If you think accounting software is just for tracking expenses and generating financial reports, you’re losing out on an opportunity to improve your bottom line. By taking advantage of insights provided by your software solution, you’ll benefit from a more informed approach to marketing and customer service – and by making the most of all the ways your software can improve productivity you can take meaningful action to increase profits. Here’s how.

Discover the importance of small business insurance in protecting your assets, income, and reputation. Learn why having the right coverage is essential.

Discover the top 9 reasons why small businesses should switch to cloud computing. Save money, time, and improve security with this innovative solution.

In today's fast-paced world, everyone wants to be more productive. Fortunately, there is an ever-increasing number of tools, many of them available online and across multiple devices, that promise to help us achieve our goals. The challenge then becomes how to know not just which tools will live up to their promise but which tools are right for our business.

Cloud computing is quickly moving from an obscure concept to an everyday reality for small businesses all over the world.

A 2015 survey of small business owners found that 52% had already adopted some form of cloud-based data storage; however, a general lack of awareness regarding the logistics and advantages of cloud computing has made others a bit more resistant.

The truth is, there are several very practical benefits to moving your data into the cloud, including reducing operating costs and boosting efficiency. Here are three more ways cloud computing can help your small business run even better.

Business owners fall into two categories: those who love business travel and those who hate it. The love/hate dynamic may depend on how much you travel for work, but even if you love business travel there are stressful aspects to being out of town.

Although we can’t guarantee that our travel tips will ensure a completely stress-free experience, here are four ways to lessen your hassle. If you’re someone who hates work-related travel, maybe these tips will help you love it.

For small business owners, business conferences can be both a blessing and a curse. They give you the opportunity to develop new skills and learn strategies that you can use in your business, and they also provide you with the chance to meet new people and expand your business network.

Ask any successful entrepreneur about their path to greatness and you’ll get the same answer: failure is an inevitable part of the journey.

It took Thomas Edison 1,000 failed attempts before he finally invented the light bulb.

Tim Ferris received 25 rejections before his bestselling book, “The 4 Hour Workweek” was finally published and sold millions of copies.

It’s a fact that 20% of businesses fail in their first year – and many fold before their fifth.

The truth is, building a successful company is typically a very long game. Not every idea is a winner; not every decision yields success. But you can learn from experience, gaining wisdom as you nurture resilience – key ingredients, along with hard work and a pinch of luck, that eventually lead to victory.

Here’s how to stay in the game long enough to win, and make the most of failure along the way.

If you’re a small business owner whose company hasn’t gone through hard times, that’s great but it’s likely to happen at some point. As much as we dream about being brilliant enough at business that we’ll never face slow times, there are many things beyond our control that can negatively affect our business.

Here are four tips for getting your business through difficult periods so you can look forward to many more years of business ownership.

It’s the line item most often left out of a small company’s budget: the business owner’s salary.

Let’s face it: you can always spend cash on your business. From office expenses to employee salaries to rent, every month a portion of your revenue is accounted for.

But paying yourself first is a must. You need to earn a living – and paying yourself can actually help your business succeed.

Here’s why you should make your salary a top priority, starting now.

Your company’s environmental impact can easily be reduced with a few easy steps. Not only do these steps help the environment, they often have an added bonus of saving your business money, improving employee health and impressing your customers.

Okay, there probably aren’t a lot of people who need to be convinced that a shorter workweek is a great idea. Small business owners, however, might be on the list of people who need a little encouragement. After all, every day they take off could mean a longer day to make up for the missed hours.

There are some very real benefits to working a shorter week and those benefits aren’t just about the long weekends—though who would complain about those?

Here are some great reasons to consider shortening your workweek.

How to get the most out of Xero right from the start

When you start using Xero, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. We’re big fans here at Acme Accountants and know how happy clients are when they can see their cash flow situation whenever they want, send online invoices, pay bills and run their businesses more effectively.

The reason we started MATAX, the reason we continue to find ways to expand our services remains the same, to serve.  Needs change, as does technology. We aim to be at the forefront of both, to inform, enable, empower.

An efficient and secure way to handle back up contracts, receipts, invoices, bills and a slew of other documents related to your accounting file is to utilize the Xero Files Library.

Ever wondered what new features Xero has just unveiled ? Want to know when your bank feed needs attention or an upload you sent into files had an issue ?  Notifications is the place to turn.

Provide valuable insights and practical tips on using Xero accounting software to streamline daily workflows, and enhance productivity, while highlighting time-saving date shortcuts and integrated tools.

Showcase the time-saving capabilities of the Xero + icon for quick transaction creation and transactions.

Today — it’s all about using shortcuts and downloading the xero mobile app.

Did you know that from every screen in Xero*, you can search for transactions and contacts?