The days until Christmas are rapidly counting down. Have you thought about what to get for the busy entrepreneur or business owner in your life?

So what does a time poor, driven person need? They need something that will make their life easier. Or, maybe  it’s you! Are you are dreaming of presents from Santa that will take all of your cares away? Feel free to share a link to this post with your friends and family. (Hint, hint) Go on, treat yourself!

This may seem like an impossible fantasy, but with modern cloud-based accounting tools, this is more achievable than ever. Every business owner knows that the ‘silly season’ can quickly become the ‘stressful season’ without careful planning with their staffing. It is important that extra work equates to making more money. One way to achieve this is by keeping on top of accurate accounting for payroll.

We recommend going paperless with employee onboarding for new and casual staff during the holiday period.  Ento is a cloudless employee fostering and onboarding system.

Each new hire has the ability to join the team with a digital onboarding experience. It is optimised for mobile so employees can get themselves sorted on a smartphone or tablet. This allows each staff member to become part of your workforce in a way that suits them. This is a gift that any business owner would love to see under their tree at Christmas.

Another way to put a smile on a business owner’s face is getting rid of clunky spreadsheets when scheduling staff. This means less employee phone calls to check the roster or miscommunications in between updates on the document.

Tanda  is a rostering and time management app that allows for all of this and more! Tanda is cloud-based, real-time and connects to your point of sale system to capture all your staff’s logged hours. Any registered staff member can clock on and off from any POS terminal. This creates consistency in reporting and all staff are accountable for their hours.

During the holiday rush predicting how many staff to roster per shift can be difficult. In this respect, Tanda is the gift that keeps on giving. Much like Santa, Tanda is always watching! It uses algorithms to predict schedules. This software also has seamless payroll integration, so when it comes time to pay staff, this is one more step a business owner doesn’t have to worry about.

If the business owner you are buying for has been extra good, a subscription to an online accounting system such as Xero , Myob or Quickbooks is the icing on the Christmas cake. Using a cloud-based accounting system that allows for quick reporting, seamless payroll, and budgeting information.

The accounting solutions mentioned above are all great options. If you have questions, it is best to speak with one of Santa’s little helpers, a trusted accountant. If you have any questions we are always happy to help.

A point of sale system is a seamless combination of software and hardware that gives businesses the ability to make transactions and simplify key day-to-day business operations. ‘Simplify’ is the key word in that statement. All business owners smile when they know exactly how much they are selling of particular products or service when they are being sold and what their margins are.

A good point of sale system can help them do that and more! Square is a popular solution on many Christmas lists this year. The free Square Point of Sale app has tools to help good little boys and girls manage sales reports, send receipts via email or text message, integrate with Quickbooks or Xero and manage inventory in real time.

Vend is a homegrown POS solution that is also popular under the tree this year. This app works on iPad, Mac or PC, works offline, can easily add a discount or notes for staff use and provide history on laybys and account sales. Stay off Santa’s naughty list and this could be under your tree this year.

Every business owner knows that passion is what drives them and gets them through the ups and downs of business. And the, when passion wears thin, next in line, is coffee. Because Santa loves people who love the environment we recommend getting your favourite business owner a KeepCup or Frank Green reusable cup to keep them fuelled and the environment clean.

And if you or your business owner has been exceptionally good this year you might consider signing them up for a coffee delivery service to ensure they never run out of that dark brown elixir of life.

Start Next Year In The Black

We wish you a Christmas that puts your business in the black. If you or your favourite entrepreneur want to make the most of the holiday season it might be best to invest now. Christmas can come early.