SMEs are more than just job creators. They are the prime force behind economic growth and innovation. In fact, the International Labour Organisation estimated that SMEs contribute more than 50% of GDP in most of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
However, in some OECD countries, they account for as much as 70%. Their impact is particularly strong in the service industry, where they account for over 60% of GDP across many nations.
Despite the crucial role they play, SMEs often face significant hurdles in securing finance. For instance, traditional lenders get jittery over advancing credit to businesses having no or limited financial history and little collateral. In such cases, the door to alternative funding sources is often half-open. This is where AI-powered tools like Pulse step in.
What Is Pulse, and How Can It Help Your Business?
Pulse is a data analytics platform that offers real-time financial insights. It integrates or combines all the existing banking and accounting software running in business operations. The platform analyses Open Banking and Open Accounting information to give a holistic view of any company’s financial health.
With this technology, business owners are able to trace and monitor cash flow, profitability, liquidity, and even solvency without excessive sweating.
Key Features of Pulse’s Intuitive Dashboard
| Feature | Benefit to SMEs, Accountants, and Business Advisors |
| Real-Time Financial Insights | Instant access to cash flow trends, profitability data, and liquidity metrics, empowering decision-makers to act fast. |
| Customised Reporting | Easily create tailored reports highlighting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. |
| Interactive Dashboard | View financial data at a glance with clear visualisations, helping businesses understand their financial health quickly. |
| Automated Data Updates | Say goodbye to manual data entry. Pulse updates accounting and banking information automatically with the help of open accounting and open banking, ensuring accuracy. |
| Cash Flow Management Tools | Monitor and forecast cash flow more effectively, spotting trends and identifying potential cash shortages early. |
How Pulse Helps SMEs Access Alternative Funding?
Improved Credit Acceptance Rates
Undoubtedly, the biggest hurdle SMEs face in accessing finance is the inflexibility of traditional credit assessment approaches. High street lenders rely on static balance sheets and credit scores as their yardstick to measure a firm’s creditworthiness, which simply gives a one-time snapshot of an SME’s financial position.
Pulse changes the game altogether by providing a comprehensive profile of the business’ financial conditions through integration with both Open Accounting and Open Banking.
- Cash Flow Insights: The lender gets constant cash inflow reports and both highs and lows of the business cycle. For example, an ice cream shop is seasonal; it would reflect the changing revenue pattern during winter, but with Pulse, lenders get a better view of cash inflow in summer, thereby making financing possible at any point in time.
- Real-Time Updates: With regular updates, the lender becomes aware of the current financial status of the business, enabling dynamic risk assessment rather than an estimate based on old financial statements.
Increased transparency leads to improved acceptance rates of credits; thus, credit can be availed by SMEs as and when they require it.
Tailored Loan Products
In addition to improving credit acceptance, Pulse also helps SMEs access more tailored loan products. For instance, considering the information pertaining to cash flows, revenue fluctuations, and expenses provided by Pulse, loan conditions for SMEs can account for seasonal variations in income. Rather than a “one-size-fits-all” loan, the business can access funding which is tailored precisely to its needs.
Data-Driven Decision-Making
For SMEs, understanding their financial data is essential to make the right funding decisions. Pulse does not require SMEs to peruse spreadsheets. Instead, it provides actionable insights from real-time financial data.
Pulse will be of great utility to accountants and business advisors in formulating reports that provide strategic recommendations to their clients. Using these insights, accountants can make wise recommendations about when to seek funding, the amount of capital to request, and which loan products to pursue.
The Role of Open Banking and Open Accounting
To fully understand the benefits of Pulse, it’s essential to grasp the concepts of Open Banking and Open Accounting.
Open Banking
Open banking is the concept in which a bank opens its own and other banks’ financial data safely to be accessed through APIs by third-party platforms. For SMEs, it removes their siloed financial data from a specific bank and opens access for systems such as Pulse to aggregate, analyse, and present to the user. The outcome is:
- Real-time Access: Both businesses and lenders can have real-time access to balances, transaction history, and incoming and outgoing payments from the banks.
- Improved Lending: Lenders get a much bigger picture of what is going on in a business on a day-to-day basis, enabling better lending decisions.
Open Accounting
Similarly, Open Accounting refers to the ease with which cloud accounting software can be connected with third-party applications. By connecting with accounting software, Pulse can gain access to important financial information such as P&L statements, revenue trends, and outstanding invoices. This offers businesses:
- Automated Updates: Automatic updates of financial information reduce errors and the work of reporting to be done manually manual reporting work.
- Deeper Insights: SMEs have access to insights from accounting software that otherwise might be buried in larger corporates, might otherwise be buried in larger corporates, such as gross profit margins and creditor/debtor ratios.
Pulse: Your Gateway to Smarter Funding
In a world where traditional lending struggles to keep up with the speed and flexibility needed by SMEs, tools like Pulse are essential. Now, a business with integrated banking and accounting can unlock unparalleled real-time financial insights with the help of Pulse, providing avenues both in the management of cash flow and profitability and the possibility of gaining access to funding that meets its specific needs.
Business advisors and accountants also benefit from Pulse, which uses data-driven insights to assist clients in making smarter financial decisions and in seeking appropriate loan options. In fact, Pulse makes the entire funding process much clearer, more accessible, and more efficient.
Ready to Get Started?
There has never been a better time to leverage the true potential of AI-driven tools like Pulse. Whether you’re an SME owner, accountant, or business advisor, here’s a chance to make better decisions about your finances and draw upon alternative funding routes for your business with Pulse, which can be quite powerful and effective in taking your business to new heights.
Contact us at info@mypulse.io to book a demo and discover how you can transform the way you manage your business’s finances!
