The Software as a Service (SaaS) world is rife with potential. SaaS companies are a unique breed, providing innovative solutions to solve pain points for their clients in a modern and convenient way. 

SaaS businesses have the potential to grow to become hugely successful, following in the footsteps of B2C SaaS businesses like Netflix, Spotify, and Dropbox, or B2B businesses like HubSpot, Slack, and QuickBooks (more on QuickBooks later). It’s an exciting time for SaaS businesses, and the unique model of Software as a Service companies brings about some unique business needs.

Accounting and bookkeeping are among those elements that ought to be approached a little bit differently. SaaS companies don’t operate in the same way as your traditional brick-and-mortar business, and those SaaS business owners looking to optimize their bookkeeping need to account for those differences.

Without further ado, let’s get into some key ways that SaaS businesses can optimize their bookkeeping and therefore, optimize their business. 

Keep Your Books Organized

Admittedly this piece of advice isn’t unique to SaaS businesses, but apparently, it’s one that SaaS businesses especially need to hear.

According to Agile Payments, one of the most common mistakes made by SaaS businesses is a failure to keep track of their finances. Not only does that complicate things when it comes time to take care of reports and taxes, it makes it extremely difficult to make informed business decisions.

Maintaining accurate and organized books at all times equips you to make strategic decisions with your finances in mind. Understanding your cash flow and financial standing allows you to catch problems early, and it enables you to take risks and follow opportunities when you know you have the finances to back it up.

Forgo the In-House Bookkeeping

Small business owners oftentimes attempt to handle their own bookkeeping, which may or may not be the right call for their business.

When DIY bookkeeping is no longer possible or profitable, business owners can choose to either build an in-house bookkeeping team, or they can outsource to a professional accounting and bookkeeping service. 

For SaaS businesses in particular, we recommend the latter. Since SaaS businesses typically operate without inventory or job costing, even very large SaaS businesses often don’t require an entire in-house team and they can instead receive a better return on investment by outsourcing their bookkeeping to a professional provider.

Make Use of Technology

SaaS business owners understand better than most the potential of effective technology, and bookkeeping is no exception. There are a number of accounting software solutions available to aid business owners in keeping their books organized and accessible at all times, giving them the financial insights they need and greatly streamlining the process come payroll and tax season.

At AIS, we’re strong supporters of QuickBooks Online, and we offer services to help businesses convert to QuickBooks as well as QuickBooks training and support. QuickBooks Online is one of the most popular and effective accounting software options on the market, offering a wide range of functions that makes running a business simpler. 

It enables you to share your data, automate functions, easily track your sales and expenses, and make tax and sales reports in a single click, among other features.

Choose a Bookkeeper That Gets It

To optimize your bookkeeping to the highest degree, we recommend outsourcing your bookkeeping needs to a reputable and experienced accounting service. Not just any accounting service, though – an accounting service that gets it.

At AIS Solutions, we get it. Since SaaS businesses operate in the online space, it only makes sense to utilize a bookkeeper and accountant who does the same. AIS Solutions is unlike your typical bookkeeping and accounting firm who lives behind the desk – instead, we live in the cloud.

Choosing a cloud accounting solution simplifies the process and facilitates communication between business and bookkeeper. Choose a firm like AIS Solution who understands your business, and who operates in a way that makes your life easier by taking care of all of your bookkeeping needs without any unnecessary friction. Explore our cloud accounting solutions and optimize your bookkeeping so that your SaaS business can soar.