The Best Small Business Software for 2021
The best small business software will make all aspects of business management simpler, from daily operations to long-term, company-wide goals. Technology is closing the gap in resources and abilities between small businesses and large-scale enterprises in 2021, as it becomes more and more accessible.
Nowadays, there is a software solution for just about every requirement in business. Here is our breakdown of the most useful, affordable, and effective small business software for 2021.
5.Accounting and Bookkeeping Software: Quickbooks
Quickbooks offers online bookkeeping and accounting software, and expert advice for businesses of all sizes.
Quickbooks syncs with business data to streamline many financial business operations, saving business owners a lot of time and resources. They also provide insights and reports based on your business’s financial data, which can be accessed remotely thanks to Quickbooks’ cloud storage system.
When it comes to accounting and bookkeeping software, you’ll want a program that allows you to have a complete overview of your finances at all times, Quickbooks does just that. Track invoices and payments, handle payroll and taxes, and view cash flow forecasts all from one platform.
Why Quickbooks?
Quickbooks links two essential services: bookkeeping and accounting. Track payments, gain a better understanding of your business spending and earnings, then see exactly how you can improve. Quickbooks claim that their software can save users an average of 7 hours per week on accounting related activities.
It also comes with a free month’s trial, and their software plans are flexible and commitment-free [1].
Quickbooks’ best features:
QuickBooks will automatically sort and calculate your VAT, submitting your tax return directly to the government. Set up reminders so you always know what tax you owe and when it’s due. This service comes with a complimentary error checking software that will flag issues before you submit your taxes for a smooth experience [2].
You can also use QuickBooks to streamline payroll with automated pay-runs, pension auto-enrolment, and auto-file your payroll taxes.
4.Marketing Campaigns: Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an all-in-one integrated marketing platform that allows small businesses to grow on their terms [3]. Mailchimp specialise in email marketing campaigns, and helping businesses build their mailing lists for better customer outreach and engagement. With Mailchimp, customers can sign up to your email list or newsletter via a landing page, online from, or by inputting customer details from your contact list.
You can then create automated email campaigns that follow a set sending schedule to drive repeat business and encourage customer feedback.
Why Mailchimp?
Mailchimp allows businesses to import their contacts. The software then saves this information and creates more personalised emails using this customer data. This lets you send mass emails that include your contacts’ names, or send by sections, including groups based on demographics, interests and geographic location.
Mailchimp’s best features
Mailchimp’s targeted campaigns set them apart from other marketing campaign platforms. With Mailchimp, you can set up automated workflows based on your customer’s purchasing behaviors, meaning you are engaging specific customers with more relevant content.
3.Appointments and bookings: Appointedd
Appointedd is a scalable online booking system with a huge range of functions. The software offers automated communication, team scheduling and engagement, and improved online customer experiences.
Appointedd offers both employee and customer bookings in one place. Simplify all types of scheduling and bookings: staff rotas, staff meetings, individual diary management, online customer bookings (hospitality), deals and offers, and marketing automation.
Why Appointedd?
Appointedd simplifies the booking process for businesses, as well as providing a financial and productivity overview. These reports allow you to make better-informed business decisions, allowing you to connect with more customers online, using the reports to see where to allocate marketing efforts in order to maximize conversions.
Appointedd’s best features:
Bookings are updated live, and can be accessed anywhere if you have the Appointedd app. Managers can check occupancy, productivity, revenue, and cancellations. Appointedd’s mobile app is available for iOS and Android, helping you manage bookings remotely, anywhere, any time.
2.Ecommerce Programs: Shopify
Shopify is one of the world's largest ecommerce platforms and gives you everything you need to start a website and trade online. Use Shopify to sell products on a number of platforms - in person, through your website, on various social media channels, and online marketplaces.
Products, orders, inventory, and customer data sync between Shopify and your existing point of sale (POS) to give you an accurate oversight of online sales performance in real time. This is so you can manage multiple income streams and conduct multi-site stock checks remotely using your Shopify software.
Why Shopify?
Shopify is designed to help businesses become more accessible online, help them grow their current customer base, and simplify operations. One key way that they achieve this is by providing insights alongside sales data. Using Shopify, you can easily view and identify reports on your best-selling products, and view your website performance with a breakdown on individual page performance. This will reveal what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to make actionable adjustments based on data and feedback.
There are also detailed reports on your consumer activity and behavior, which you can analyze and use to foster better customer relationships. For example, you can link Facebook adverts directly to your website, or add an option for customers to start a chat with your business on Facebook Messenger [4].
Shopify’s best features:
The reason so many consumers love Shopify is undoubtedly the synchronization features it comes with. Inventory management is extremely straightforward once data is uploaded and updated regularly.
If you sell something using your ecommerce website, the item is automatically deducted from your overall inventory levels. Likewise, if something is sold in-store, this will be updated in your ecommerce back-office to prevent you from overselling any items.
You can also update your overall inventory catalog with ease, too. If you list new products on your online catalog, your in-store inventory will automatically update.
1.Point of Sale (POS) Software: Epos Now
Epos Now creates dedicated point of sale software for hospitality and retail businesses. Your point of sale, or POS, is what enables you to take payments in-store. It’s more than simply a till and payment terminal, though, since Epos Now provides detailed analysis on all data entered. This includes feedback on sales performance, inventory levels, payroll and labour, and profit margins.
Epos Now links with a range of popular small business software programs for a completely comprehensive service. For example, all of the software platforms mentioned above can be linked to your Epos Now, and 100s more.
Why Epos Now?
Epos Now was created by a small business manager, for small business managers. Epos Now is extremely focused on providing flexibility and customisable features. With Epos Now, businesses can pay for the exact services they need, and build and add on features as they please, or remove certain integrations if necessary.
Epos Now’s best features:
Because of the large range of integrations that are supported by Epos Now, you can also access a lot of key business reports. You can manage accounting, bookkeeping, loyalty, inventory, stock re-ordering, ecommerce, marketing campaigns, customer profiles, customer communications, AND payments, all from one interface. It’s all linked to the cloud, so you can take this data anywhere you please.
Epos Now also provides multi-award-winning hardware to match the software, for a truly premium sales experience for employees and business managers.
Get in touch to learn more about Epos Now today.