2016-12-23

A new year is a great time to review your current processes and make sure you’ve got the time to focus on those goals. That’s where the power of automation comes in! Here’s how to make some common small business tasks happen automatically, freeing up your time and energy to concentrate on making 2017 your best business year to date.

Sync your data with Zapier

Zapier connects together web apps, so when a trigger happens in one app, it will automatically perform the action in another app. Use Zapier with FreeAgent to sync your data to the web services you are already using on a daily basis, for example, add MailChimp subscribers for new FreeAgent contacts or get messages on Slack for new FreeAgent invoices.

Get automatic social insights

Useful for business of all sizes, Brand24 gives you instant access to mentions about your brand or product across the web, from social networks to influential publishers. You can discover what people are saying online about you as it unfolds in real time and there’s no need to waste time searching.

See the bigger picture for your business

Tracking cash flow is a top priority for any business. FreeAgent’s cashflow view automatically gives you a monthly snapshot of the money coming in and going out of your business, so you’ll always know if you're making or burning cash - no calculations required.

Save time with ‘If This Then That’

IFTTT is a free web-based service that allows users to create chains of simple conditional statements which are triggered based on changes to other web services. You can use it for loads of tasks such as automatically backing up your contacts to a Google Spreadsheet, having all incoming email attachments automatically saved to your Google Drive folder or even turn off your phone’s wifi when the battery is low.

Send emails automatically

FreeAgent can help you by sending automatic emails with new invoices, thank yous and chase late paying clients - leaving you free to get on with work. Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor are also great tools for creating great-looking emails and setting them to send automatically - for example, on anniversary dates or after someone fills in a form on your website.

Don’t waste hours wading through paper receipts

Ideal for busy freelancers, Receipt Bank gathers paper receipts, scans them and processes the data into FreeAgent. save valuable hours by pulling information from receipts and invoices quickly, accurately, and efficiently.

Regularly backup data without lifting a finger

Configure safeguardmy to perform a simple data backup for all your FreeAgent cloud accounting data, and set the schedule for a weekly or monthly delivery. That’s all you have to do. It doesn’t access or store your login details, but builds a spreadsheet with your data, compresses it all into a zip file and password protects it.

FreeAgent’s easy to use online accounting software has lots of simple automation features that will save you hours and let your accounts run unaided - here's a list of third-party applications, widgets and other add-ons that FreeAgent integrates with here. With a few simple automated tasks in place you’ll be free to spend your time putting those business New Year’s Resolutions into action!

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