While many small businesses are focusing on maximising their tax return for the year that has just passed, the new financial year is the perfect time for small businesses to get set up with new tools that will make help to make them more efficient, save time and improve their cashflow.

With a rapidly increasing number of cloud-based platform available, this has become simpler than ever before as the platforms begin to integrate with each other, meaning that small business owners can access their business data from anywhere in the world, and use data in one platform to make informed decisions using data from another.

“There are more options than ever for business owners to access affordable and powerful tools designed to empower you to manage operations on the go” commented Ben Pfisterer, Square Australia Country Manager; “We see businesses using Square being able to accept credit and debit card payments wherever they do business, and then all of that valuable sales data and insights are uploaded automatically to their cloud based accounting systems. This mobility and efficiency created allows business owners to spend more time reinvesting back into growth.”

Here are the top 5 business tools currently available in Australia designed for small business owners who want to have a big-business approach to growth this new financial year:

1. Square

Australia's newest small business godsend, Square, gives small business owners everything they need from a powerful point-of-sale, integrated and affordable credit and debit card payments with Square Reader, and now the ability to send invoices directly from the free smartphone or tablet app.

The iconic Square Reader, which was released in March, is only $19 and plugs into the headphone jack of your Apple or Android smartphone or tablet and allows you to accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express card payments in moments. Without any monthly charges, hidden fees or lock-in contracts, Square is simplifying how business owners run their business by bringing all the tools owners need into one powerful app.

Pricing: Square’s free point-of-sale app, Square Register, is free. Square Reader allows you to accept credit and debit card payments and costs $19 at Officeworks, Bunnings and Apple stores. There is a 1.9% transaction fee for any credit or debit card payment accepted.

1. Deputy

As your business grows, so does your team. Deputy is a simple and innovative workplace management solution that gives business owners access to the tools they need to better manage their team. Schedule employees, monitor time and attendance, manage tasks and communicate with your team. Deputy’s mobile app means that even if business owners are out of the workplace, they can see who’s at work, answer messages and call in replacement staff if someone calls in sick. Deputy also integrates with Square, meaning that it can track team and hours rostered against sales and optimise your schedule to costs.

Pricing: Deputy pricing starts at $1 per employee, per month.

1. Intuit Quickbooks Online

Quickbooks Online is powerful, cloud-based accounting software that allows business owners to complete their bookkeeping and billing. Access from a desktop computer, tablet or smartphone, to automate bank feeds, track sales and expenses, scan receipts and process payroll for employees. All the data then builds into accounting reports which can be provided to a business accountant or bookkeeper in retail time to ensure business owners are prepared for any tax obligations.

Quickbooks Online also integrates with Square to ensure that all transaction data from your point-of-sale is automatically imported, helping to save time and increase accuracy for reconciliation against bank statements. Business owners are always strapped for time, so any process automation between platforms helps save time and means they can focus back on growing their business.

Pricing: Pricing for Quickbooks Online starts at $13.50 per month.

1. ATO App

At the end of another financial year, there’s nothing more satisfying than ensuring that you’re well across your taxation for the upcoming period. The ATO app helps small business owners by simplifying tax and super affairs, giving you access to all the information and tools you need in one convenient location.

The ATO App lets you record work-related expenses, gift and donations as well as the cost of managing business tax accounting. The app also allows business owners to calculate tax withheld from salary and wage payments, and check ABN details of potential or new business suppliers before they start to work with them.

Pricing: Free

1. Dropbox

With all of these tools designed for businesses to operate on the go, there are also tools designed to help business owners access documents and share information in a mobile world. Dropbox Business function allows small to medium businesses to store, sync, and securely share Office documents, videos, music files and images and allow users to access them via iOS, Android and Windows devices. Securely preview, edit and share files direct from your smartphone. Files can even be accessed offline by adding them to your favourites, giving you the freedom to manage files on the run.

Pricing: Dropbox Business pricing starts at $17 per user, per month for unlimited space.