The vendor you expected to show up yesterday still hasn’t arrived, and it’s noontime. Meanwhile, there’s a line of customers waiting for their orders to go out, your main worker called in sick, and yeah, the cat just pounced on your laptop and deleted a major client from your database.

It’s one of those days again, and if you’re a small business owner, chances are, it’s like this nearly every day. As an ambitious entrepreneur, there are simply not enough hours in a single day to do everything you need to get done. But there’s one task that simply takes the cake. The ultimate time-sucker, the job you and everyone around you dreads, the bane of your existence. That’s right; we’re talking about accounting. From simple bookkeeping (inputting all those numbers, transactions, and plus and minus signs) to more complex tax compliance, end of the year filing, and, gulp, reconciliations, accounting is just about the worst job for any small business owner on the planet.

Even worse than that, accounting is complicated. Even if you are good at numbers (were your eyelids even open in high school math class?!), all the intricacies, the rules, the regulations, the transactions are enough to make anyone’s head spin. And even worse than THAT, accounting has some heavy ramifications. A misentered digit, a misplaced period, and you could be looking at some serious fines, if not more detrimental results of poor tax compliance.

So, why do small businesses need accounting software? The more accurate question is, how can you expect to survive in the business world without it?! Good accounting software ensures that all of your books are handled reliably, all taxes are dealt with properly, and to the letter of the ever-changing legal law, and that all accounts are in sync to eliminate any discrepancies. Here are a few all-important tasks that your typical accounting software will handle for you, so you don’t have to lose the little sleep you are getting over the nitty-gritty details:

• Accurate data entry

One of the biggest, scariest, and most costly areas where businesses frequently make mistakes is in the realm of taxes and bookkeeping. All it takes is a single zero to be in the wrong place, just one period to be mismarked, and you could end up with catastrophic results. Fortunately, with a digitized process, accounting software does away with all of that headache. Double-entry technology ensures that all data is entered accurately. And then all calculations are made to perfection.

That’s definitely the most crucial element of accounting software for small businesses, especially considering the fact that SMBs can’t afford to pay hefty fines or wrangle in court for months. Other important accounting tasks and advantages include:

• Data export
• Data security
• It keeps you up to date on your company’s financial health at a glance
• It makes collaboration easier
• Insights and analytics

And with most small business accounting software coming in cloud-based versions these days, there’s every reason to enlist the aid of this easy access tool. You can review reports, update entries, check on critical information, and do just about anything accounting-related directly on your mobile device and from anywhere in the world.

What Features to Look For in an Accounting Software for Your Small Business

Accounting software comes in all shapes and sizes, and features can range from incredibly simple to incredibly complex. The real question is, which tools are necessary and important for your business success? After all, there’s no reason to pay for tinted windows if you live in England, right? Here are a few of the essential accounting software features that no SMB should live without:

• Tax compliance
• Reports and analytics
• Scalability
• Good customer support

If you’re able to splurge for more extensive features, good things to look for include:

• Inventory management
• Sales tracking
• Customer management system
• Budgeting
• Estimates, billing, and invoicing