Cloud accounting has come of age. The obvious benefits of availability, low cost, good functionality, and for accountants, no need to keep multiple versions of desktop software and large data files are well known.
Unexpected Benefits
It is the unexpected benefits which clients get that makes it work for them and us. Even clients who are used to a desktop version of software, who then move to the cloud version – in other words, who are used to computerised bookkeeping – are finding benefits that they were not expecting. The cloud version is more easily assimilated, it is easier to use, it needs less management as there is no data file to manage, and it is platform independent. Also you can usually get an app to do stuff on the hoof as well, such as scan your tiny and easily lost paper receipts.
Understanding the business in real-time
But more than that, it is not just the functionality that you can benefit from. It is the ability to understand better how your business is functioning in real time. It is that ability to manage the business better so that our clients are asking us better questions, getting better-targeted answers, and making better decisions.
Part of that is because we have access to their system all the time we can correct small errors much quicker, rather than waiting for a data file to arrive every month or quarter, or unfortunately annually. It is far more satisfying for us to correct it quickly, talk to our client, and get them pointed in the right direction quicker so that they keep resources they can use for growth and profits rather than wasting them on rework and loss.
When we do find something that needs correction, we can often use the program to learn from this so that the client has less to remember, as well again saving time and potential future errors.
Better decisions, better results
We are now also able to do real-time reporting graphically on the key elements that make their business tick. The one thing that all entrepreneurs lack is time, not money, people or anything else. Business owners need to do more in the available time, and finding ways so that they can identify key elements quickly without having to wade through lots of reports wondering what they mean, uses their time better. They can quickly see what they need to do, and take the right action. Better decisions, taken properly, lead to better results.
Moreover, our client partnership is strengthened, as we are all talking about the same up-to-date information so that we can help them achieve their objectives better and quicker.
People do not expect all that simply by moving to the cloud, but usually they get it.