With the year coming to an end, you’ve most likely started thinking about your business goals for 2022. No matter what these goals are, having the right systems in place to realise operational efficiencies, get paid faster and strengthen your cash flow will set you up for success next year. Keep reading to learn how to get your business ready for 2022.

Bookkeeping, accounting, financial reconciliation, reporting and audits — it’s a lot to keep up with in any business, and can be especially challenging when you don’t have integrated systems that give you a real-time view of your finances.

Consumer behaviour has changed as payment technology and eCommerce has developed to provide more convenient shopping experiences. COVID-19 accelerated these developments, and it’s reshaping the face of retail, from in-store experiences to how customers expect to checkout and pay.

A point of sale system, more commonly referred to as POS, is a system that allows businesses to perform transactions such as a sale, return or exchange of goods and services.

Many personal finance books such as Robert Kiyosaki’s classic, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, state that cash is king. It’s true — having ample cash reserves is a key part of having strong finances, both personal and business.

Point of sale (POS) systems are an excellent tool for taking and managing payments in your business. Payment features, however, are just the basics of a POS system.

From Head Office, you will be working with franchisees across varying stages of maturity. Some owners may have a long history of owning and operating a business, while others may be starting out with their first venture.

Buy now pay later (BNPL) services have quickly become commonplace for consumers. Company reports for ASX-listed BNPL providers outline that the value of BNPL transactions grew by 55 per cent in 2019-20, and in the last two financial years, BNPL transactions have tripled.

Manually sending invoices or purchase orders between your business, suppliers and customers causes inefficiencies. From data-entry errors to documents simply getting “lost” in someone’s inbox or during postage, relying on manual processes to share business information is cumbersome and costly. Electronic Data Interchanges or EDI solves this problem by automatically transferring information between trading partners.

Strong cash flow is critical for any business. Without it, businesses will have difficulty meeting their regular expenses, let alone have the capital to make larger investments in growth.

The emergence of options such as buy now, pay later (BNPL) services was first introduced to business to consumer (B2C) transactions, giving customers the ability to access products and services they need today while paying at a later date or over a series of instalments.

As a supplier, wholesaler or distributor in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, your business likely deals with a high volume of B2B payments.