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Modern technology has completely changed the way we understand and do things. On a positive note, it has made things easier than ever before. 

For example, AI has made it easier for us to write emails, social media captions, and long-form website content. Similarly, the introduction of IoT devices and voice recognition features has made it easier for us to manage home appliances, industrial machinery, and healthcare equipment. 

But the wonders of technology expand beyond machinery and AI. They have also made their way into the online retail and commerce sector. Technology has played a major role in overcoming the limitations of the online retail sector. 

Now, customers can test the products of their choice before purchasing online, thanks to the introduction of AR/VR headsets which allow customers to try out products. 

But, those are only advancements on the customer side of the retail business. The million-dollar question is: Has technology made life easier for online retailers?

The answer: Yes. 

How? By the concept of machine learning. 

Machine learning is being used by numerous e-commerce businesses to provide personalized experiences to users, such as recommending desired products. 

A great case for the use of machine learning is Amazon. It has the most precise machine learning engines that recommend customers products and services of their choice.

It’s so precise that it drives 55% of sales for the business. 

This shows that machine learning in e-commerce is highly effective. 

But, with all the buzz we have created about machine learning in e-commerce, it’s time to understand the ins and outs of machine learning. Let’s start by understanding the concept of machine learning. 

What is Machine Learning?

Simply put, machine learning is the art of making computer systems learn to function on their own without following instructions. 

To help with machine learning, the systems are fed large sets of data and are expected to infer trends from the data.

Once the machine learns a particular set of data, it can provide inferences on its own for similar types of data. 

In essence, machine learning is the bridge that provides AI and machine engines with the human touch which wasn’t found earlier.

Machine learning is becoming increasingly popular among businesses. Statistics from Statista show that the market size for machine learning is expected to reach 79.29 billion in 2024. 

Source: Statista-Machine Learning – Worldwide

This clearly shows that machine learning has a very bright future for businesses. 

But machine learning may have a bright future for all businesses, but does the same stand true for your e-commerce business? 

To decide that, we’ll need to understand how machine learning specifically works for e-commerce businesses.

Machine Learning  Use Cases in E-Commerce

Up till now, we discussed a general overview of machine learning, the positives that it brings for e-commerce businesses, and how machine learning works. Now, we’ll learn how machine learning exactly works for e-commerce platforms.

We’ll explore the uses of machine learning in: 

1. Optimizing prices.

2. Managing inventory.

3. Enhancing customer experiences.

4. Providing product recommendations. 

Now, let’s look at each one of these in detail. 

1. Optimizing prices

Machine learning techniques can be used to teach e-commerce platforms the art of charging prices as per customer intent. How does this happen? 

Consider an example: 

You own an online cell phone store selling top cell phones from Apple, Samsung, and other notable brands. 

The Christmas season is coming up and you want to ensure that you charge the right price which helps you sell all the stock. Now, the conventional yet hard way to do this is by deciding the right prices for yourself by looking at all the available data, which will take time. 

But, with machine learning in e-commerce, there’s no need to do this. 

Simply put all the information digitally into the machine learning algorithm and see the magic happen. 

Based on the available information, the algorithm will recommend the right prices for each mobile device. And there you go. No need to understand complex pricing strategies when machine learning gets the work done. 

2. Managing inventory

Every business these days has inventory management software, but few know how to use it strategically. 

Machine learning in e-commerce helps your inventory management software understand trends, such as the highs and lows in customer demand. 

These trends allow your inventory management software to choose which products are necessary to stock, and which are not. 

For example, if you own an online shoe brand, machine learning can tell your software about the sizes and colors that most consumers buy. 

Based on this information, your inventory management software can prompt you about when stock levels have fallen, allowing you to re-stock just in time. 

3. Enhancing customer experiences

Providing a delightful customer experience should be your top priority, and machine learning in e-commerce lets you do just that. 

Machine learning in e-commerce is being used to train chatbots. Now, you don’t people as customer support agents to respond to user queries. 

Machine learning empowers chatbots with natural language processing. This means that chatbots can now understand different languages and tones. 

The problem with human support agents is that they face a mental block at times while trying to calm down customers. 

As a result, they panic and are unable to come up with an answer to the query. 

But, because of natural language processing, chatbots can understand the customer’s intent, and provide them with a befitting response which takes the conversation further. 

4. Providing product recommendations

Machine learning in e-commerce can be used to power your website’s recommendation engine. In fact, according to the Forbes Advisor, 33% of businesses are already using AI and machine learning in e-commerce to provide product recommendations.

Source: Forbes Advisor

Machine learning can help your recommendation engine analyze the customer’s purchase history.

Based on the analysis of this history, the search engine can recommend the user with the most suited product recommendations. 

To explain this, let’s reconsider the shoe example. If your customer has a purchase history of boots, you can feed that data to the algorithm via machine learning. 

Now, the algorithm will provide recommendations of boots to the user.  

So, these are four ways that machine learning is being used in e-commerce. 

Now, let’s recap what we learned throughout the blog. 

The Ending Note

In conclusion, machine learning in e-commerce has revolutionized the industry, making life easier for both online retailers and customers. From optimizing prices and managing inventory to enhancing customer experiences and providing product recommendations, machine learning offers a variety of benefits for e-commerce businesses. As machine learning continues to develop, we can expect even more innovative applications to emerge in the years to come.

If you’re diving into the e-commerce landscape, a standalone website wouldn’t get you anywhere. You need to add additional functions that help you pull out other essential processes. These can include receiving payments and managing stocks. So how do you add these functions to your website? The answer lies in the use of APIs. 

But, how do you choose the right e-commerce API for your business? In today’s blog, we’ll answer this question, as we discuss top e-commerce API integrations that you can add to your website in 2024. First, we’ll dive in-depth and understand what an e-commerce API exactly is. 

What is an E-Commerce API? 

API is the short form for application programming interfaces. These interfaces extract data from one software and allow it to be used by the other software. 

When we talk about e-commerce API integrations, we are looking at APIs that facilitate the flow of data between different applications on e-commerce platforms. 

These API integrations can be subcategorized into: 

1. E-commerce platform API integrations. 

2. Payment API integrations. 

3. Inventory management API integrations. 

4. Marketplace API integrations.

5. Marketing API integrations. 

Now, let’s discuss these in detail

1. E-commerce platform API integrations

These e-commerce API integrations connect your e-commerce websites with the back-end systems needed to facilitate your business, such as: 

1. Enterprise resource planning (ERP). 

2. Product information management (PIM). 

3. Order management system.

4. Warehouse management system.

5. Point of sale system.

6. Content management system.

Integrating your e-commerce platform with other backend systems ensures that the website is easily able to transfer information from one system to the other. 

2. Payment API integrations

Payment APIs ensure that the buyer can easily make payments to your e-commerce platform without any payment and processing errors. The API may be offered by a payment processor/gateway. 

3. Inventory management API integrations

These APIs help you receive data that is important to maintain the stock in your business. This e-commerce API integration ensures that stock levels are automatically updated once a transaction occurs in your business by transferring the relevant data from your e-commerce platform to your inventory management software. 

4. Marketplace API integrations

Marketplace e-commerce API integrations ensure that your e-commerce platform is well integrated with digital marketplaces such as: 

1. Amazon. 

2. Ebay. 

3. Etsy.

4. Shopify.

These integrations ensure that your e-commerce platform quickly updates the relevant information once a sale has been made through the marketplace. 

5. Marketing API integrations

These API integrations allow you to integrate your CRM with the e-commerce website. Now, based on data from the CRM and the website, you can send personalized notifications to users for products and services. 

Now, we’ll look at the top e-commerce API integrations that are being used in 2024. 

Top E-Commerce API Integrations

Here is a list of top e-commerce APIs being used by developers to integrate e-commerce platforms with other functionalities:

1. Paypal
2. WooCommerce
3. Magento 
4. Shopify

 Now, let’s discuss each one of these in detail.

1. Paypal

The Paypal API is an e-commerce API integration for payments. With this API, Paypal and your e-commerce website communicate with each other to receive payments from users. 

But, that’s just the beginning. 

Paypal’s e-commerce API is a rest API, which can also provide you with information about orders, and subscriptions, and help resolve payment disputes.   Rest APIs use a client system. A client is someone who needs information. In return, the API provides the client with a resource. A resource is any information needed by the client. 

To add the Paypal API to your e-commerce website, you need to: 

1. Get a client ID and client secret. 

2. Exchange the client ID for an access token. 

3. Get your sandbox account credentials. 

4. Make API calls to see the money move to your account. 

2. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a game-changer API  to have for your e-commerce business. Why’s that? 

Because it allows you to turn your WordPress website into a full-fledged e-commerce store easily, moreover, you can also change your WooCommerce product subscriptions easily. 

All you need to do is to: 

1. Click on the subscription ID that you want to change. 

2. Open the edit subscriptions screen and change the subscription to your liking. 

Moreover, you can also easily introduce products to your website. The interface is very simple to use. 

All you need to do is to: 

1. Add the product name.

2. The price of the product.

3. The product images from your media library.

And there you go. You have your new product.

In a crux, the WooCommerce e-commerce API integration is very simple to use. 

3. Magento

Magento’s e-commerce API integration has various capabilities that make the process of owning an online business very simple. The best part about the API is that it allows you to customize your store very easily. 

Magento’s e-commerce API has various features such as: 

1. Support for multiple protocols such as REST and Graph QL.

2. Different authentication methods to secure access.

3. Integration of customized functionalities such as CRM, ERP, and marketing automation platforms.

4. Shopify

Shopify’s e-commerce API is relatively simple to use. What’s best about this API is the fact that it has excellent security features, which ensure that this e-commerce API integration is not prone to attacks from hackers. 

The API allows you to: 

1. Customize store look and feel as per your desires.

2. Add, edit, or retrieve customer information as per your liking.

3. Find user insights by writing analytical queries. 

So, these were four of the top e-commerce API integrations to use in 2024. Now, let’s end the blog with a recap of what we learned throughout. 

The Recap

In conclusion, e-commerce API integrations are essential for businesses looking to expand their online presence. By integrating various functionalities like payment processing, inventory management, and marketing tools, businesses can streamline their operations and provide a better customer experience. 

This blog post explored different e-commerce API categories and provided examples of popular integrations like Paypal, WooCommerce, Magento, and Shopify. If you’re considering adding e-commerce functionalities to your website, these APIs are a great place to start.

65% of businesses use loyalty programs to attract customers. So, here’s the million-dollar question. Why should you be a part of the rest 35%? Loyalty programs are a great initiative to retain customers. After all, who likes a going customer? Right? 

But, the dynamics of creating a loyalty program have changed greatly during the decade. Now, you don’t hand out loyalty cards to customers. Rather, you bring them to your loyalty app. But, what’s included in loyalty app development? This is the question that we’ll answer today. Let’s dive into it. First, we’ll explore what a loyalty program app exactly is. 

What is a Loyalty Program App?

Loyalty program apps provide rewards and incentives to customers to promote repeat purchases of a product or a service. 

Now, what are the types of rewards that loyalty programs offer? 

Loyalty program rewards can range from small things such as cash rewards, to larger things such as access to exclusive products and premium deals. To keep your customers engaged with the app, you can also include features such as: 

1. Gamification: Provide a meter that tracks a user’s loyalty points, or assign levels that are achieved after earning a certain number of loyalty points. 

2. Push notifications: Send users a push notification that includes a promo code with a discounted offer.

3. Community building: Create a community of like-minded people who are part of your loyalty program to share ideas, product reviews, and information about product features. 

By creating a loyalty app you’re giving and receiving for your business. Loyalty apps provide you with access to vast amounts of data, such as regular consumer behavior. This can help you make future decisions for your business. 

In essence, creating a loyalty app is greatly beneficial for your business. 

Now, we’ll look at three scenarios where loyalty app development becomes important for your business. 

Scenarios Where Loyalty App Development is Important for Your Business

Scenario 1: You Have Never Developed a Loyalty App Before

Whether you own an online or an offline business, if you’re only selling goods at a fair price, you can take it one step further to attract more customers, by creating a loyalty app. The loyalty app will let you capture more customers because of the added incentives that you provide. 

Scenario 2: You Have an Offline Business

This is similar to the first scenario. If you have an offline business, that only gets money from customers walking into brick-and-mortar outlets, it’s time that you create a reward app. The reward app will provide an incentive for the un-tapped online market to buy from you. As a result, you’ll have more customers by your side. 

Scenario 3: You Have an E-commerce Platform

The e-commerce market is crowded. According to Statista, the number of users in the e-commerce market is projected to reach 3.6 billion by 2029.

Thus, we can see that within half a decade, the e-commerce market potential will increase.

So, how can your business make the best of this booming market? By designing an e-commerce rewards app. 

Creating a rewards app will prompt your customers to buy more from your platform because of the added incentives. 

Thus, customers will switch quickly to your e-commerce platform from other platforms.

Now that we know of the three scenarios where your business needs loyalty app development, we’ll look at all the steps needed to create a successful loyalty program app. 

Steps to Create a Loyalty Program App

The following is the step-by-step process for successful loyalty app development: 

Step 1: Define Your Requirements

Before you start loyalty app development, your first goal should be to understand exactly what you are looking for in your app. So, decide what features you want, such as reward points, push notifications, or a progress meter. 

Step 2: Conduct Product Discovery

Once you have defined the general requirements that you’re looking for in your app, go for product discovery. Product discovery is the process of analyzing the deeper requirements of your app. In this case, decide what it is that you want your product to specifically achieve. In this case, put yourself in the shoes of the user. Analyze what things you expect the user to have in the app. It can be a user-friendly interface or ideal touch responses. This is the ideal set of requirements that you want to convey to the loyalty app development team. 

Step 3: Get Hold of a Good Loyalty App Development Partner

Once you have decided on the right set of requirements through product discovery, now is the time to get hold of a good loyalty app development partner. When choosing a development partner, understand which development methodology they use, such as the agile and the waterfall model. 

Moreover, take reviews from industry peers, and analyze their culture. Assessing the culture of the organization helps you understand things such as how long it takes for approval, and how much open communication they follow. 

Step 4: Develop an MVP

Before going all out with your reward app, prepare an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). The MVP is the nearest-to-functional prototype of your app. This allows you to assess user response to your app. You can use the feedback that you receive from the user to make your app better and more friendlier to use. 

To develop an MVP, your loyalty program app development partner would need a good tech stack. The tech-stack would include: 

1. An app development framework such as React Native or Flutter to develop a cross-platform app. 

2. UI/UX design tools such as Figma and Adobe XD.

3. App testing tools such as Appium, Selenium, Robotium, and Katalon Studio. 

4. A loyalty engine that records rewards and purchases. 

Also, take care of data privacy. User information is crucial and requires lots of security measures. You can enhance your app’s security by: 

1. Storing app data safely within the internal storage. 

2. Asking for user credentials before showing sensitive information. 

3. Adding network security configurations to your app. 

Step 5: Develop and Launch the Final Product

Once you have rectified all the findings from your MVP, now is the time to launch the final product and put it into the market. So, put your app up on Google Play and the Apple App Store. 

Step 6: Support and Promote Your App

Loyalty app development just isn’t enough. You also need to support and promote it as well. For this purpose, you can leverage social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram, and also create a website for your app. Through these methods, you can pull various audiences toward your app. 

Now that we know about the six steps involved in loyalty app development, it’s time to recap what we learned throughout the blog. 

The Recap

Most businesses around the world use loyalty apps to retain customers. There are scenarios where you might need a loyalty app. Either you have never developed a loyalty app before, you have an offline business, or you have an e-commerce platform. 

To create an MVP, you need a good tech stack, which includes an app development framework, UI/UX design tools, app testing tools, and a robust loyalty engine. Moreover, you also need to ensure that you account for security to maintain data privacy. You can do this by storing data safely within internal storage, asking for user credentials, and adding security configurations to your app. 

Next, you need to launch your rewards app and support it through different channels, such as social media and your website. Keep these steps in mind to ensure the best loyalty app development for your business. 

Do you know that 84% of customers are likely to stick to your brand if you offer a loyalty program? This statistic is a no-brainer to start thinking about offering one. But fast forward to 2024, the dynamics of offering loyalty programs have greatly changed. Now it’s not about offering a loyalty card, but rather about having them download the loyalty program app. 

To help you understand the concept better, today we’ll look at four of the best loyalty program apps in 2024. But first, you need to understand the ins and outs of a loyalty program app. So, let’s dive into it. 

What is a Loyalty Program App?

A mobile loyalty program app aims to convert customers into repeat customers for your business. 

A loyalty program aims to provide meaningful solutions that surpass the client’s expectations by providing incentives such as an offer after a certain number of purchases, or reward points, which allow them to get a free product once the customer achieves a certain amount of them. 

Next, we’ll look at some of the benefits of loyalty program apps: 

Common Benefits of Loyalty Program Apps

We can divide the benefits provided by loyalty program apps into two major types:

1. Transactional benefits.

2. Non-transactional benefits.

1. Transactional benefits of loyalty program apps 

Transactional benefits are the monetary benefits provided by the app. These benefits include: 

1. Coupons: These provide discounts on different products.

2. Codes: These allow customers to achieve special promotions. For example, customers can input the code, and get a 20% off on their purchase. 

3. Digital currency: Allowing seamless payments through digital cash stored in the app’s wallet, such as reward points.

4. Access to limited offers: Loyalty program apps provide access to limited-time purchase offers and exclusive product deals. 

Next, we’ll look at some of the non-transactional benefits of loyalty program apps. 

2. Non-transactional benefits of loyalty program apps

Non-transactional benefits are the app benefits not related to the product itself. These include additional incentives that ease the purchase/return process. Non-transactional benefits include things such as: 

1. Returns without receipts: As part of the loyalty program app, customers don’t need to provide a receipt to validate the return. 

2. Enhanced customer care: Providing improved support services to customers. 

3. Additional gifts: Providing unexpected gifts to regular customers, such as a gift hamper or a box of chocolates. 

4. Free samples: Providing loyal customers with free samples of new products. 

Now that we know the transactional and non-transactional benefits of loyalty program apps, we’ll look at some of the most notable features that are part of loyalty program apps. 

Common Features of Loyalty Program Apps

Here are some common features present in all  loyalty program apps to maintain user engagement: 

1. Levels and engagement: A loyalty program app includes a tiered system. Once customers complete each tier, they end up higher in the loyalty program. 

2. Hidden offers:  These offers provide an element of surprise for the user.

3. Accumulated payment points: Members can accumulate points that they can use to buy other products and services from the business. 

4. Special Offers: Deals that are only available to members of the loyalty program.

5. Referrals: Rewards for loyalty program members if they refer the app to a new user. 

6. Mileage System: Users earn virtual miles that they can redeem for various benefits present in the loyalty program. 

Now that we know about the features and benefits of loyalty program apps, let’s look at the top examples of customer loyalty program apps in 2024. 

Let’s dive into it. 

Top Examples of Customer Loyalty Program Apps

There are various examples of customer loyalty apps. Let’s look at some of the most notable examples in 2024: 

1. Pampers Rewards

The Pampers Rewards app provides you with the ability to earn points whilst buying Pampers. You can use these points for more Pampers. Additionally, the app also provides you with amazing tips that you can keep in mind when changing diapers. Moreover, you can also input codes in the app, to gain amazing discounts on your purchases.

Some of the features of the app are: 

1. A comprehensive tutorial when you first use the app. 

2. A well-defined offers section. 

3. The ability to manage your notifications.

4. A promo-code scanner.

5. A charity donation feature( You can donate to causes such as “Feeding America” and “Every Child Succeeds”).

2. The Starbucks App

The Starbucks app provides users with access to numerous features such as: 

1. The ability to earn stars and get rewards.

2. Ordering and paying via your mobile. 

3. The ability to customize your orders according to your preferences. 

In a crux, the Starbucks app allows you to revolutionize your coffee experience by making it easy and convenient. 

Some features of the Starbucks app are: 

1. Zero taps to see account status. 

2. An interface that shows you your current loyalty status.

3. An easy interface with the “Add to basket” function. 

4. A visually attractive look with good quality product photos. 

3. Huggies Rewards Mobile App

The Huggies loyalty mobile app allows you to scan and upload receipts using a smartphone. It also allows customers to earn extra reward points by just reading articles, watching videos, and reading bonus offers, rather than purchasing an actual product. 

Some of the app’s notable features include: 

1. Receipt scanning. 

2. A redeem section.

3. A “Buy section” that contains the product catalog.

4. The ability to digitally manage your loyalty cards. 

4. The Super-Pharm App

The Super-Pharm App provides you with all the offers available in Super-Pharm stores. The app provides users with a list of: 

1. Current coupons.

2. Promotions.

3. Store map.

4. Shopping list. 

The app includes: 

1. A code scanner.

2. Access to newsletters.

3. A testing sign-up.

So, these are four of the best loyalty program apps in 2024. Now, let’s recap what we learned throughout the blog. 

The Ending Note

There are various mobile loyalty program apps available on the app store. Being part of a loyalty program app provides you with access to various features and benefits. These include both transactional and non-transactional benefits, such as coupons, codes, digital currency, and access to limited offers. These apps stand at the top because they provide various loyalty features, which help customers make purchases at lower prices, earn rewards that they can use for other purposes, and also provide customers with access to special/limited offers. 

As a business owner, choosing the right software is a decision that you need to make carefully. There are numerous software available in the market, and each software has a free and a paid version. Although at first glance, a free version might appear to be more appealing, it’s not necessary that it completely meets all your business requirements. 

However, with budget constraints and the need to have the most features available, you need to choose, yet choose wisely. In this blog, we’ll dive into the debate of going for either free software or paid software. Let’s start by discussing the difference between free and paid software. 

Free vs Paid Software-The Difference

For almost every software, we have a free and a paid version. But what’s the difference? The primary difference is the number of features that you have in the software.

Free software typically has fewer features available as compared to paid software. 

To elaborate on this case further, let’s look at two examples: 

1. Slack Free vs Paid

2. Chat GPT Free vs Paid

1. Slack Free vs Paid

Slack has four main versions. The free version, the PRO version, the Business+ version, and the Enterprise Version.

The free version comes with features such as: 

1. 90-day access to message and file history.

2. One-to-one-only Slack Huddles. 

3. The ability to view audio and video clips. 

4. One-to-one working with external people. 

5. Slack Canvas feature for channels and DMs only. 

The Pro version, which is the first paid version of the software provides you with access to more features such as: 

1. Customizable sections.

2. Workflow builder.

3. Custom workflow steps.

4. The ability to deploy apps to Slack infrastructure.

Thus, we can see that by opting for one of Slack’s paid versions, you get access to more features that allow your organization to function more effectively. 

Now, to further explore this case, let’s look at the second example of Chat GPT’s paid and free versions. 

2. Chat GPT Paid Vs Free

Chat GPT’s free version provides you with access to the basic feature of only being able to send typed prompts and receive AI-generated responses in return. 

On the contrary, the software’s paid version provides you with access to features such as: 

1. The ability to write code. 

2. Advanced reasoning skills. 

3. The ability to create art.

Thus, GPT 4 allows you to not only generate text responses, but also visual responses. 

Both these examples show that paid software generally offers more features as compared to paid software. 

Now, we’ll evaluate the general pros and cons of using both free and paid software. Let’s delve into them. 

Free vs Paid Software– PROS and CONS 

To help you decide better, whether to go for free or paid software, let’s look at the pros and cons of each:

1. Pros of free software

 Using free software for your business comes with numerous benefits, such as: 

1. No costs: Since free software is technically “free”, you don’t need to pay for it, which allows you to fulfill your requirements without increasing business expenses. 

2. Community support: Free software is mostly developed by people who have a passion for helping the community. Thus, when using free software, you’re sure to find abundant resources such as documentation, and community forums that provide expert advice.

3. Open source code: Free software is mostly open source. Thus, anyone including you can customize the code, which results in more innovation. 

But, free software doesn’t just have its pros, it also comes with its share of cons. Let’s look at them. 

2. Cons of free software

The following are the drawbacks of going for free software: 

1. Security vulnerabilities: Most free software is created by people/professionals who are going early in their careers. As a result, it may not have the encryptions, authentications, firewalls, and other security barriers essential to protect it against hazardous attacks. Thus, going for free software might result in a security breach. 

2. Limited Support: Yes, free software does provide additional support, but it might not be as comprehensive as that which is provided by paid software. Thus, at some points, you might be left high and dry, unable to use the software further in case an issue arises. 

3. Limited Features: Free software has a limited set of features that only allow you to perform basic functions. To get a better experience, you’ll have to buy the software’s paid version. 

Now, let’s look at the Pros of buying paid software. 

3. Pros of buying paid software

Buying a paid software has benefits such as: 

1. Professional support: Paid software is backed by an extensive infrastructure that includes detailed documentation and a team of professional customer support agents ready to guide you through each step. Thus, you get in-depth knowledge regarding various issues affecting your software. 

2. More features: Paid software provides you with access to more features. In the example we mentioned above about the Slack software. Slack’s paid version provides you with access to a workflow builder. This feature can help you build specific workflows for each member of your team, which helps bring them on a single page for various issues.

3. Security: Since paid software has been built by professionals for professionals, the software includes up-to-date security features. Moreover, the software’s parent company also releases regular updates that provide updated security protocols. Thus, you know that your software is completely secure from any security breaches. 

But, like with everything, paid software also comes with its fair share of cons, which we’ll discuss next. 

4. Cons of paid software

The cons of buying a paid software are as follows: 

1. Cost: The biggest drawback of buying paid software is the price tag that comes with it. Most paid software charges you per person. So at the end of the month, expect a big bill for your use which will add up to your expenses. Moreover, changing subscription rates will also be a continuously increasing cost for your business.

2. Unavailability of source code: Paid software is usually proprietary software. This means that the source code is not open to everyone. Thus, you cannot make changes or workarounds to the software. So, if you think of integrations in the future, it might be a hassle. 

So here’s all that we needed to know about free vs paid software. Now, let’s recap what we learned throughout the blog. 

The Ending Note

The free vs paid software is a major debate that you need to have when choosing a software for your business. Free software comes with fewer features as compared to paid software, as we discussed in the Chat GPT and Slack examples.

However, free software is also susceptible to various security breaches because of the lack of proper security and encryption protocols. Moreover, free software’s community support might also not be comprehensive, as the software hasn’t been built by professionals. Lastly, free software will have limited features. 

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “integration?” You probably think about something you can add to the other to make it work better. Right? The same goes for custom software. Custom software integrations are when you combine one software with the other to make it function better. 

For example, you can combine the Hubspot CRM with your HRIS (Human resource information system). Now, you can directly link the employee’s sales commission to the HR system, adding them directly to an employee’s gross salary. In this blog, we’ll discuss four custom software integrations and how they benefit your business. 

What is a Custom Software?

Custom software is any software that has been developed specifically to serve the goals of a specific organization. But, why do businesses go for custom software? Generic/off-the-shelf software is built, keeping in mind the needs of the wider population, and treats every user in the same manner. However, this isn’t the case with custom software. 

Custom software can include various features that suit a particular set of users. The entity that requires the software can ask the developer to include a set of features that it sees fit, and those that it doesn’t. Moreover, the company can also request further integrations into the software as and when needed. Moving forward, let’s look at some of the benefits of adding custom software integrations into your software. 

The Benefits of Including Custom Software Integrations 

Including custom software integrations into your business software can provide various benefits such as: 

1. Facilitating cross-functional coordination among different departments. 

2. Reducing costs because of not requiring multiple software for different functions.

3. Allowing you to upscale your software for different users. 

4. Centralizing the flow of data throughout the organization and ensuring accessibility to all users. 

Now, let’s look at four examples of custom software integrations and how these can help your business. 

Examples of Custom Software Integrations and How These Can Help Your Business

There are various productive examples of how you can integrate your custom software with other software. Such as: 

1. Integrating Your Legacy System with Your Website.

2. Integrating Your CRM with Your CMS.

3. Integrating Your Business Software with Your E-Commerce Platform.

4. Integrating Your Healthcare CRM with Your Online Healthcare App. 

1. Integrating Your Legacy System with Your Website

The first major example of a custom software integration involves integrating your legacy system with your website. 

So, what is a legacy system?

A legacy system is software that is being used by a business for a long period, and most users are acquainted with it. 

Since it is an outdated software, any integration that you’ll make to your legacy system will have to be customized. 

So, you can hire a reputable web development company to create a workaround that allows you to integrate the website with your legacy system. The website company will follow the following steps:

Step 1: Assessment

Your web development partner will try to understand the ins and outs of your existing legacy system, such as the firmware that it uses, and the build on which it currently stands. 

Step 2: Goal assessment

The company will ask you to identify what goals you aim to achieve by integrating your legacy system with your website. For example, do you aim to bring in leads and queries directly and convert them into long-term customers? Or, do you want to directly upload information from the system onto the website? 

Step 3: Suggesting an integration approach

Based on your needs, the company will suggest different types of integration approaches. These can include: 

• APIs ( Application programming interfaces): APIs are intermediaries that allow the website to communicate and exchange data with the legacy system.  

• Middleware: This acts as a bridge between different systems.

• Data Layer Integration: Creating a new data layer that acts as the go-between the website and the legacy system.

Step 4: Development and integration

This builds a connection between the website and the legacy system based on the chosen approach. The web development company will choose the custom code, configure the middleware, or create the API. 

Step 5: Testing and deployment

As a final step, the company will test and deploy the custom software integration and evaluate the results. 

So, this is how you can integrate legacy systems with your website.

2. Integrating Your CRM with Your CMS

Your CMS includes various blogs, case studies, newsletters, and press releases. On the flip side, your CRM includes information about all of your customers, such as their tastes and preferences. 

Through a custom software integration of your CRM with your CMS, you can provide: 

1. Customized reading suggestions in your customer’s news feeds.

2. Send them push notifications to read the latest published blog/article on your website. 

3. Send them notifications and emails to read your newsletter. 

Thus, integrating a CMS into your CRM has numerous benefits for your business.

3.  Integrating Your Business Software with Your E-Commerce Platform

Another custom software integration involves integrating your e-commerce platform with your business software. Doing this allows you to: 

1. Get accurate inventory forecasts from your e-commerce software.

2. Track all customer data from a centralized location. 

3. Gather data that helps show customers the right products based on their needs and preferences. 

4. Integrating Your Healthcare CRM with Your Online Healthcare App

As a healthcare organization, managing patient healthcare can become a tedious task. But, it can be made easy by integrating your healthcare CRM with your online healthcare app. Doing this provides numerous benefits, such as: 

1. Automating the patient appointment booking process. 

2. Allowing patients to receive online consultations from practitioners. 

3. Providing data-driven insights that the organization can use to deliver personalized recommendations to patients for tests, therapies, and wellness programs. 

Thus, integrating the healthcare CRM with an online healthcare app brings numerous benefits to the medical industry.  

Now that we have explored four examples of how custom software integrations can benefit businesses, let’s revisit what we understood throughout the blog.

Conclusion

In conclusion, custom software integrations offer a powerful solution for businesses seeking to streamline operations and boost efficiency. By connecting disparate software systems, you can create a centralized hub for data, eliminate information silos, and automate manual tasks. This not only saves time and money but also fosters better collaboration across departments.

If you’re looking to optimize your business processes and gain a competitive edge, consider exploring custom software integrations. By investing in these solutions, you can unlock the full potential of your existing software and empower your teams to achieve greater success.

As a developer or tester, one of your biggest responsibilities is to ensure that your software is free from any security vulnerabilities. In 2020, the Phonemon Institute’s Cost of Data Breach Report indicated that worldwide data breaches cost $3.86 million on average. Thus, we can see that data breaches can prove to be “extremely” costly for your business software. 

To help you avoid such consequences, today we’ll look at 10 best practices to help you maintain security in software development. So stay tuned and keep reading. First, let’s discuss some of the consequences of not creating secure software for a business. Let’s begin.

The Consequences of Not Maintaining Security in Software Development

Not taking security measures when developing software can result in serious repercussions such as: 

1. Cyber attacks and data breaches result in the loss of data that is essential for your business operations. 

2. Loss of reputation and trust of customers who have entrusted valuable information to your business.

3. Fines from authorities such as the GDPR and HIPAA, result in a huge financial brunt for your business. 

Now that we know about the consequences of not maintaining security in software development, let’s look at how you can prevent them by following these 10 best practices in security testing for software development. 

Practices to Ensure Security in Software Development

Here’s how you can ensure security in software development to create software that is secure for the end user and reliable for the customers: 

1. Making  a security blueprint

2. Training your employees

3. Defining a response plan

4. Using secure coding practices

5. Maintaining regulatory compliance

6. Reviewing code

7. Securing code

8. Running security tests

9. Continuously updating your software

10. Monitoring your software

1. Making a security blueprint

As always, before you implement something, you need a roadmap that tells you what you hope to achieve, and how you hope to achieve it. The same goes for maintaining security in software development. 

So, prepare a blueprint that includes all the threats that you think your software is prone to. It could include things such as malware attacks, spoofing, ransomware attacks, password attacks, or Cryptojacking. Once you have a blueprint for all that you think can attack your software, it becomes easier to decide on strategies for how to get rid of them. 

2. Training your employees

Whether you’re a developer who’s developing software for a third party, or the organization which needs the software, training your employees is crucial. Training makes your team aware of all the pitfalls and hazards that can affect your software. Thus, your employees will know the right approach, and whom to contact, in case a security breach occurs. 

You  can provide training for issues such as: 

1. Security awareness

2. Secure coding practices

3. Security testing tools

4. Secure software development lifecycle practices

3. Defining a response plan

Once you have identified all the obstacles that can hinder the security of your software, you need to define a response plan. Your response plan will include ways to tackle any software security threat, such as whom to contact, and which programs to initiate to control the damage caused. 

4. Using secure coding practices

Secure coding practices ensure that your code is free from any loopholes that make it prey to bugs, malware, and ransomware attacks. Popular secure coding practices include things such as: 

1. Input validation

2. Encryption

3. Logging

4. Access controls

5. Password management 

6. System configuration

5. Maintaining regulatory compliance

Adopt industry regulations to ensure security in software development, such as: 

1. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) 

2. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

3. SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002) 

4. ISO 27001 and 22301 ( International Standards to Manage Information Security and Business Continuity) 

6.  Reviewing codes

Ask your team to continuously review codes at each stage. Continuous reviews ensure security in software development by emphasizing  that: 

1. Team members follow the same coding style. 

2. Bugs are discovered earlier before the code is shipped. 

3. Compliance is maintained throughout the coding process.

7. Securing codes

Make sure that your code is free from unauthorized access. Maintain your code in secure digital bunkers. Doing this ensures that only authorized personnel have access to your codes, which keeps it free from any security risks. Moreover, ensure that you are using updated code libraries when writing code for your software. 

8. Running security tests

When you’re creating code for the software, make sure to run continuous security tests to ensure the code’s accuracy. Some tests that you should run on the code are: 

1. Pen testing: This testing involves simulating a hacker’s attacks to identify the weaknesses that exist within the code. 

2. Software composition analysis testing: This testing identifies all open-source code available within the software and notifies developers of all the issues in the code that they need to fix. 

3. Static application security testing: This form of testing tests the application’s complete source code and identifies all flaws that exist within the application.

4. Dynamic application security testing (DAST): Dynamic application testing involves running the code on a deployed/running application. The tests are aimed at simulating real-world attacks on the application.

9. Continuously updating your software

Providing regular software updates ensures that your software is equipped with the latest security patches needed to combat hacker attacks and malware. A security update means that hackers need to alter their strategy to attack the users, as the loopholes within the software have been revised.  

10.  Monitoring your software

Monitoring helps you guard the gate. If anything suspicious “knocks on the door” you’ll know about it before it enters into the software and creates a mess. You can monitor your software for security vulnerabilities by: 

1. Deploying vulnerability scanners to check your software for known weaknesses. Make sure to conduct vulnerability testing regularly. 

2. Deploying regular security patches when a new security gap is uncovered. 

3. Using SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tools to identify suspicious activity that may result in a security breach. Popular SIEM tools are: 

• IBM QRadar
• Log Rhythm
• Securonix 
• Rapid7 

So, continuously monitor your software to decrease the amount of security vulnerabilities and make it foolproof against any cyber-attacks. 

Now that we know everything included in best practices for security in software development, let’s end by taking a look back at what we learned throughout the blog. 

The Ending Note

While developing and testing software, it’s important to ensure that the software is free from any security breaches and vulnerabilities. Security breaches in software are detrimental and lead to major issues such as cyber-attacks, loss of trust of customers who have entrusted valuable information to your business, and fines from authorities which take a huge financial toll on your business. Keep a hold of these practices, and you’ll be able to provide top-of-the-line security in software development. 

Programming for your custom software can be a tumultuous task especially when you’re likely to encounter certain programming errors. The emergence of programming errors can completely render your software useless, primarily because of future chances for bugs and glitches. In today’s blog, we’ll explore 10 custom software programming errors that programmers must avoid in 2024. We’ll talk about: 

1. Incorrect coding practices

2. Neglecting API security

3. Not using proactive defenses

4. Relying on outdated libraries

5. Not performing multiple code reviews

6. Not performing unit testing

7. Not paying attention to logging and monitoring

Now, let’s dive into each one in detail.

The Programming Errors Are

1. Incorrect Coding Practices

Using insecure coding practices can turn out to be a major programming error that proves fatal for your software. Incorrect coding practices include: 

1. Incorrect user input: Failing to not provide the correct route to what users enter into your website can lead to malicious attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

2. Weak encryption: Data such as passwords and financial information require strong encryption algorithms. Weak encryption can result in unauthorized access.

3. Incomplete authentication: Using a basic username, or an alpha-numeric password authentication isn’t enough. You should implement practices such as multi-factor authentication. This results in an extra layer of security for your software.

2. Neglecting API Security

APIs (Application programming interfaces) are the heart of every custom software. As the usage of APIs grows, so does the prevalence of API-specific attacks. Thus, neglecting API security is a major programming error. Here’s how you can improve the security of your APIs:

1. Providing proper authentication: Control who accesses your APIs and what actions they perform. You can implement mechanisms such as API Keys, and OAuth to ensure that only authorized users can access your APIs. 

2. Focus on encryption: Make sure that you encrypt all data that is transmitted through your API. You should do this during both the rest, and transit interfaces. Doing this helps save important information from cyber attacks. 

3.  Not Using Proactive Defences

Don’t wait for a security breach to happen. As they say, prevention is better than cure. So, identify and combat potential threats throughout the development phase of your software. You can do this by: 

1. Identifying assets: This involves identifying the valuable data that your application stores and processes. 

2. Analyzing threats: Doing a SWOT analysis of all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that make your software vulnerable. 

3. Risk assessment: This involves assessing how severe each threat is to your software. 

4. Risk mitigation: This involves implementing countermeasures to address the identified risks. 

Keeping up proactive defenses saves your software from various risks that would have otherwise led to security breaches in your software. In 2017, credit reporting agency Equifax encountered a security breach that led to the data compromise of millions of people. The reason for the breach was that Equifax had failed to renew an encryption certificate for one of its internal security tools. 

To stop such threats, make sure to analyze all your assets accordingly. 

4. Relying on Outdated Libraries

Relying on outdated libraries is another programming error that can lead to “death” when it comes to custom software development. Libraries are pre-written code snippets that developers can use to save time and effort. However, hackers are already aware of the vulnerabilities that are present in outdated libraries. But, here’s how you can stay secure when using them: 

1. Use updated security patches: Keep your libraries updated with the latest security protocols. Many libraries also provide opportunities for automated software patches. These ensure that your libraries are up-to-date and free from security breaches. 

2. Use the latest version of libraries: When you’re choosing a library, go for the latest version to ensure that you get the most secure and well-tested code.

5. Not Performing Multiple Code Reviews

Code reviews are a great tool to catch programming errors, improve code quality, and share your knowledge with the development team. Not performing multiple code reviews results in: 

1. Entry of bugs: This can result in glitches, software crashes, and incorrect software functionalities. 

2. Quality issues: These can make the codebase difficult to understand, and create challenges for future modifications. 

3. Security shortcomings: These include issues such as unvalidated user input, and weak encryption practices. 

When reviewing code, the reviewer’s expertise and diversity in evaluating the code is important, as it means that the developer is well aware of the different types of loopholes that might result in security breaches. 

6. Not Performing Unit Testing

Of all the types of programming errors, not performing unit testing is perhaps one of the most crucial ones. Unit testing is essential as it results in: 

1. Early bug detection: Testers can identify bugs in the development cycle, minimizing the time needed to fix them. 

2. Better code quality: Writing unit tests leads to cleaner codes that are easy to maintain, understand, and modify. 

3. Preventing regressions: Unit tests are a safety net that ensures that the code doesn’t change or introduce new bugs.

7. Not Paying Attention to Logging and Monitoring

Proper logging and monitoring of your software at different stages ensures that each part is free from any programming errors. Here’s how logging and monitoring helps:

1. Detecting problems early: Logs capture information about application events, errors, and user interactions. This can help you identify issues before they turn into major problems. 

2. Optimizing performance: Monitoring your software’s performance metrics helps you identify areas for improvement. This helps you remove bottlenecks, ensuring that the application runs smoothly. 

3. Detecting security threats:  Maintaining regular logs can help you identify suspicious activity that might indicate a security breach. 

Now that we know of different types of errors in programming for custom software, let’s look back at what we learned throughout the blog. 

The Takeaways

In conclusion, custom software development can be a complex process fraught with potential programming errors. By understanding and avoiding the seven programming mistakes outlined in this blog, you can significantly improve the security, functionality, and overall quality of your software. By following these guidelines and prioritizing best practices, you can steer clear of common programming errors and build robust, secure custom software that meets your needs and exceeds expectations.

Why should you choose a custom software? This is a question asked by many working around the world in higher positions.  And they should ask. Why go for a customized software solution when there is a ready-made solution already available?

But that’s not the case. GM insights.com reports that the custom software development market was valued at USD 28.2 billion in 2022, and is expected to generate a CAGR( compound annual growth rate of over 21.5% between 2023-2032. 

Thus, we can see that customized software development for ERPs and CRMs is becoming immensely popular among businesses.  In today’s blog, we’ll explore four industries that are benefitting from custom software solutions in 2024. 

The industries that we’ll explore today are: 

1. Healthcare

2. Marketing

3. Manufacturing

4. Human Resources

But first, let’s delve into how we can define custom software, and the different types of custom software solutions available in the market. 

What is Custom Software?

Custom software refers to any tailor-made solution that a business has developed to suit its needs. When a business is looking for a custom software solution, they’ll hire a software development partner and tell them their expectations. 

The software development partner develops software that includes all the desired features told by the client. This is different compared to a generic software solution that comes with a fixed set of features. Now, let’s explore what benefits custom software generally brings to businesses. 

General Benefits of Custom Software Development

As they say, “one size never fits all” The same is the case with generic software solutions. Generic software solutions can lead to problems such as: 

1. Inability to cater to a wide range of users with specific needs.

2. Limited options for customization to fit your workflow. 

3. Inability to integrate with different software solutions.

In comparison to a generic solution, a custom software solution provides benefits such as: 

1. Customization 

2. Scalability

3. Cost-effectiveness

1. Customization

Generic software solutions are pre-built, with an already pre-determined codebase and a set of functions. On the contrary, if you’re going for a customized software solution, you can tell your developers/software development partners about any customized features that you require. 

2. Scalability

As your business expands, you can ask your development partner to add new features to your software. This is easy to do because the software has been tailor-made and the developer has a fair idea about the codebase used. This isn’t the case with a generic software solution which requires extensive workarounds. 

3. Cost-effectiveness

Yes, going for a customized software solution may be costly in the short term. However, it’s cost-effective in the long run. 

Why’s that? 

Because in custom software, you know the ins and outs of what you’ve developed/ordered your software development partner to develop. As a result, it’s easy to make changes and additions where needed. 

But with a generic software solution, you’ll need to buy a new API, or consult a third party and pay them to make changes because of susceptible compatibility issues in the software.

Now that we know about the general benefits of customized software solutions, let’s look at how the aforementioned industries have benefited by going for customized software solutions. 

Industries That Have Benefitted from Custom Software Solutions 

Generally, according to the stats, 67% of businesses have benefitted from custom software development. Here’s how each of our mentioned industries is using custom software to improve productivity. 

1. Healthcare

Whether it’s a hospital, a pharmacy, or any other medical establishment, healthcare CRMs are playing a major part in revolutionizing the healthcare industry in a bid to improve productivity and efficiency while taking benefits of custom software development. 

Customized healthcare CRMs allow the users to: 

1. Maintain customer data such as number of consultations and assigned medical practitioners.

2. Automatically book patient appointments through the portal. 

3. Send targeted notifications to patients about appointment timings and medical promotions available. 

4. Streamlines communication between practitioners and the operations department to allow for smooth execution of operations. 

In a crux, healthcare CRMs provide streamlined operations, reducing the chances of doubling and error. 

2.  Marketing

Similar to the healthcare sector, the marketing department is also benefitting from the use of custom software such as a marketing CRM. 

Back in the day, marketing/sales was a game of cold calling the customer, or manually booking appointments in a register. But now, thanks to the introduction of marketing CRMs, this is not the case. 

Numbers from Finances Online show that using CRM software increases sales quota by 65%, improves productivity by 50%, and reduces labor costs by 40%.

Customized marketing CRMs provide: 

1. A centralized location to store customer data. 

2. Prompts about scheduled appointments.

3. The opportunity to send targeted notifications to customers for new offers and promotions. 

4. An all-in-one messaging solution that allows you to contact the customer and convert them into a long-term client. 

5. Marketing automation features such as email marketing and lead nurturing. 

Thus, customized CRMs automate the marketing process, leading to fewer errors and a streamlined workflow. 

3. Manufacturing

Custom software is being used in various ways in the manufacturing industry. Some examples are: 

1. Manufacturing execution systems

2. Supply chain management software

3. Quality management software

These systems automate the manufacturing process and result in numerous benefits such as: 

1. Improved quality of products with reduced chances of human error. 

2. Continuous supply of manufacturing material to ensure an ongoing production process.

3. Consistent maintenance of manufacturing equipment to prevent any lags in production. 

Hence, custom software solutions in the manufacturing industry ensure a continuous flow of production with minimal chances of human error and mechanical breakdowns. 

4. Human Resources

HR Erp software is the most common ERP solution being used by HR departments in various industries. 

Using an ERP software solution for HR provides you with numerous benefits such as: 

1. Enabling employees to automatically mark their attendance.

2. Recording the total number of hours an employee has worked.

3. Automatically generating employee payroll. 

4. Allowing employees to mark their leaves. 

5. Providing training material to employees, such as presentation slides.

6. Tracking the status of recruitment applications for potential candidates.

Thus, by using custom ERP software, HR departments can automate various tasks, which reduces the need for paperwork. 

Now, let’s recap what we learned throughout the blog: 

The Ending Note

Going for a customized software solution has numerous benefits. It provides you with the opportunity to customize the software according to your needs, scale it up as your business expands, and is also cost-effective as it doesn’t require extensive workarounds to add new features.

Custom software is being used in various industries such as healthcare, marketing, manufacturing, and human resources. The healthcare and marketing sectors are using custom software solutions to manage patients, book appointments, and contact customers. Hence, custom software is providing benefits in various industries. 

Do you know that only 6% of accountants believe that automation can’t help with any tasks at their firm? This means that the other 94% do believe that automation plays a major part in their day-to-day processes.  

But here’s the million-dollar question. What are the essentials that contribute to creating the X-factor accounting software? This is the question that we’ll address in today’s blog. But first, let’s look in detail at what accounting software is. 

What is an Accounting Software Requirements?

Accounting software automates complex accounting processes such as; bookkeeping, preparing ledgers, journal entries, and financial statements. The interface of accounting software categorizes these tasks into separate categories and places the transactions for each category in the designated place. 

Based on further prompts from the user, these transactions are then converted into financial statements such as the income statement and the balance sheet.  Now, let’s look at some of the benefits of using accounting software for your business. 

Benefits of Accounting Software for Your Business

Using accounting software brings numerous benefits to your business, including; precision, accuracy, time-saving, filing taxes, and maintaining compliance. Now, let’s look at each of these in detail.

1. Precision and Accuracy

Accounting software results in precision and accuracy when creating financial statements.  Do you remember back in high school when you were making a trial balance and both sides didn’t show the same amount because you had missed an entry? 

The same goes for accountants. After all, some humans can make mistakes as well. However, accounting software ensures that this doesn’t happen.  Accounting software places each transaction in the correct ledger, which results in correct balances, whether it’s a trial balance or a balance sheet.

2. Time-Saving

Accounting software can save you a lot of time by automating tasks.  With accounting software, you don’t need to spend time in: 

1. Recording transactions manually in a register 

2. Counter-checking each transaction for accuracy

3. Drafting financial statements from scratch 

Yes, you’ll have to push all the buttons right. Otherwise, the software takes care of everything. 

3. Helps file taxes

An accounting software has information about all your fixed assets during a certain period. 

Thus, you don’t need to gather all the information to file your taxes. The software already has information about your: 

1. Fixed assets

2. Revenue

3. Expenses

It can provide you with this information in one click, which allows you to file for your taxes. 

4. Maintains Compliance

Accounting software is built around the latest accounting standards i.e. IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). 

The IFRS includes concepts such as: 

1. Materiality: Considering information as material can significantly change the view a user perceives in a financial statement.

2. Prudence: The concept which states that expenses and losses are not to be understated, and revenues and income are not to be overstated.

3. Accrual: The concept which states that expenses and revenues are to be incurred once they occur, rather than when cash is paid out. 

This ensures that your financial statements adhere to all financial reporting standards, ensuring no objection from the authorities. 

Now, let’s look at 10 must-have requirements for your accounting software. 

9 Must-Have Accounting Software Requirements: Checklist

Here is a checklist of 9  accounting software requirements with an explanation for each one provided below. 

1. User-friendliness

2. Technical support

3. CRM integration

4. Reporting and analytics

5. Accounts receivable dashboard

6. Accounts payable dashboard

7. Fixed assets and payroll 

8. Data security

9. Customization

1. User-Friendliness

User-friendliness should be the top accounting system requirement. After all, accounting is an already complex task, why make it more complex by having software that isn’t user-friendly? 

When choosing accounting software for your business make sure that it doesn’t have the following: 

1. Complex controls.

2. Too many menu layers

3. A cluttered interface

2. Technical Support

Your users are new to the software and they will take time to get used to it. Thus, ensure that the software provides technical support to let them know all the features well. Your software can provide technical support by: 

1. Having a helpdesk option available

2. Providing 24/7 chat support

3. Displaying pop-up prompts for each control/column/option

3. CRM Integration 

Having a CRM integration is a must-have accounting software requirement. CRM stands for customer relationship management software. The goal of the software is to maintain customer data to help in business decision-making. Integrating a CRM into your accounting software helps you by: 

1. Providing data for customer invoices

2. Telling you about customer’s credit due dates

3. Receiving payments directly into your financial system

4. Reporting and Analytics

Reporting and analytics are another top accounting software requirement.  Your accounting software should provide analytics and reports for the following: 

1. Customer credit history

2. Income statements and balance sheets

3. Adherence to accounting standards

5. Accounts Receivable Dashboard 

Having an accounts receivable dashboard provides you with a clear picture of the status of your accounts receivable. An accounts receivable dashboard can provide you with information such as: 

1. Overall department performance

2. The number of outstanding receivables

3. Information on individual accounts receivables

6. Accounts Payable Dashboard

Similar to an accounts receivable dashboard, an accounts payable dashboard can also provide information about payables, such as: 

1. Information about individual payables

2. The total number of outstanding payables

3. Overall department performance

7. Fixed Assets and Payroll

Information about fixed assets and payroll is another must-have accounting software requirement. A fixed assets and payroll dashboard can provide you with information such as: 

1. The total value of your fixed assets

2. The total amount of depreciation charged on your fixed assets

3. The Net Book value of your fixed assets

4. Bank account numbers of all employees

5. Salary packages of each employee

8. Data Security

Data security stands as a top priority for all accounting software features. Accounting data is crucial and safeguarding it is important. 

An accounting software can provide data security by: 

1. Implementing two-factor authentication 

2. Implementing decryption protocols

9. Customization and Scalability

Your accounting should have the opportunity for customization. It should be scalable and be able to integrate into further solutions that suit the organization’s needs. Your accounting software should: 

1. Accommodate more users

2. Integrate with further functions within the organization

Now that we know about 9 must-have accounting software requirements, what we learned throughout the blog. 

The Ending Note

Accounting software has made accounting easy. Using accounting software results speeds up accounting processes such as bookkeeping, preparing ledgers, recording journal entries, preparing financial statements, and managing accounts receivable/payables. The use of accounting software for organizations provides numerous benefits, such as helping maintain precision and accuracy, filing taxes, saving time, and maintaining compliance. Lastly, accounting software should also have in place robust security protocols, and also customize and scale itself to suit user needs.