Do You know 'Accounting Software' Can Save Your Crucial Business Hours? Get your business upgraded with new softwares available in the market for keeping your books of accounts in order.

Do you face glitches while managing your finances? Are you still wondering to install a simple tool in your computer to save important business hours? Are you thinking to purchase a software that can help in keeping your books of accounts in proper order? If this is the case, then Nikhil Arora, Vice President & Managing Director of Intuit India suggests that it is a high time to switch from the manual books to more user-freindly accounting softwares. Know how these financial accounting softwares can help you?

How is Intuit strengthening its position in India's Small Business ecosystem?

Intuit's singular focus in India is on creating solutions for the small business ecosystem. Our vision in India is to become the operating system behind Indian small business success. By 2020, we want one in four small businesses in the country to use Intuit's products and services. Intuit is the world's leading provider of business and financial management solutions that simplify the business of life for small businesses, consumers and accounting professionals.

In 2013, we introduced our flagship product Intuit QuickBooks in India. Intuit QuickBooks is world's number one small business accounting software used in over 124 countries. Intuit has been one of the pioneers in adopting cloud technology to provide its solutions. Intuit QuickBooks is built to take advantage of the cloud, which means that small businesses can access their key business information anytime, anywhere on the go and it's positioned to connect with other services that small businesses rely on around the globe. It allows small businesses to organize all their business finances in one place, enabling them to take quick and informed decisions, anytime and anywhere. We are delighted to see the rapid adoption of Intuit QuickBooks in India in last fiscal alone we noted a 200% growth in subscriber adoption.

What are the recent products launched by Intuit for promoting Small Businesses?

Witnessing the success of Intuit QuickBooks in 2013, Intuit launched the all new re-imagined Intuit QuickBooks as the global small business operating system in 2013. This new generation Intuit QuickBooks provides small businesses and accountants with an intuitive, easy-to-use design and access to a robust, open and scalable platform that works anytime, anywhere. Intuit QuickBooks was rebuilt from the ground up to deliver a simple, yet powerful platform that goes beyond accounting and offers small businesses an unprecedented business management solution.

In 2014, Intuit successfully partnered with Paybooks to be able to deliver a payroll management platform through Intuit QuickBooks which helps users manage end-to-end payroll, compliances including employee self-service and benefits. With the payroll integration, Intuit QuickBooks offers a unique integrated cloud based financial management solution with comprehensive payroll capabilities. This partnership further strengthens Intuit's commitment of becoming the operating system behind small business success in India.

Are startups and Small Businesses utilizing financial software to the maximum?

Back in the "90s, small businesses were managing their finances in manual books using the traditional "pen and paper' method. The next decade witnessed the shift to adoption and usage of technology and what we can call the "computers and desktop phase' with the usage of "excel' for recording purposes. What we have seen in the last few years is progression to using financial tools and systems on the cloud and mobile.

As the customer gets sophisticated and demands a seamless environment across devices, the market responds and we are seeing new ways of managing finances with anytime, anywhere access. Customers are using mobile platforms for checking outstanding receivables, raise instant invoices and check the health of their business while they are on the go.Cloud financial management solutions like Intuit QuickBooks, which has been developed especially for small businesses have been designed keeping in mind the specific needs of a small business and bundles up various value addition offerings such as Payroll and Sales Tax (VAT/CST) simplifying tax and compliance. More and more small businesses are seeing tangible and intangible benefits of using these cloud-based solutions.

Having said that, while we see a positive trend to the adoption of technology, managing finance on cloud using a financial software is still in its nascent stage in India. Also the awareness about tools and software available in the market is still limited and is yet to reach its maximum potential. However, as growth of broadband continues, we are bound to see more small businesses using financial software to manage their finances on cloud.

Is it challenging to promote products among the Small Businesses?

While creating products for small business is exciting, it can also be very challenging. There are several reasons for this.

• The awareness and tools for creating outreach for share-out of benefits for any new product category is limited.
• Even though there have been several efforts by the solution providers to develop a well nourished ecosystem that supports training and drives adoption. It however, is something that is still in its developmental stages. The high cost of customer acquisition is another challenge.
• The customer segmentation is key in absence of which it can become extremely difficult to promote any product successfully. Identifying and engaging customers and developing solutions for their particular segments is critical for success in the small business space in India. It is important to get traction and dominate in one particular segment first to gain market share to succeed.
• While products may be developed for a particular sector, there is always a requirement of customization of products for a particular business vertical within the sector which may not always be possible.
• Lastly there is a high dependency on perceived value- the propensity and readiness to buy a product depends on the perceived value of the product in the eyes of the customer. It is the value that a customer feels that he/she will derive from buying the product that drives them to buy/invest in it.

How important is financial management in one's business?

Financial Management is of critical importance for the life and success of small businesses in India. In a recent study by us titled "Financial Management – An Essential Tool for a Healthy Business", we found that a large majority of small businesses in the country are lacking in fiancial management skills. In fact 94 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed said they could improve their financial skills.The study was undertaken to undertsand the trends and behaviours among small businesses in India when it came to financial management. 54 percent of business owners felt that the first year of operations was the most difficult because they did not invest in financial management. The majority said they eventually had to invest time understanding the financials of a larger, more complex business. About 85 percent said they started their business by utilizing personal savings, making financial management even trickier. This just goes to show why finacial management is very important for small businesses.

However, the good news is 78 percent of small businesses are prioritizing on improving their financial management skills in the new year. Nearly 75 percent are prioritizing investment in financial management for better visibility and control of their business.Moreover the start of the new financial year is the right time to place a financial management system to take a stock of a company's financial health.