But first, what is the cloud?
“The cloud” is most likely a phrase you have heard many times before, but what exactly does it mean?! The cloud is a term used to describe storing your data remotely by utilising the internet. Sounds complicated, however the hard work has already been done for us.
Small business owners are constantly being challenged, you are challenged by time constraints, to stay competitive and to grow your business. This can mean that manual tasks such as daily processing and invoicing become painfully time consuming.
Automation can play a key role in making your business more efficient and cloud based software can eradicate the need for manual processing. Giving you back the precious time you need to run your business as you see fit.
Here are five reasons why your business would benefit from a cloud based accounting solution:
Collaboration
Traditional accounting software only allows for a single user, cloud based accounting software allows multiple users access to real time financial data. User access on cloud based systems can be customised to suit the team members needs and makes it easy for your team to collaborate.
Cloud accounting systems allow for greater and more frequent collaboration with your financial advisors. Providing your accountant with access to your ledger can mean errors are picked up more quickly, information transfer becomes seamless and tax time doesn’t need to be a chore.
Integration
The cloud isn’t just reserved for accounting software, innovation in the cloud software space has enabled the development of entire business solutions, meaning all your business functions can be carried out in the cloud. Many business tools and software can directly integrate with cloud accounting ledgers. Gone are the days where businesses had multiple systems performing different business functions, when a cloud based solution can ensure all your financial data is synchronized across one platform.
Accuracy
Manual processes and functions can lead to mistakes and discrepancies, and when found it can be a time consuming process to rectify. Cloud based accounting ledgers can help automate manual processing, save time and provide you with a real time view of your business.
Security
Cloud technology has always been ‘clouded’ by the notion that your financial data is not secure. However cloud technology provides automatic backup of your data on a daily basis to prevent the possibility of data loss. Furthermore data privacy can be controlled as user access can be controlled and customised and each cloud accounting ledger maintains an audit trail to manage fraud.
Efficiency
Utilising cloud accounting software can improve your business’s overall efficiency and in turn improve your productivity. As a business owner your time is better spent driving sales, not worrying about the processing. Cloud ledgers provide business owners with real time view of their business meaning you can make informed business decisions quickly and more accurately than ever before.
These are the benefits our cloud clients are seeing when they switch to cloud software. If you’re interested in exploring how cloud technology can help your business speak to one of our Directors today.