According to the Office of National Statistics, up to 90 percent of business failures in the UK occur due to cash flow issues.
Not only this but almost half of SMEs in the UK are being paid late, as per research from BACS. This research also revealed that the average payment debts are estimated to be £32,185.
These stats show a significant issue when it comes to controlling cash flow. It is easy to see how this can spiral out of control and collapse businesses.
However, there is a solution. It is to use technology to your advantage. Most entrepreneurs do not know that these technologies can play a part in reducing their cash flow worries. Those that do know, don’t always have the skills, time, or money to implement them.
Nevertheless, without a solution for your cash flow challenges in place, you’ll feel stressed all the time. You’ll spend all your time chasing payments and worrying about when the next invoice will be paid rather than concentrating on how you are going to take your business forward.
Small business owners often start by using a spreadsheet to track their cash flow. But there is a limit to what you can do with a spreadsheet. That’s where cash flow apps come into the picture. They help you build scenarios and do a lot more when protecting and managing your cash flow well.
If you are technologically challenged, just understand that a cash flow app is a powerful tool that helps you use technology to manage cash flow in the business.
Once you have an effective cash-flow management tool in place, how will you feel?
With a cash flow management tool, rather than feeling stressed and worried all the time, you get a handle on your cash flow issues.
With such a tool, you can access all the information you need via a dashboard. You will be able to see all of your invoices in one place. You can see what money is owed and when it is projected to come in. You will also be able to send payment reminders with a click of a button.
Not only this, but you will also gain access to powerful analytics that will make you aware of which consumers are good payers and which are repeat, late payers. With this information handy, you can focus more on the customers that always pay on time.
Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
What is the equivalent of the axe in your business when it comes to managing cash flow? It’s the tools, the cash flow apps.
As a Profit and Cash flow coach advising businesses with a revenue range of £40k to £40m, I see a lot of apps. So many that I compiled a massive guide featuring 119 Apps for financially savvy business owners.
As a starting point, I am sharing five cash flow apps that will help any business owner get started on the path of cash flow mastery.
Top 5 Business Cash Flow Apps, You Should Be Aware Of
These are some of the best cash flow apps in the world, in terms of how simple they are to use and how helpful they are in cash flow management.
For each of these apps, I’ll be sharing:
- Who is it for?
- How does it help entrepreneurs??
- Cost
Let’s start with the Float App.
Float: The Cash Flow Forecasting App
Who is it for? Businesses of all sizes, including Enterprise customers. They also have solutions for accountants and bookkeepers.
How does it help entrepreneurs? The Float app gives you an accurate picture of your past, current, and future cash flow to make more informed and confident decisions about the future of your business. It integrates with Xero, QBO & FreeAgent.
Cost? They offer a free 14 days trial. Their base plans start at $64 per month and go up to $261 for their highest plan. And, no surprise, there are some savings on offer for annual payments.
I also reviewed Float App on my YouTube Channel. Check it out here.
Next up is Fluidly.
Fluidly: Focus on Credit Control
Who is it for? Like most businesses in this product category, Fluidly targets both small businesses and accountants and bookkeepers as their customers.
How does it help entrepreneurs? Makers of Fluidly bill it as an intelligent cash flow management software. The word intelligent in its punchline comes from artificial intelligence (AI). Fluidly combines AI with financial modeling to produce a forecast that’s always up to date.
Cost? They offer a free 14 days trial. Their base plans start at just above $13 per month, with another plan at $64 per month and a top $100 per month plan with a training component.
Cash Flow Tool is another app I recommend.
Cash Flow Tool: Make It Easy for Customers to Pay
Who is it for? They feature offerings for both businesses and accountants.
How does it help entrepreneurs? Makers of Cash Flow Tool market it as The ultimate cash flow management & forecasting service. It helps you know your cash flow today and tomorrow. It is also the #1 rated cash flow app on QuickBooks Marketplace.
With CashFlowTool, you can build custom KPI dashboards. One feature differentiating it from other cash flow forecasting tools is Built-in video coaching linked to each KPI.
Cost? They have a free plan. And two paid offerings at $50 per month and $100 per month. In the $100 plan, the added benefit of quarterly consultation with experts, and the video coaching feature I mentioned above are available in this plan.
Pulse is the next among the recommended cash flow apps.
Pulse: Cash Flow Forecasting App
Who is it for? Pulse is for small businesses. Its customers include creative and technology agencies, service providers, restaurants, manufacturers, retail shops, contractors, and freelancers.
How does it help entrepreneurs? It helps you make intelligent decisions in your business. For example, you can decide if you are ready to hire another employee or invest in a new project or growth? Or know how much money you’ll have in 2 weeks or two months? It gives you the confidence that you made the right decision.
Cost? You can start with a free 30 days trial. Their small business plan starts at $59 per month, and you can unlock extra features by paying $89 per month.
Last but not least is Dryrun.
Dryrun: Cash Flow Forecasting App
Who is it for? It is targeted at finance pros.
How does it help entrepreneurs? Dryrun, like other cash flow forecasting apps, lets you build scenarios that you can use to make confident decisions in your business.
Cost? They offer a free 30 days trial. Their base plans start at $59 per month and go up to $249 for their highest plan.
I also made a video where I talked about these cash flow apps in brief. You can check it out here.
Now that you know about the leading cash flow apps let’s learn how cash flow apps help you win with data.
How Cash Flow Apps Help You Win
Good cash flow apps save you time.
You can use these apps to do basic things like tracking your daily expenses.
But you can do a lot more with these apps.
Using them, you can build what-if scenarios for cash flow forecasting, track your spending and decide how to prioritize spending in the business.
I say financial data drives decisions. With a cash flow forecast, you can ask yourself whether you can spend money on something or not? So what you do commercially is all driven by data. You can grow your business by measuring the metrics of the data.
The creator of a YouTube course I have been part of says that one can grow their YouTube channel by measuring the data of what’s working and what’s not working.
I double down on what’s working. When I learn something doesn’t work, I drop it.
It’s the same in business. You find out what’s working for you in your business by measuring the financial data.
And for capturing financial data and gathering insights, you can use cash flow apps.
All these insights backed by data help you control your cash flow.
If you are running a new business or a small one, then you may not need a cash flow app. You can use cash flow functionality within the accounting software.
I often get asked, can Xero or Quickbooks do cash flow forecasting?
They have minimal functionality to do cash flow forecasting. You can do a basic cash flow forecast with them. If you need complex forecasting, I recommend using one of the cash flow apps shared above.
To learn how to do basic cash flow forecasting in QuickBooks, check out this deep dive video tutorial on how to do cash flow planning in Quickbooks.
Our world is increasingly being powered by technology. Those who accept and adopt new technology and use it to their advantage win in the long run.
