intelligent

SMEs have had to cope with all of the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic with less resources – both in their budget and employee numbers . Collaboration can help smaller businesses address these challenges and thrive in difficult circumstances . Three experts offer their advice to SMEs on collaboration .

JULIAN HUTABARAT , BEANY AUSTRALIA GM

Firstly , many people see the accounting process as something that simply helps you with compliance – but that ’ s because much of their time is taken up dealing with the drudgery of the process , from collecting the data to entering it and updating it .

But that process can be automated now and it ’ s taking much of the grunt work out of accounting . This frees up accountants to help a company forecast , project , undertake financial health checks and more . In effect , you ’ re spending less time on accounting and more on the things that help you grow the business .

For instance , in Australia right now , Sydney is in a protracted lockdown – as a result , State and Federal Government are each offering various stimulus packages , disaster payments to those unable to work and other tax changes to soften the blow for companies of all sizes but particularly SMEs . This is a common issue across the region as the pandemic is stubbornly staying put for the time being .

Now , does your typical SME have the time to keep up with all of these changes ? Many of them barely have enough time to send an invoice and are running on a shoestring budget just trying to keep their heads above water .

But they should look to collaborate with an accounting firm which has automated the process of compliance – these firms are proactively chasing payments their clients are entitled to and often at a much lower cost per month than non-automated accounting firms .

Julian Hutabarat , Beany Australia GM