Time is a valuable commodity for any business. If you can find ways to spend less of it in your day-to-day operations, you can cut costs and free up resources that can then be put to better use elsewhere.

One of the best ways to achieve this is through automation. With the aid of various software applications in the following critical areas, you can maximize productivity, eliminate repetitive tasks, and limit human error, in turn improving the overall functioning of your company.

Accounting

If you’re still using spreadsheets to manage your finances manually, consider switching to an accounting software program like QuickBooks, Xero, or Zoho Books to simplify basic bookkeeping tasks and track the financial health of your company. With such platforms, you can create invoices, sales receipts, and financial statements in minutes with specialized templates and link to your online financial accounts, such as for your commercial banking and credit cards, to import information like your balances and transactions with the click of a button. These programs can even automatically perform complex tax and other calculations and provide real-time assistance to help you comply with regulatory standards. By bringing all these tasks into one program, you can eliminate hours of work and make hiring additional staff unnecessary.

Content marketing

Software platforms can bolster your marketing game by making it easier to create and share content digitally, including through blogs, emails, and social media. For example, you can use WordPress to schedule blog posts on topics related to your sphere and a program like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Loomly to plan and coordinate your social media efforts across multiple platforms at once. Even more, each of these tools offer data-analysis features to help you determine the efficacy of your marketing, making it easy to adjust as needed.

Customer management

A customer relationship management (CRM) system can be highly advantageous for nurturing repeat business and connecting with prospects. Use it to quickly store and track data like their contact information, purchases, and interactions with your company. An automated CRM can also effortlessly perform repetitive tasks, such as scheduling emails and calls, managing your team’s workload, and generating useful reports to enable you to track your efforts. Among the many programs you could try are Zoho CRM, HubSpot, and Freshsales.

Human resources

Your team is one of your best assets, which makes managing it effectively crucial to your success. A human-resources management program can allow you to better oversee functions like hiring and onboarding, payroll processing, time and attendance tracking, employee performance, and benefits administration. Additionally, it can provide time-saving self-service options for your workforce so they can perform minor tasks independently, such as editing their contact information, requesting time off, reviewing their benefits, and downloading essential tax documents. Some top-rated programs include Rippling, Deel, and Gusto.

Inventory

Inventory-management software can be vital for businesses that sell products, including those in food distribution, e-commerce, or consumer goods. For instance, software like Zoho Inventory and Sortly can make it easy to track how much inventory you have and where it’s stored; you can even get alerts when it’s time to reorder supplies. This will help you avoid wasting money by overstocking or damaging customer satisfaction by running out of products. Be sure to look for a program that closely aligns with your needs—some are better suited for small businesses, while others are tailored for specific industries like retail. Certain accounting applications, like QuickBooks Plus, also offer inventory aids for streamlined operations.

Project management

Planning, coordinating, and conducting projects across teams, or even within them, can be tricky, especially if you have remote employees. A project-management system gives you the ability to create timelines, delegate tasks, track time, and gain a holistic view of every project from start to finish. Such programs, including Wrike, ClickUp, and monday.com, can allow you to easily evaluate the progress and workload of everyone in your crew and, in turn, potentially improve your team’s overall effectiveness and productivity.

These are just some of the applications you can try. If you have a business need, there’s likely one that can address and mitigate your resource-eating tasks—and help you significantly boost your bottom line.

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Pinpoint a time-consuming process in your company and how implementing an appropriate software application may help boost efficiency.