Financial Apps That Can Help Your Start-Up Business Grow

Apps run the world, while financial technology, or fintech, brings innovation to everyday consumers and promising startups. Thus, the inclusion of apps in fintech is a perfect combination. Here’s a look at the top apps that could work for your startup.

QuickBooks: Best for Accounting Software

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Accounting isn't only about numbers but improving a company's financial performance. Thus, accounting software should be familiar to any business.

Many regard QuickBooks as the go-to name for small businesses due to its user-friendly interface and level of automation. Established in 1992, QuickBooks is among the oldest accounting software programs. This SaaS (software as a service) now has various features for managing payroll, orders, invoices, inventory, and more.

Here are the top features of QuickBooks:

●      General accounting: Startups can rely on basic accounting, which includes transaction sorting, expense tracking, data tracking, income/expense tracking, and automatic payment reminders.

●      Invoicing: This is an underestimated yet crucial part of any business. Startups can use QuickBooks' incredible ability to send invoices anywhere or accept payments.

●      Optimised expense tracking: One can photograph receipts and let QuickBooks digitally convert them.

●      Organising client lists: Businesses should use this feature of QuickBooks to manage client account information based on custom settings.

●      Built-in tax filing: Underpayment of tax and failure to report tax are common mistakes when dealing with the taxman. QuickBooks' features, like filing and payment reminders and tax preparation tools, solve these problems for businesses.

Experian: Best for Managing Business Credit Score

Most modern businesses (particularly startups in their infancy) will likely need credit to grow. Experian is often named among the so-called big three credit bureaus globally. This multinational data analytics and credit reporting service provider should be a familiar name for the average person interested in their credit score.

Yet, Experian is primarily in the business services industry. This means startups may use the former in various ways. The first obvious benefit is the offering of commercial credit reports.

With this information, enterprises can see how to improve their business credit score, increasing their chances of gaining credit to boost business. Furthermore, a well-maintained credit record (with the help of Experian) results in better interest, better insurance premiums, and more favourable supplier terms.

Some may also be surprised to learn of Experian's marketing capabilities. After all, it's a data analytics company), so startups can take advantage of its various services, such as customer intelligence, location planning, data enrichment, addressability, and linkage.

PayPal: Best for Accepting Payments

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PayPal is a synonymous name in the financial industry amid newer gems like Stripe and Square. This US-based fintech company has 26 years of experience in online payments for most countries globally.

PayPal for Business is a separate service for small-to-medium businesses to print invoices, process refunds and accept payments, among other benefits. Below is a list of key features:

●      Accepting payments globally: Customers worldwide can pay a business online and in person using all major credit/debit cards without needing a PayPal account.

●      Accepting customer payments in instalments: An intriguing feature of PayPal is 'Pay Later', which can boost sales, increase the average order value and drive up loyalty. Merchants can receive the full value of their sale items at checkouts, while customers can pay over short-term or long-term monthly instalments.

●      Exploring financial services: Another considerable category of PayPal for Business is the ability to engage in various financial products. The first includes working capital and business loans.

On a lighter note, businesses may use the PayPal Business Debit Mastercard® for cashback and reward points.

●      Business operations: PayPal for Business offers several tools to streamline daily activities, such as risk analysis, dispute management,  and shipping.

Credit Karma: Best for Overseeing Finances

Credit Karma is a personal finance company owned by software giant Intuit, the same developers for QuickBooks. It is primarily a free credit and financial management platform focused on individuals.

However, Credit Karma may also be valuable for businesses, especially with Intuit's recent integration of Mint into the former. Mint offered an app for credit scores, bills, and budgeting. It aimed to be a mobile bookkeeper, saving businesses money by tracking how much is spent and earned.

Another cool perk of Mint on Credit Karma is the ability to view net worth and investments across different financial accounts. In the future, the developers imagine being able to integrate investing apps like the TradingView app while they are still migrating features from the old Mint.

Adapting to New Financial Apps With Each Stage of Business Growth

Startups have a plethora of options for growing their businesses, from QuickBooks' marvellous accounting software to PayPal's diverse financial services.

With technological changes and new business growth stages, startups must adapt and ensure that the applications they use are relevant.