With the new tax year well under way, here is why the smart money’s on the forward planners:

Life as a business owner can be hectic and involve the wearing of many hats – HR expert, accountant, marketer, sales person – the list is endless.  So often the dry, intimidating areas of running a business, such as the accounting, get pushed to the bottom of the “to-do’ list.   There’s also that considerable delay between the end of year accounting work being done and the results being filed with HMRC and Companies House, which can lull some into a false sense of security.  This can lead to a terrifying realisation months down the line – that they are totally unprepared to pay the bill.

Running a business, and more specifically the accounts for a business, is a funny old thing – mention you work in relation to accounting, people tend to recoil, or ask for inside information to beat the system!  The thing is – inside information doesn’t exist – all that the canny, self-employed person needs is to understand the system.

For some people, the worry can take over and turn into anxiety and depression. Dr Catherine Kelly, applied psychologist, explains that having control over financial matters is crucial for good mental health and and well-being in general.

She explains…“In recent years, lots of research has looked at the links between emotional and financial well-being.  Being in debt, not in control and unable to pay bills can lead to anxiety, depression and overall low satisfaction with life.  In contrast, when we are in control of finances and have a clear grip on things such as accounting and tax, we get a huge boost to our confidence and become more empowered as a result.

…“So, any tool that helps business owners to more easily manage, and also properly understand accounting, is likely to have a powerful impact on overall happiness.”

So here at Pastel, we focus on providing accounting and ERP software and support that provides the easiest and quickest way to handle your bookkeeping.  Pastel has a 30 year history of developing, supplying and supporting easy to use and highly functional business software tools that are in use in 52 countries and with over 200,000 businesses.

We think Pastel saves time, energy and money. If you need it, you can add specific software modules to the core accounting engine, or specify bespoke development work to meet your exact needs, so that you can run your business from one place – Pastel.

Examples of bespoke addons we have produced for other customers include links to e-commerce platforms such as eBay, Amazon, Magento, to save the manual rekeying of web sales. We have also produced a tablet module for companies with field sales staff so they can raise quotes, sales order and invoices whilst on their client’s premises, working in real time with Pastel.

Don’t let running your business accounts stress youout – speak to us, explain your requirements and we will help you take control of your business finances in no time. http://www.pastel.co.uk