What software does a small business need to manage the business?

The software a small business needs depends on the jobs it still does by hand. If you are looking for software for your business management, start with the one job that wastes your time or causes mistakes. Add the rest later, one at a time.

In short: begin with the job that eats your time. Pick the simplest tool that does it well, and add other jobs only when the first one works.

What software do I need to manage my business?

To manage your business, you need software for the jobs you repeat every week. Think of customer details, invoices and payments, orders or bookings, and who is doing what.

Published guides from software suppliers list jobs such as accounting, customer records and stock.

You do not need all of them on day one. The rest can wait until the first ones work well.

Which jobs can software take over first?

Start with jobs where the same steps happen every time. Invoices, booking diaries, customer lists and stock counts are good places to look. A job is a good first choice when a mistake is costly and the steps rarely change. It is a poor first choice when the steps change from week to week.

Retyping is a useful sign to watch for.

VVW's article on retyping says that when tools do not share information, a person ends up copying it across by hand. If that sounds familiar, the article on how to stop retyping the same data in your business is a good next read.

How do I choose where to begin?

Choose the job where one change helps a lot. Take a sheet of paper and answer three questions about each job. How often does it happen? What goes wrong when it is done by hand? Who does it today? The job with the biggest problem comes first.

One supplier's guide says to start by identifying your specific needs, then to weigh how easy the software is to use, how well it connects to other tools, whether it can scale, its security, and the total cost including setup and support.

Do not choose by price alone. Software that nobody on your team uses solves nothing.

Do I need one system or several tools?

Either can work, and the right answer depends on how your business runs. A single system keeps your data in one place. Several smaller tools can leave you copying information between them.

One supplier says a single system for the whole business removes the need to enter data twice.

Suppliers describe their own products. Treat what they say as a starting point, not proof that it will suit you.

VVW's article on retyping says tools can sometimes be connected so that information entered in one appears in the other, and that this depends on the tools. Ask each supplier whether their tool connects to the ones you already use.

Ready-made software: when does it fit?

As a general rule, ready-made software fits when your need is common to many businesses, such as taking bookings. It does not fit when your way of working is unusual.

Two questions help here. How much would your business have to change to fit the software? Who will look after it later? Ask both before you decide.

We supply and support ready-made business software.

You can read more on the Ready-made software page.

Support & improvements is help with a system you already use, including one that is broken.

What should I check before I decide?

Software alone does not tell you whether your records are in order, so start with the rules. The South African Revenue Service says the Tax Administration Act requires certain persons to keep records, books of account or documents. It also says records must be kept in an orderly fashion and in a safe place, and may be kept in electronic form as prescribed by public notice.

Ask your accountant what your business must keep, and whether the software you are considering can store it. Ask who owns your data and how you get it out. Write down the answers before you commit.

This is general information, not legal advice.

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