Businesses use cloud-based accounting software for their day to day bookkeeping and accounting needs, to record organise and control their finances. But cloud software is not just for businesses and can be equally useful for managing your personal finances.
If you have an accounting or bookkeeping background you can quite easily use a basic version of cloud accounting software, like MYOB Essentials or Xero for your personal use.
But additionally there’s a whole range of personal finance software and apps (click here for a list) that can help you master the basics, become more efficient at managing your money, and even help you discover ways to meet your long-term financial goals. The apps all do something slightly different so choosing the most relevant personal finance software depends on your current financial needs. Go through the list and check them out, they’re mostly free to try.
Other personal finance software can help you track your expenses (click here for a list) while others can help with investment portfolio management. There are a number of online software tools that are actually free so it’s just a matter of seeing what’s right for you.
Importantly, most software will feed in your bank and credit card information so you have live data that can allow you to analyse and pinpoint areas where you can cut back to reduce spending and increase savings. Even credit card transactions will now show categories for different items e.g: Food & drink, Health & Fitness, Groceries and Travel etc. You can then allocate your bank fed transactions and reconcile your accounts thereby allowing you to manage your cash flow.
You can run various reports but one of the most useful things to do is to set disciplined budgets, and then track your costs against those budgets to manage your personal spending.
Other related blogs:
What is your net worth and why should you monitor it?
Author: Kay Giles
Email: kay@faj.com.au
