Financial management is challenging without a system in place. Most probably, you spend out of impulse and always end up in shortage, barely making it to the next week or month. Maybe you’ve tried to create a budget plan on paper, only for it to end up crumpled and discarded in the bin. If so, the better alternative of budgeting software awaits you, for better financial literacy.

Outdated modes of budgeting rely on paper. And unless you’re a financial guru with years of experience behind you, the likeliest outcome of depending on manual input is a trainwreck of overspending, incurred debt, and guilt-ridden purchases. But it doesn’t have to be this way, you don’t need to become a financial expert overnight. Instead, the software can do the job for you, saving you time, effort and money.

Can Track Your Financial Habits

Software is designed to monitor your behavior. More often than not, habits are so automatic you don’t even notice yourself doing them. Software, however, can recognize patterns in your built-in system to point out apparent flaws and not-so-obvious ones. Budgeting software often comes with calendars where you can review the actual inputs on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Calendars are used to track the flow of your money, to raise awareness, and hold yourself accountable. Professionals from https://calendarbudget.com/home/ explain that using calendar templates can help you track every financial decision you make, so you can review them later and determine areas that need improvement. By doing so, you become organized and intentional with your spending and saving habits. Algorithms can even predict future decisions based on records alone and can help you revise planning methods as a countermeasure.

Can Help You Formulate Strategies

The data you feed software, however big or small, can be analyzed to develop financial strategies. Every input, once put into the careful analysis, can reveal an astonishing amount of insight into your finances. The software provides real-time updates and displays balance to indicate abundant or dwindling resources. Alert levels could even be signaled to nurture discipline and keep you dedicated to your financial goals.

Strategies come in a variety and are monitored by all kinds of graphs, timetables, and charts. If you rely on the paper alone, it is impossible to see the bigger picture and interpret large chunks of data. Another advantage of the software is its huge database and computing power. No human mind could challenge this feat, and that includes yours.

Budgeting Strategies

• Let 50% of your income go to needs (groceries, utilities, transportation), 30% to your wants, and 20% to your savings and payment of debts. This is called the 50/30/20 rule.
• Determine your monthly income and apply zero-based budgeting
• Choose your budgeting method and stick to it
• Monitor and track your progress with budgeting software

Charge You Money

Most software charge money and this is to your benefit as well. Don’t sulk just yet, they do come with free trials for you to experience it firsthand and see if it’s for you. Paid software has better quality than free ones because they come with unique features. These features are what you actually pay for, but all software is basically the same.

Features of Budgeting Software

• send invoices
• manage and pay bills
• monitor bank transactions
• provide financial reports
• profit optimization
• cash flow forecasting
• capital asset planning
• forecasting and analysis

Paid software instills discipline and holds you accountable. You actually pay for it so you won’t mess around. You’re also more likely to take it seriously, than with free software. To point it out, they’re not exactly cheap, and this is justified by the long list of features that come with that amount. 

Comprehensive

If you own a business or a company, budgeting is a lot harder than personal finances. You are dealing with a body of networks, all interacting with each other, all entities on their own. If you’re working on a project, however, you must unify all sectors with a budget they must adhere to. In this case, only software can do that.

Multiple areas of the business must collaborate, while you provide stakeholders with reports to inform them about the company’s financial situation. Data coming from multiple streams can disrupt stability and skew financial goals. Hence, data must always be organized comprehensively, taking into account multiple factors for evidence-based decision making.

Think Ahead

If you do budgeting all on your own, you will become reactive to expenses and the daily struggle of living. It’s easy to lose sight of your financial goals. Software, however, thinks in the long-term. The software can show you how much is available for daily spending based on your income, subtract upcoming bills from your balance, and categorize your expenses into customized categories. This way, you are in full control of your money transactions without compromising your budget. 

One popular method is zero-based budgeting. Basically, your expenses must equal your income, otherwise, your financial decision isn’t valid. Software often comes in this format because they simplify the budget. Setting limits will secure future finances, and this is an effective way of doing it. 

Help You Prioritize

Software lessens the stress of financial burden and gives you peace of mind. When you prioritize, the actions you take align with those priorities. In most cases, the software creates hierarchies of financial action. This includes paying for housing, food, insurance, entertainment, and health care. First and foremost, your money must be allocated to what matters. 

Deciding isn’t always easy. Discerning what you actually need and choosing it over what you want is a daunting task. Software is simplified in such a way that the inessential is stripped away and you are left with valuable stuff only. Making decisions becomes a matter of rational thinking, rather than acting upon impulse or emotions. 

Needs

• Mortgage/Rent
• Tax
• Health Insurance
• Electricity
• Water
• Internet
• Transportation
• Student loan/payments

Wants

• Clothing
• Alcohol
• Entertainment (movies, concerts)
• Jewelry
• Personal grooming

Financial freedom requires discipline; there are no shortcuts. If you want to get ahead in life, you must take full responsibility for your finances. There are many ways to achieve that, and among the most effective, efficient, and rewarding is through budgeting software. You don’t need to do all the work, you just need to do all the right tools.