What Is The Best Software For Multi-unit Franchise Accounting?

In 2020, franchise accounting software systems are vital for multi-unit businesses. Today’s post explains what to look for in the very best multi-unit accounting software, and how to book a free demo.

What Is The Best Software For Multi-unit Franchise Accounting?

You probably only need one guess to figure out what company we recommend. But owner biases aside, we’ll say this: no matter what company or product you decide on, make sure they offer accounting automation. If you’re not entirely sure what that means, or want a list of features to take with you as you research different software options, skip down to read about the benefits of FranchiseSoft’s accounting automation.

What Is Accounting Automation?

As the name suggests, accounting automation is all about setting up your accounting so that it largely “takes care of itself.” Accounting automation focuses on the entire accounting lifecycle. This means that the entire process–capturing, manipulating, and interpreting transactional data–is done via software, with minimal dependence on manual transactional entries by your staff.

In 2020, automation remains a hot topic across all industries. And over the last few years, automation capabilities have skyrocketed. Gone are the days where we only trusted automation with low-level tasks–today, automatic bookkeeping and accounting have become a reality. With the right franchise accounting software system, franchisees can expect their books to stay up on a regular basis–even on a daily basis–with minimal manual inputs, if any.

Do I Need Accounting Automation For My Franchise Accounting?

Today, most big brand managers think automated financial transactions are a must for building and maintaining competitive advantages. But this is a decision only you can make. To that end, let’s talk about some of the benefits so that you can make an informed decision.

The Benefits Of Accounting Automation For Multi-unit Businesses

1. Franchise Accounting Software Systems Account For Every Transaction

Recording every single bill and daily transaction in your general ledger is a tedious process, about as fun as washing dishes or doing laundry. And just like those everyday domestic chores, it never ends! As long as you’re in business, you’re on the hook for keeping perfect financial records.

But then you installed a brand new franchise accounting software system, and that neverending burden lifted away and never came back. You simply connected your software with your bank or credit card account, and now you sit back and watch financial transactions update automatically each day. And it’s easy to tweak and evolve your automation process: you can write rules based on certain vendors or descriptions to move those transactions to the proper general ledger accounts. And that’s it–“set it and forget it.”

Automating point-of-sale transactions is also extremely important. Doing so allows you to stay current with your top line and inventory, which can help you understand relevant business trends, marketing effectiveness drive purchase decisions, or identify when staffing changes are needed. Don’t worry, we do that too–our software is totally compatible with Toast, iConnect, and other franchisee-level point of sale integrations that you rely on to eliminate manual sales entry tasks and simplify royalty calculations.

2. Effortless, Error-free Royalty Calculations

As current and former franchise owners ourselves, the FranchiseSoft team recognizes that every franchise system is different. This means that the methods used to manage, calculate, and pay royalties vary from brand to brand.

Our franchise accounting software systems can be customized to manage the royalty process for any brand, in any industry, at any level of the organization. Whether you’re a franchisor trying to set the royalty process in stone or a franchisee trying to stay compliant, we make it easy to establish the necessary systems and reconcile all payments and expenses in your books. Our franchise accounting software system is compatible with all the most popular royalty payment processing gateways, including:

• QuickBooks Online–our seamless integration lets users create royalty invoices (or customer invoices for franchisee-level users) within our franchise accounting software system, then port them to QuickBooks automatically, thereby eliminating the need for dual entries and eliminating opportunities for human error.
• NACHA file processing–take advantage of NACHA file processing with your CEO Access Accounts for faster payment processing using our franchise accounting software system. FranchiseSoft lets you create NACHA files for royal processing by direct payment via ACH. Create specific fee settings, then download the NACHA file to hand over to your banking institution so they can take care of debiting your franchisee’s accounts and crediting yours.
• Franchisee-level integrations–our franchise accounting software system works brilliantly with Paypal, Authorize.Net, and FPN, eliminating the need for checks or money orders and simplifying the entire process.

3. Franchise Accounting Software Systems Ensure You Never Pay Late

Missing due dates or losing track of a bill can upset vendors, burn bridges, and even cause you to incur unnecessary late fees. If only there were a way to safeguard against them…

Manual oversight isn’t enough. Life brings all kinds of wonderful miscommunications, miscalculations, and memory lapses that “more effort” won’t solve. Automation is the key. FranchiseSoft lets you schedule payments, makes sure expenses are recorded to the correct account and unit, and highlights any inconsistencies in regular reports. If you insist on manual oversight as a final safeguard, at least automate your reminders!

4. Simplifying Intercompany Transactions And Expense Allocation

With multiple locations, you may occasionally need to conduct transactions between intercompany units. And whether you’re transferred food to a restaurant franchise that needs more, or topping up an account that was running low, our franchise accounting software system helps you keep track of it all. If you’re making big purchases for multiple franchisees, you may want to divide the cost across each location, and our system can help you allocate each so that expenses are reflected accurately for all involved.

5. Automatic Reporting Across Your Business

Perhaps the biggest perk of all is our automatic financial reporting, which can be set up to focus on custom data types and KPIs, and deliver automatically according to your specified schedule.

FranchiseSoft can also reconcile your sales data to your bank details on a weekly basis (or whatever schedule works for you). In this way, we ensure you always have a clear view of your cash flow and know your funds are safe and accounted for.

Book A Free Franchise Accounting Software System Demo

Give us a call at 866-311-7189 to book a 100% free demonstration and get answers to any questions you may have about buying franchise accounting software.