How to use technology to boost business cashflow

A healthy cashflow is always important, but even more so during the cost-of-living crisis.

Do you ever worry about the amount of money coming into your business compared to the outgoings you have? This is called your cashflow, and it’s top of every business owner’s mind.

Maintaining a healthy cashflow – one where more money comes in than goes out – is tricky at the best of times. During a cost-of-living crisis, it’s even more important to watch your personal spending – and that goes for your business too.

From poor planning to being paid late, there are many reasons you might see more cash going out than coming in. When this happens, resilience is key, and making sure cashflow issues aren’t an afterthought is part of this. So, what can you do to get ahead? Technology can help.

Traditional cashflow methods are manual and slow

Traditional methods of being paid by customers and clients can be slow and feel out of your control. For example, customers usually pay what they owe by manual bank transfer or card payments, maybe even a cheque. The problem is this way gives you little or no view of when the money is heading your way. What’s more, if they’re ever late paying you, you’ll no doubt have to spend time chasing for the money – which can sometimes be awkward!

Payment technology can help you be paid on time

Fear not! There’s technology that can speed up the process of being paid by customers – putting you back in control. Take GoCardless for example – it automates everything and even does the chasing for you, give you more time to spend on other areas of the business. So, you can say “goodbye” to long hours on the phone chasing what you’re owed.

There’s a way to make expenses easier to manage too...

How do you track expenses (i.e. costs to run your business)? You might have a system in place to take cash out of the till or share a card between employees. Either way, it can be hard to keep an eye on the money going in and out, especially if you’re paying for subscriptions and other costs in the same way.

What if we told you there was a better way to manage expense money, so you know exactly what money’s going out of your business at any one time?
Technology from the likes of Soldo can help you see what you’re actually spending and lets you control it. For example, you can give employees cards that have a spending limit and an app to immediately upload receipts to reduce the risk of them being lost. It even lets you see what’s been spent, how much, and where – whenever you want.

Tech can also help you save when stocktaking

Does your team spend time manually counting the products up for sale or those that you use in your business? There’s a way to cut down on boring, manual stocktaking – which can also help improve your cashflow too. Technology like Cin7 can help you understand what you have in stock, as well as what you need to order and when. This can help you avoid overordering or running out of important items – helping you to reduce waste and improve efficiency.

Finding the right fit for you

Finding the right technology for your business during these times is key. There’s no one-size-fits all package, you need to discover what’s right for you. Before you invest, it’s important to understand how new technology works with what you already have. Start by checking what solutions are compatible with the apps or computers you use, and make the most of free trials.

It’s no secret that it can be a scary time to be a business owner right now, but technology can help you tackle challenges – like cashflow – and give you more control to make decisions that suit your business. With less finance admin to think about, you can get back to doing what you do best – running your business and giving customers and your team a great experience.

Got questions? Our V-Hub Digital Advisers are on hand to answer them.