7 Benefits of Cloud Accounting and How It Works
What is Cloud Accounting?
You must have heard about cloud computing, which is the on-demand access of computing resources over the Internet. Similarly, under cloud accounting, your accounting practice can access accounting software on a remote server. Under it, you can store and access financial records, reports, and the accounting system anywhere using your official computer via the Internet.
Cloud accounting allows multiple users to access and remotely store important financial records. These records or data are sent to cloud providers, where they are processed and safely stored.
How Does Cloud Accounting Work?
Cloud accounting focuses on streamlining your accounting processes using secure web-based software. Through it, your accounting teams can access all important information from their locations, thus making teamwork and financial reporting easy. In other words, web-based software reduces your requirements to buy and set up multiple desktops with the software because now everyone can access it through their personal desktop via the cloud. Cloud accounting saves time and reduces cost and everyone will be working on the same page.
Furthermore, cloud accounting also offers data security, which includes data backup and recovery. So, if you have an accident at work or face a technical problem with your official computers, your data is safe and secure. There are many advantages of using cloud accounting, which we will elaborate further in the blog.
7 Benefits of Cloud Accounting
Technology is moving at a fast pace. That’s why if you are still using desktop software and spreadsheets, it is time for an upgrade to cloud accounting. Shifting to cloud accounting will open the gates to multiple benefits, which will give your accountants the flexibility to work from anywhere and enhance their performance without any worry about accessibility, data storage, or data security.
From the multiple benefits, we have narrowed down to 7 main benefits of cloud accounting. These benefits are as follows.
Automation
For any accounting practice, getting accurate financial numbers becomes difficult when they depend on the physical paper process of accounting. Also, a manual accounting process will lead to errors, which, if they go unnoticed, can lead to larger problems.
Using a cloud accounting platform to manage accounts will reduce these errors to a bare minimum by giving access to financial data in real-time. It also reduces manual work and increases efficiency by automating multiple accounting and banking tasks.
Lower Expenditure on Infrastructure
If you are not interested in cloud accounting, then get ready to invest in a server that will store your accounting software and data. Also, you will have to recruit an IT expert to maintain the server. All this comes under overhead expenses. Indeed, you would not be interested in making such expenditures when you have an effective and cost-saving option in cloud accounting. It will allow you to transfer all your work to the cloud. Thus, there is no need to buy expensive IT infrastructure or to pay the staff to maintain it. You can use the money saved on business expansion and improving your accounting services.
Of course, cloud accounting and infrastructure are still significant investments that require a certain level of expertise, which you and your staff may lack. That’s why many accounting outsourcing service providers are offering cloud accounting and infrastructure services at reasonable prices.
Accessibility
One of the most significant benefits of cloud accounting is the ability to access crucial data sitting anywhere. With it, your accounting staff will have an option other than to come to the office where the server is placed to access information. With cloud accounting, you will need internet and a laptop with a web browser to access all the financial reports, records, and transactions. All this can be achieved without installing any software on your staff’s desktop.
Thanks to cloud accounting, your staff will not have to be in the office daily and can work remotely without affecting their performance. This is possible because they have all the information available with a click of a button.
Data Security
While running your accounting practice, you deal with sensitive financial information that is prone to theft by cybercriminals. This keeps you and many of your competitors awake at night. Any breach or leak of your client’s financial or personal information can lead to legal issues and damage to your reputation.
You may be thinking that you should implement strong data security measures in your office, but nothing can match the security of a data centre. If you are using cloud accounting, then you must know that all your financial information is stored in the data centre. These centres are secure with strong security features, and even during natural calamities, you will not lose any data.
Eco-Friendly
Because of climate change, people are becoming aware of its consequences and are expecting companies and governments to tackle it. As an accounting firm, you can do your bit by choosing cloud accounting. This way, you are reducing the consumption of papers and printer cartridges used by your employees.
Also, paper reports require physical storage and sending, which makes the whole accounting process slow and inefficient. Hence, when you decide to choose cloud accounting, you are not only becoming efficient and fast but also having a positive impact on the environment.
Improvement in Efficiency and Accuracy
In the good old days accounting work used to done manually and no matter how good your employees where they were bound to do human error. Any wrong information added will only lead to miscalculations, harming your reputation in the market. Currently, you have the option of cloud accounting, which will reduce the chances of double entries and automate invoices. Hence, your accountants will need to dedicate less time to checking each entry and adding data, thereby boosting staff productivity and driving increased business.
Scalability
It is one of the most attractive benefits of cloud accounting. When your clients expand the size of their business, their accounting demands and volume of financial data will also increase. With this added burden, your accountants will be unable to manage just through desktop accounting solutions. That’s when cloud accounting comes in quite handy. Cloud accounting software can automate most of your accounting functions, thus enabling you to match up with the demands of your client’s business expansion.
Also, you are meeting client expectations through cloud accounting, expanding your accounting business, and creating a good name in the accounting field.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cloud accounting is the present and futuristic solution. It offers solutions that will reduce manual labour, improve accuracy, and streamline accounting processes. Your accounting staff can access financial information in real-time from anywhere in the world.
However, we understand cloud accounting is new and requires expertise to handle. In that case, you choose to outsource accounting to Corient Business Solutions, an accounting service provider.
We specialise in bookkeeping, year-end, VAT, and outsourced payroll services. Through our secure cloud accounting technology working papers and supporting documentation can be more accessible for your review. We are also open to using your firm’s document management systems to record our work if that is your preference. We can connect at your convenience by phone or online meeting to discuss our services in detail.