between systems and gain access to real-time reporting – any time, anywhere. As a VCFO it’s really important to have a dependable app-stack that you go back to time and time again.

Interested in offering VCFO services from your accountancy firm? Find out more about using Float to add VCFO services to your offering.

Free eBook: The Complete Guide To Offering VCFO Services

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Further reading:

Why You Should Offer VCFO Services

Sharon Brown

Sharon Brown is a chartered accountant, with over 15 years post qualification experience, and she co-founded Magic Beans in March 2016 to offer a VCFO service to businesses who don't need or can't afford a full time accountant, but need real time access to their finances.