Today’s CFO is more than an accountant. They are a financial strategist with a deep understanding of budgets and business operations. If you’re a small business owner, one of the most important roles you need to fill is the CFO, because they know what is coming into the company—from where it came and when.
Through valuable expertise in operations and finances, the CFO can budget and forecast quickly and with confidence. An effective way to improve earnings is through analysis of the individual components of working capital. This includes inventory turnover and collection ratios that may identify areas of concern, such as inventory or cash management, as well as accounts receivable and payable management. Understanding operating cash flow means better management of working capital to create financial strategies.
Become a Financial Strategist
Ideally, a financial strategist needs to have all of their data in an easy to access location. This allows for real-time analyses of each department and every aspect of the business. For a small business, the move to a cloud-based small business POS software acts as an enterprise resource planning solution without all of the expensive migration and implementation costs.
But first, as the CFO, you need to evaluate the POS systems out there. It’s easy to do. There are three major aspects of an all-in-one system to evaluate: flexibility, value, and total cost of ownership.
1. Flexibility
As your company grows, your small business POS software needs to grow, too. Over time, you will also want to look at your business through varying reporting methods. Finding a software that can evolve with your needs is very important. Because, as the CFO, you are always looking at the data to find tomorrow’s opportunities.
2. Value
Where do you find value in a mobile POS? One way is through customer satisfaction. Today’s tablet based POS systems streamline receiving and processing customer sales, and provide more accurate sales estimates and order fulfilment. The value is through differentiating yourself among the competition—repeat customers and lower customer acquisition costs.
Another important value of a mobile POS is the ability to provide real-time reports and metrics covering all aspects of your business. At any time of day, you should be able to make data-driven decisions to execute your business strategies. Businesses that leverage data-based metrics are in a stronger position to adapt to market fluctuations and find opportunities for growth.
3. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
This is a broad category and describes costs of integration, implementation, training, and support. These costs are hard to pin-down, because of the many details associated with an all-in-one system. Fortunately, there are mobile POS systems that reduce the TCO through cloud technology and ease-of-use. If a system is too complex or not intuitive, then you and your employees will spend too much time trying to figure it out, or creating work-arounds, adding to the TCO.
A great way to lower TCO is through due diligence; find companies of similar size and industries and see what they are using. Talk directly with the sales and support teams for mobile POS systems and decide if they are a good fit for you today—and tomorrow.
Cloud-Based Strategies
Having all of your data in one location allows for greater financial visibility and control over financial reporting. This leads to continuous improvement of operational systems and increased productivity through eliminating tasks that take up too much of your employees’ time. A cloud-based mobile POS can provide the enterprise solution that you need to grow your business without all of the costly headaches and lost time from antiquated systems. Embrace your inner CFO and define the financial future of your company.