10 Steps to Build Your Own Accounting Software

Why do you need to develop accounting software?

There are many reasons to build your own accounting software. Financial regulation is very important for business; that is why money-tracking applications are so popular. They can be used in different situations by different facilities. You can even find church accounting software. Many organizations need to track their finances. This area of business will never stop being relevant.

Let’s consider the main advantages of accounting applications.

Time

There is no doubt that software with such useful functions can save a lot of time for its users. You will need fewer people for financial operations if they can be automatic. Remember that the computer is perfect for mathematical tasks. There are many nuances of finances, and even professionals can accidentally skip them. There are finished web-based or cloud-based products. However, it will take time to get a handle on them.  If you create your own accounting software, during the process your workers will learn all the basics.

Data

It is vital to process data as fast as possible while saving efficiency. Businessmen can’t rely on their workers to process data – it will take hours to sort out this tremendous amount of different information and documents. Timely processing and automation are the perfect solutions. This way all the data will be sorted out and all the necessary documents analyzed immediately.

Errors

People make mistakes, and it is an unpleasant reality. The best way of preventing human errors is to make the process automatic. While a person can make a mistake, machines have their own algorithms for necessary tasks. They are less likely to do something wrong. Each process will be calculated thoroughly. Accounting software programs are perfect for real estate companies, which have to deal with huge amounts of data.

Efficiency

The workers of the company will have the ability to work with a huge amount of data without a need to memorize everything. Many applications offer a wide range of tools, which may help workers operate with information. It also provides fewer mistakes and higher data protection.

The main features of cloud-based accounting software

Customization is all about developing accounting software according to personal needs. If you hire professionals, they will develop any functions you need. However, first, let’s concentrate on the basics. You can add many functions to your software, but there are main tools that are obligatory.

VAT calculations

Value-added tax is obligatory in most European countries. Your accounting software should operate with information, calculate VAT payments, and collect reports after each tax period. This is serious, and no mistakes are allowed.

Payroll processing

It is hard to manage all the salaries of your workers, including bonuses and taxes. However, with the help of payroll processing, you will be able to track the money you spend on employees as well as control regular salaries for each worker.

Reports

There are annual reports (monthly, weekly, etc.) that your workers need to collect and send to tax services. You can develop software to make these reports automatically, without involving workers. Of course, the price of development will grow as well.

Invoices

The processing of invoices usually takes several persons’ attention. However, if you manage to develop high-quality software, it will become much easier. The processing of invoices may help your company improve the conversation with customers. The simple apps can put invoices in order and print if necessary. However, if you invest more, it can store names, addresses, and other personal information.

Online payments

Nowadays many people prefer to pay online. If your software is not fully completed without an option to pay via the Internet, now it is the time to change it. Digital payments allow customers to spend their money directly from their bank accounts.

Credit monitoring

This feature helps you control customers’ credit limits and payments. A credit monitoring option allows you to send notifications about time limits, etc. You will have a list of debts and ways to control them.

Data protection

Data safety is really important, especially when it comes to financial documents and private information. The most common way to protect data is multiple access levels. However, there are more ways to improve security. For medium or large corporations, data loss can be destructive. That is why we highly recommend at least three more functions to protect the information.

Integration with other systems

Even if your goal is to make humble software with a few tasks, it cannot be isolated from other resources. Large companies often rely on several applications at once. If you want to expand your business in the future, your software has to integrate with other systems. It can be something simple like online banking services or other applications.

Expense tracking

Finance control is the key to a successful business. The most important part of money management is expense tracking. Your software has to collect receipts in order and calculate everything to make appropriate reports.

Bank account linking

If users are provided with the ability to pay online, they need to add their bank accounts. It will make the process of electronic payments smooth and efficient for both parties.

Main steps of accounting software development

So, how to develop accounting app? Let’s look through the main steps of the accounting software development process.

Type of Software

Let’s start with choosing the type of project. There are several types of accounting systems: spreadsheets, commercial products, enterprises, etc. Spreadsheets are used for simple tasks. They are perfect for small companies. Commercial software is appropriate for middle-sized companies. It offers a set of features to manage finances. Enterprises are on another level: they are often used by large corporations. This software offers workflow optimization tools, planning and solution offering, etc.

Research

Before hiring a professional developer, you should do some research and find out the approximate cost of accounting software development. We highly recommend you hire outsource specialists. If you want to know the approximate cost, you may contact professionals with experience in this sphere.

Estimation

This is the stage where you will find out the approximate cost of accounting software development. The price will be almost clear; however, usually during the process of development some additional procedures might happen, and the price will go higher. We will talk more about pricing a bit later to dive into more details.

Planning

The planning is the most important part of any business process. Many successful startups were thoroughly planned. Specify the deadlines, and hire a team of professionals. You can consult a person who knows how to develop accounting software and has experience in this field.

Template Creation

After the long process of planning, hiring, and estimation, it is time to work on the visual parts of the project. Imagine what your web software will look like. Don’t be shy; draw sketches and share them with programmers. It will be helpful to you and a web designer. Think about the main features you want to add, and take care of the interface convenience. Of course, the main task will be done by professionals, but as a customer, you are responsible for providing feedback to programmers.

Software Development

This step will certainly take some time to be completed. Don’t be in a hurry – it’s in your interest to make the project as good as possible. This is the most crucial part of the work. There are different ways to develop software, but the most common and useful are the Waterfall Model, the V-Model, the Incremental Model, the RAD Model, the Agile Model, the Iterative Model, and the Spiral Model. Each of them has its own features and peculiarities.

For example, the Agile Model is suitable for bigger and complex dynamic projects. There are such stages in this model: Backlog of Product Creation, Sprint Planning, Product Testing and Demonstration, Retrospective and Next Sprint Planning. This method provides for cycling of all stages. The developer can evaluate the result after each iteration.

During regular Sprints, team members should act on the approved actual plans. On the Retrospective stage, it is possible to discuss all the pros and cons of the project at the moment, make definite changes, and draw up the plan for the next working period. This method is effective for risk minimization, it is flexible enough due to the regular iterative process implementation, and it provides for regular communication among team members and customers to reach the best performance.

Security

This step is essential, especially when it comes to big projects. If you are creating accounting solution for a small business, the basic multiple access function may be just enough. However, for bigger companies data safety means a lot. The loss of personal information can lead to serious consequences. The best way to protect data is to encrypt financial data.

Beta Testing

It is better to double-check than to mess things up. Of course, the project will never be finished. It is an ongoing process that requires maintenance and updates from time to time. Before actually finishing the development, it is better to start beta-testing to check how well-thought the user interface is and fix any bugs if they happen.

Launching

Whether it is web-based accounting software or a cloud-based one, you will be happy to finally launch it.

Maintenance

If you wish to build accounting software, be sure to hire specialists who will do the necessary further actions to maintain your project. The software should be kept under the supervision of professionals in case you want to change or add something.

COST TO BUILD CUSTOM ACCOUNTING APP

Let’s talk about how much custom accounting app development costs. The price mostly depends on the development company. There are other aspects as well: time limits, workers’ salaries, number of useful features, etc. The project cost ranges from $20,000 for a small-budget project to $100,000 for large businesses. This seems like a huge gap, but the applications are unique and each one requires a lot of hard work.

The standard cost for a professional developer is $50 per hour. Therefore, you can calculate your expenses due to the number of hired specialists.

The average price for a small project is $20,000 to $30,000, which is affordable enough to small businesses.

The mid-size project for complicated tasks usually requires maintenance and more developers. The more functions you want to add, the more expensive it will be. Sometimes the prices can go up to $60,000 to $100,000 or more.

Large projects, which require a huge workload from employees and complicated automatic functions, are more expensive. The price usually starts from $100,000 and can rise, depending on the individual conditions.

EXAMPLES OF QUALITY CUSTOM ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE

There are many projects that have gained popularity, and you can follow these examples of custom accounting software.

Wave Financial

This is software for small businesses. Free and popular.
 

Xero

An Australian company that provides free solutions for small and medium-sized companies.
 

Quick Books

The most popular accounting software with affordable pricing.
 

Zoho Office Suite

This is cloud-based software with an inline document manager.

The key to the success of these platforms is in the amount of time these apps have been on the market. They have made a lot of upgrades to meet their clients’ expectations. If you decided to create accounting software, be ready to add new functions and change it periodically.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Template solutions can sometimes be ineffective for certain organizations. The best way is to create individual custom software for your company. It may seem complicated and expensive. However, it is much better to invest money in one project with necessary functions than to use several products at once. From our experience, we can tell that your project will pay off quickly enough, depending on the type of your business. We know how to create an accounting software program, especially when it comes to custom projects. During the process of development, we rely a lot on our customers’ feedback. We want to meet your expectations and bring your idea to life.