Keep Your Finances Straight with the Right Bookkeeping Software
Managing a winery is complex and challenging on many levels. From battling mother nature to dealing with compliance issues, and keeping your books in order, it’s hard to manage everything. That’s where software can step in to relieve some pressure and automate where possible. At VineSpring, we’ve paired with other best-in-class DTC solutions to give our customers the best suite of systems possible.
So far in this series, we’ve covered what to look for in email, POS, and compliance solutions. The last piece of this puzzle is identifying a bookkeeping software that integrates seamlessly with your other solutions.
You Want Complexity in Your Wine, Not in Your Bookkeeping
The wine business creates some unique accounting challenges. Inventory and assets need to be handled differently in a winery than in a more traditional business. Wine has a diverse and extended journey, often up to three years, from the time grapes are grown until a bottle can be sold to a customer. All of the related expenses need to be tracked and allocated to a specific wine and vintage. It takes a lot of attention to detail to correctly allocate production costs.
With these issues, you need to make sure your accounting software is not adding to the complexity. One of the most important characteristics of accounting software should be simplicity. Even if you aren’t a numbers wiz, you should be able to intuitively navigate around your bookkeeping system and ensure everything is allocated properly. We found that QuickBooks shared our dedication to simplicity.
Leading in Technology and Innovation
If your bookkeeping software feels like it hasn’t been updated since the early 2000s, it’s time to start shopping for a new option. When selecting an accounting software to integrate with VineSpring, we knew we wanted a software that was head of the class when it comes to innovation. As business and technology evolve, the supporting software needs to keep pace and remain flexible.
Quickbooks is dedicated to delivering personalized experiences through an open platform while creating connections between customers, partners, and products. They also let you choose between an online version and a desktop version. With constant product improvements, the flexibility to work with a wide range of businesses, and a user-friendly interface, they passed our test when it comes to leading technology and innovation in the world of bookkeeping.
Don’t Settle for Less than the Whole Picture
There’s no point in adopting new software that doesn’t fully integrate and work with your other solutions, especially your bookkeeping. Details need to be shared across platforms and properly allocated. The setup needs to be painless and straightforward. If your accounting software isn’t pulling and properly organizing all of the information you need from your other systems, you are creating more work and exposing your business to risks.
Many bookkeeping solutions claim they integrate with other systems but don’t give you the whole picture and require modifications, or worse, require you to manually add additional data. We found QuickBooks is the easiest system to work with and gives our clients the deepest level of integration with no additional babysitting required. Plus, the cost is approachable for businesses of all sizes.
Only Bring on Trusted Partners
Like when hiring a new employee, it’s important to check references on new software solutions that you’re adopting. Who else uses the software? Are they companies that you trust or do they have a similar business model?
Quickbooks is one of the most popular bookkeeping solutions for small to medium-sized businesses and it is widely used throughout the wine industry. You should have no problem finding another business that uses Quickbooks and can ask them how they feel about using it.
Standing by Our Principles
When we search for solutions to partner with, they need to satisfy our four principles - easy-to-use, flexible, accessible, and trusted.
With bookkeeping software, the money is in the details. Don’t waste time and money on a platform that’s not going to fully integrate with your other systems. Make sure the software you choose is flexible and innovative enough to work with your unique business. QuickBooks met those expectations. We are constantly evaluating new technologies that align with our values and encourage you to do the same.
Looking for recommendations on how to select your other systems? Enroll in our series, Guide to Choosing DTC Vendors.
