Rapid business growth and increased sales are often the epitome of a “good problem” for accounting firms. While doubling your client base generally means an exponential rise in revenue, unprecedented growth tends to be a great disruptor for bookkeeping. It’s easy to fall out of good accounting habits and become overwhelmed by sheer volume as you deal with double the journal entries, rolling invoices, and fluctuating cash flow.

You might visualize bookkeeping as sitting at a desk covered in receipts, looking through a green visor at rows and rows of hand-written numbers. And you wouldn't be entirely wrong. Many businesses have traditionally used programs like Excel to handle their business finances. But we live in the future, and technology exists to make this arduous, expensive approach to bookkeeping go the way of the dodo.

Automated booking software has eliminated the need for Excel in many cases, yet the Microsoft tool is still used by businesses and entrepreneurs for their bookkeeping, budgeting, and accounting needs. Sure, Excel can be a valuable bookkeeping tool, but it has its share of disadvantages too.

The following is a guest contribution from Raincatcher, a business broker focused on helping entrepreneurs buy and sell small and medium-sized businesses.

When you own a business, it’s easy to view accounting as a necessary evil, but not something that you can strategically use for growth. By re-framing your thinking and approach, you can use accounting to your advantage. Accounting practices can be an integral part of your strategy for growth.