Managing Director,
Sage Pastel Accounting, South Africa, Mr Steve Cohen has urged business organisations to manage their finances through standard digital financial software.
Cohen gave this advice at a seminar organised by the Nigerian-South African Chamber of Commerce in Lagos, where he spoke on ‘’Managing Company’s Finances in a Digital Age’’.
He said that manual accounting processes, which often resulted in loss of data, had created a poor management of business financing for African entrepreneurs.
“Many businesses fail within the first 18 months because they could not manage their financial resources adequately.
“It is not the lack of capital that kills businesses, but the inability to utilise the capital for the growth of the business. “Ten years ago, financial management practise was about paper work and the need to balance companies’ accounting books accurately.
“Now, it is about increased efficiency and improved management reporting and the integration of all business processes using technology,’’ he said. Cohen advised business organisations not to see the Internet as a marketing tool alone, but to utilise it to manage their finances.
“The Internet has gone from marketing to transactional.
“There is online accounting software that businesses can use to monitor their financial status.
“The software will help in the area of stock management, sales, purchases, bank transaction processing, payroll administration and compliance,’’ he said.