Many interior designers do not have a particular love for accounting. After all, if they did, they might have chosen to be accountants instead! Nonetheless, accounting for interior designers is part and parcel of the job; whether your firm is large or small, you are likely to have a brush with accounting practice at some point or another.
The unfortunate part of this is that accounting is often neglected by interior designers, especially when they need to keep the books themselves. While most get on with the job and get by, many often feel that they could (or should) be doing things in a more straightforward way.
Accounting Made Simple
One thing interior designers want is an accounting system that is simple and easy to use. They want to be able to keep the books without causing themselves additional headaches. While one part of making your accounting easier is ensuring you have a good process, another battle is making sure you have the right tools to manage your accounting practice.
Accounting for interior designers is often complicated by the fact that a lot of the tools on the market are generic software solutions. These programs are meant to be used by anyone, in any industry, and as such, they do not account for some of the peculiarities of the interior design industry. That can cause you more trouble than you anticipate.
Getting a Better Tool
Interior designers do not need to use generic, one-size-fits-all solutions for their accounting, however. Those days are gone. Instead, interior designers can now choose from a wide array of software solutions that will put an end to their accounting woes.
These new tools are engineered specifically for the interior design industry, which means that you no longer need to customize a generic platform to accommodate some of the unique practices of the industry. That right there can save you a lot of time and a lot of frustration. There are also plenty of other ways these new tools help simplify accounting for interior designers.
Integrate and Streamline Practice
Another frustration interior designers face when they select generic accounting software is that the program likely only helps them with one facet of management: accounting. That means you can keep the books, but you may not be able to prepare estimates, track orders, track time, and produce project reports all from the same program. That can complicate accounting, as you need to compile information from the other various programs you are using for other functions like estimating.
With interior design accounting platforms, however, your projects can be managed from end to end, from the initial estimate to raising and tracking invoices. That certainly can simplify keeping the books and help you stay more organized.
Cloud-Based Platforms
New platforms also offer other advantages over generic software solutions in that many of them are now offered as cloud-based platforms. This eliminates many of the concerns with desktop-based software, such as programs becoming outdated or different machines not running the programs. Your service provider updates the program and all you need to access the program is an internet connection. That means you can access all of your information from anywhere—even while you’re on the go! The mobile capabilities of online interior design accounting tools unchain you from your desk, and that means your accounting can be kept up to the minute.
Better yet, online accounting tools allow you to scale your service as you need to, providing greater flexibility—which is especially important for small firms. That also means many services are infinitely more affordable than generic software solutions you might have otherwise considered. Even the smallest of firms can afford to get great help with their accounting.
