Holded is a cloud-based ERP and invoicing program, although this is only one of the things that can be done with it. Actually it would be more accurate to say that Holded is a comprehensive enterprise management solution for businesses of any type and size, I'll explain why.
Table of Contents
In this directory we give space to all kinds of tools that enhance your eCommerce. Some have very specific functions and others cover large areas. There are also technical and strategic ones and then there are others like Holded that have to do with all the management of the business from the back office.
Holded allows you to generate invoices easily, but its influence on the business goes far beyond that, because it is also a CRM, a tool for managing teams and workflows, a project manager and, as if this were not enough, it also has an application that keeps track of your store's stock.
Really adding Holded to our toolbox means taking a step forward in business control. This, which is totally transparent to the client, has a fairly radical impact on the way we do things and translates into greater efficiency which, yes or no, also means greater profitability.
Features
In order to understand exactly what this tool can do for us, it is essential to go into detail in the different applications it contains. That is exactly what we are going to do next.
Cloud Billing Software
Tired of running around with Excel bills that go back and forth? Or, even worse, mountains of paperwork that gets lost, misplaced, and is everywhere taking up space.
The digital transformation is not only a question of bringing the business online with an eCommerce, it is also closely related to the digital management of the business.
So Holded guides and supports you from the ground up with customised quotes from its own control panel.
Of course, with this tool, you can generate all the necessary invoices (Amazon invoice generation, ecommerce platform invoice generation and more).
. In this way, not only do you ensure that you are creating a perfectly legal and valid document, but you are also able to make it visually attractive and in line with your brand image. You can start from 40 different templates that you can customize with the corporate colors, logo and typographies that correspond.
In the case of those invoices that have to be sent recurrently to a certain client, as it can be in the case of the subscription models, Holded is able to automate the process generating and sending automatically the invoice in a determined date of the month or the period that we define.
When you connect your bank to the tool, which is surprisingly easy with the integration of more than 300 banks, you can start to control every payment you receive. The system itself takes care of sending automated messages to customers who have not yet paid their bills (by transfer, card or PayPal), freeing up some of your management time for productive work.
All this is also reflected in a control panel with very complete but simple to interpret reports. At a glance you get a very precise idea of the state of your finances, cash flow, invoices collected and pending, the profitability of each client, sales quantity, average amounts… and anything else you need to know about the financial status of the company.
Automated accounting
Entrepreneur, self-employed, businessman… you are many things by choice, but for most of us controlling the finances is something that comes with the job and does not make us too happy.
It's obviously one of the critical parts of the business, so there's no point in complaining, and looking the other way can be straightforward career suicide.
To minimize that pain you can pull Holded which integrates all the data in the cloud and allows you to consult in real time the status of any movement of your accounts in detail.
Thanks to the automatic bank reconciliation you will have an overview of all your accounts in one single platform (even if they are in different banks). Every movement is updated in minutes.
Within Holded you can access complete financial statements of the company that are generated automatically. Profits, losses and balances in real time that you can compare with forecasts and historical data. It even integrates the largest in its backend so you can consult the accounting entries. An updated and always available overview of expenses and income.
Holded's CRM
So far we've talked a lot about the financial and billing side, but Holded also has a reflection on the client. Let's just say it doesn't just count the money, it helps generate it.
To begin with, it allows us to create personalized funnels, which means that it detects business opportunities in certain users in a first phase and accompanies us in the process of transforming the interest of that lead into a sale. To do this, it streamlines all processes, contacts and proposal generation.
It is a very visual tool that offers us all the information of each of the stages. We will know exactly when the opportunity was created and when it is estimated that the operation should be closed (it even calculates the probability of success).
You will always have the process data and all the customer details updated so that you and any member of your team can interact with him with all the necessary information and manage calls and messages directly from the application.
Stock management
This is another critical aspect of the business that Holded helps you control. In both online and offline businesses it is vital to know what our stock levels are at all times. If we don't know the amount of products in our inventory accurately, we run the risk of losing business opportunities.
Holded connects your warehouse with the online store, this way every order that comes in through the eCommerce communicates in real time.
Similarly, on this platform, not only will we know what is coming out but we will also be able to keep track of what is going into our warehouse. Thanks to its search engine we can use various filters such as dates, type of product or the specific reference.
The stock manager is also part of the Holded ecosystem, which means that it is connected to all the applications and, for example, when the order comes in it communicates it to the warehouse and generates the invoice. All in an automated manner.
If you have several online and offline shops as well as several warehouses, don't worry because you can register them all in the system and keep them connected.
Project Management
In many companies, this type of task management tool is used to define those responsible and to know exactly the status of each of the aspects that make up the job. If we think about it and see the rest of Holded's functionalities, it makes sense to integrate everything in this platform especially from the point of view of productivity.
The first thing that calls the intention is how easily it is able to employ different types of resources and methodologies. For example, it uses Kanban-type dashboards, lists of tasks linked to deadlines, budgets or sales, Gantt charts to control the times consumed by the different tasks… nothing to envy to specific tools for this type of analysis.
In fact, if you are already using other managers like Jira, Trello or even from Excel, you can import the projects directly into Holded. Easy and painless transition. Now all you have to do is customize the template and you're done.
As it is linked to financial information, the decisions made are always more efficient. You assign tasks, define deadlines and all this knowing at all times how each of these actions affects the economic side of the business.
Equipment management
The moment we have employees, personnel management becomes very complicated. To avoid going crazy, it is highly recommended to look for a solution that encompasses as many aspects as possible and that can be easily managed in a centralized way.
With Holded, for example, payroll drafts are made with all the necessary concepts (variable, fixed, income tax…) and then issued automatically. You will always have access to this information to better organize your payments and treasury.
Although it does not stop at being a payroll creation tool, that would not be enough to consider it “team management”. Holded can be used very reliably to centralize employee and company communications on issues such as leave or vacation absences and even timekeeping (workers can register from their computer or mobile phone).
In this same tool we will store the legal documents of the workers such as contracts.
Holded Integrations
Since it is a tool with so many facets and that touches so many sticks within the company, it is essential that it can communicate with different applications and services.
On the one hand we have the banks and payment gateways. Here we have already commented that you can connect to more than 300 banks, but we must also add here Paypal and payment gateways as Stripe.
As far as sales channels are concerned, Holded integrates with Shopify, PrestaShop and other CMS, as well as with marketplaces such as Amazon. Omnicanality is a strength.
Add to this its seamless communication with cloud storage and management tools such as Google Drive and Dropbox or anything else with Zappier.
Pricing
There are 4 different plans and it's much, much cheaper than you might think with the list of features in hand.
Holded Free
As its name indicates it is totally free although limited. 2 users per month can create and send invoices (up to 50 of the latter). However, in the free plan you can not connect the bank, for example.
Holded Starter
For 10€ a month you add the synchronisation of 1 bank, templates and invoice boxes.
Holded Standard
We go up to 25 euros per month but we can already generate multi-currency and synchronize up to 3 different banks.
Holded Pro
All options available for 50€ per month. Automatic reconciliation, unlimited banking, automated recurring invoices, advanced reporting..
You can try Holded with its 14-day demo at no cost and without even putting in your credit card, so you can decide if you want to continue later.
Holded review
After so many years of seeing projects, the truth is that in many cases you are slacking off in this part of the business. That's why I see it as highly recommendable to use a business management tool like this.
Speed up recurring tasks that rob you of time and productivity every month. The automatic generation of invoices and the fact of sending payment reminders would already be worth up to 50 euros per month of the superior plan, but it has much more.
It's a very efficient way to have everything under control in one single platform that you can consult from any place and device.
Something negative? Honestly, at best you can get used to the good life too quickly (and you'll still need a manager for taxes and duties).
Super recommendable for companies of any size from freelancers or SMEs to large multinational businesses.
Our score
- Number of features (5)
- Pricing (5)
- Learning curve (5)
- User friendly (5)
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About the author
Jordi Ordonez
I work as an independent eCommerce and Amazon consultant.
Clients
Estrella Damm, Intersport, Bella Aurora, Lladró, Textura Interiors, Nice Things Palomas, Castañer, Due-Home and many other clients.
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I teach and have been a speaker at: Meet Magento, Prestashop, Prestashop Day, SEMRush, Cambra de Comerç Barcelona, ClinicSEO, Ecommbeers, Ecommbrunch, Ecommercetour.com, Ecommfest, EOI, ESIC-ICEMD, Foxize, Generalitat de Catalunya, Inesdi, Quondos and The Valley. In addition, I have done in-company trainings for brands such as Orange and Adidas.
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I collaborate writing articles for Helium 10 blog, Shopify, SEMRush, La Vanguardia, eCommerce-news.es, Marketing4ecommerce...
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