Are you using Excel to keep track of your accounting? This is often how businesses start out. But keeping up with the spreadsheet often involves way more work than is necessary to run a business.

Xero’s Small Business Guides are a terrific resource, and most recently they broke down the difference between using Excel and an accounting system.

The article gives 7 reasons why accounting software is better:

Seven reasons why accounting software is better than Excel

Hit the ground running with confidence

An easy-to-use dashboard is one that you don’t have to set up yourself and will give you confidence from the get-go. When you have a clear financial view from the start, you don’t need to worry about making uninformed business decisions.

Your data is accurate

Your company’s real-time financial data is kept in one central place – online, in the cloud. Bank statement lines are fed into your software – it’s automatic, and reduces the amount of data entry and potential mistakes.

Out-of-box reports

Get most of the reports you will ever need, with a few clicks – no need to wait for month end. Real-time reports and budgets are easy to view and share. Tasks like sales tax returns can be completed in minutes instead of hours.

Up-to-date information

Create the information any of your investors might need at a moment’s notice. Your small business will be equipped to manage its finances better and more accurately. This is especially important around tax time when data will be shared with an accountant or financial advisor. Financial tax information is always up-to-date and ready to share.

You’ll have a clean audit trail

All of the historical information that your investors might need is available at their fingertips. A proper audit trail ensures your data cannot be compromised. It also records a document of every business transaction. This includes sales contracts, payments to employees, and more. Having a complete audit trail reassures investors about the validity of the company and meets the tax department’s needs.

It syncs with other business applications

When you use cloud-based software, you’ll be able to take advantage of apps that sync with your financial data. Inventory management, invoicing and a whole lot more can take the time and hassle out of small business accounting.

Access to data anywhere, anytime

Give any member of your team access your data online anytime, anywhere (as long as you grant them permission to do so.) Cloud software enables you to share your financial information with your employees, accountant, bookkeeper or financial advisor.

It’s about letting your business grow

While it can often be hard to alter the way you do business and embrace change, the potential rewards are huge. The truth is, the writing is on the wall if you don’t find it easy to quickly manage your day-to-day business using Excel.

Excel was simply not built to replace accounting software – so it’s time to give your business the room to grow and succeed, without restrictions.