No matter the size of your company, it’s always important to have reliable resources to not only get the job done but to make your life easier. Whether you’re a one-person team or leading many, having the right tools is essential to carrying out your day-to-day tasks.

We’ve compiled a list of these cloud-based platforms that make for a winning tech stack. Take a look at the best tools that make being a business owner a little less stressful and a little more efficient!

Communication and Project Management

As technology progresses, email becomes less and less efficient. That’s where other means of communicating and collaborating with coworkers and clients come in handy.

• Slack: Whether you’re speaking with someone in the next room or across the country, it helps you communicate without missing a beat. It also integrates with other platforms like HelloSign and Google Docs.
• Basecamp: Basecamp excels at project management and has helped us bridge the gap between internal and external teams. It’s great for easily sharing documents, assigning tasks, and keeping everyone in the loop for deadlines and assignments.
• Zoom: An amazing tool used for video conferencing, group messaging, and online meetings. You can easily join calls from your phone or computer and share screens with your coworkers.

Accounting and Finance

While managing the finances may not be the most exciting part of owning a business, it’s one of the most important tasks. These apps make things more efficient with their straightforward interfaces and automation capabilities.

• Quickbooks: Looking for a more advanced accounting option for a small business with big growth in its horizon? Quickbooks Online can tackle tax deductions, project tracking, full-service payroll and more as you scale your business in the future. We also consider this to be the best accounting platform for cryptocurrency.
• Xero: If you’re looking for a full-service platform, this app covers all the bases. You can invoice, reconcile, track inventory, run reports, and integrate with third parties like Gusto and Paypal. The possibilities are endless. It’s also affordable and easy to use.
• Bill.com: When you use a cloud-based platform like Quickbooks or Xero, Bill.com is a great add-on to satisfy your bill payment needs. Automating everything from invoicing to the payment process, this is the system we trust to make sure our clients get paid.
• Gusto: An add-on application that we love to incorporate into our services. It handles payroll with so much ease you’ll forget you even do it.
• Expensify: An amazing tool that makes your life easier by allowing you to automate the expense reporting process. It also integrates with QuickBooks and Xero and is cryptocurrency friendly.
• Jirav: A financial analysis and planning tool that keeps you up to date on your business’s finances and aids you in making better decisions.
• Veem: A global payment platform that makes cross-border wire transfers and payments simpler. It uses blockchain as a payment rail and enables businesses to send and receive local currency.

Customer Relationship Management and Marketing Automation

Customers are a vital part of any business, so it’s important to have a way to attract, manage, and nurture them.

• Pardot: A Salesforce Marketing automation tool that allows you to manage and generate leads by creating targeted email campaigns and tracking prospect activity.  
• Salesforce: One of the most popular CRM platforms for managing sales and customer data, allowing for more efficiency and productivity. It also seamlessly integrates with a number of other apps including Pardot.
• Close.io: Designed for small businesses, this CRM is easy to use and helps you streamline your sales process. From emails to calls, you can perform a number of tasks within the app to help you manage your pipeline.

File Storage and Sharing

Gone are the days of using a floppy disk or thumb drive. The cloud allows us to easily collaborate and share documents from anywhere.

• Dropbox: A secure collaboration platform used for backing up and sharing files including documents, videos, and photos.
• Google Drive: A file storage and collaboration platform that also allows for the storage of documents, videos, and photos. It’s part of the G Suite which includes; Spreadsheets, Docs, Photos, Calendar, and Gmail just to name a few.  

Now go forth and put together the perfect tech stack for your business! Hopefully a few of the ones we’ve mentioned will help fill any gaps that you’ve encountered. While you’re here, don’t forget to stop by our business resources page for other tips and tools.