“With the advent of cloud accounting, the client and team can access the data anywhere and work more conveniently and flexibly. ”
If you are an entrepreneur or a business owner, you've likely heard about cloud accounting services. Small and mid-sized businesses often struggle with financial operations and managing their expenses. This is why they consider outsourcing to accounting firms. Thankfully, cloud technology has made outsourcing accounting operations easier.
Cloud accounting services are the best alternative for hiring an in-house accountant. It simplifies tax filing, computing, reporting and payroll, team collaboration, and automated invoicing. With the advent of cloud accounting, the client and team can access the data anywhere and work more conveniently and flexibly.
Suppose an accounting software is installed on your computer. Will an accounting expert who lives miles away or in another city be able to access your software or accounting data and carry out the operations for you? Maybe with a remote desktop connection, however, which would be difficult, inconvenient, and limit collaboration.
However, outsourcing to accounting firms is made easy with the advent of cloud technology. Cloud accounting uses a virtual server to host the accounting software. Therefore, the accounting software is not installed on a local device or computer. Instead, the software is installed on the server, and one can access it anywhere, anytime, given they have login rights. Thus, business and accounting service providers can access financial data and software, work on it, and carry out operations. This allows cloud accounting services to work for you seamlessly.
Why would a business want to outsource to a cloud accounting firm? For that, let us see how outsourced cloud accounting differs from in-house accounting.
In-House Accounting | Outsourced Cloud Accounting |
The in-house accountants or business owners take care of the accounting operations. | The accounting firm and expert team take care of the accounting operations. |
Businesses primarily use a few accounting software installed on computers. | The accounting software is installed on the cloud, and the business uses it. |
It is only possible to access and share business data from the computer the software is installed on. | One can open the cloud accounting software on any device and access the company data. |
It is difficult for a team member or expert to access the accounting software or collaborate on a project. | Anyone can access the cloud-based software and collaborate effortlessly. |
These differences between outsourced cloud accounting and in-house desktop accounting have numerous implications. Let us see how switching to outsourced cloud accounting can change everything for a business.
Outsourced cloud accounting services are a long step up from traditional in-house and desktop accounting. It has the goodness of both outsourcing and cloud accounting. It has the potential to revolutionize the accounting operations of your business. This is the top reason to consider switching to it. Outsourcing cloud accounting gives these advantages for your business:
You don't need to stick to a few computers where your accounting software is installed. With cloud technology, you can open your company data and carry out accounting on any device. Moreover, this doesn't need you to wait for the software to be installed first.
Cloud accounting is fast, with minimum latency, given you have a good network connection. With login rights, anyone can open cloud-based software and carry out accounting operations. This allows your team members and accounting service providers to work seamlessly without waiting on each other for updates or sharing files.
Instead of using paper and documents, cloud accounting stores company information in the form of digital records. These records are organized in folders and databases and are easily accessible. Therefore, it becomes quite easy to store, manage, and browse company records.
Do not waste crucial time and money on clerical tasks anymore. Most of these processes can be automated with the help of outsourced cloud accounting. Therefore, accounting operations like bookkeeping, invoicing, and financial reporting can be easily automated and performed timelessly.
Cloud technology uses software and automation to reduce human inputs. This allows them to conduct accurate accounting and bookkeeping. With cloud technology, businesses can generate accurate financial reports and tax returns. This saves them from the risks like inefficiency, penalties, and litigation.
Using cloud technology to speed up accounting operations has one great implication - saving significant time. The businesses can carry out operations in less time, generate reports on the go, file taxes before deadlines, and much more.
How long does your accounting system take to reflect the inputs and project the results? Cloud technology gives businesses real-time updates on the status, financial data, and company performance. The dashboard and the insights in cloud accounting are potent tools for company management.
Your company data is essential as it contains the crucial details of your business, such as transactions, receipts, bills, payments, etc. You can’t let this data be stolen, lost, or passed into the wrong hands. Cloud accounting technology stores the data digitally, organizes it, and saves it in a secure environment. Cloud accounting services help keep the company data safe from fraud, cyber-attacks, corruption, or getting lost.
In case of an in-house team of accountants, the expertise and knowledge they have is limited. However, the accounting firms that provide cloud accounting services have a wide array of resources at their disposal. This includes a team of professionals who are experts in their domain, cutting-edge technology and tools, and a great network. This gives the confidence to the clients that the service provider can address all types of complicated situations.
Opting for cloud accounting also gets the businesses real-time support of the experts. It means businesses don’t have to wait long for updates, reports, or resolutions. This is also crucial in case of urgent scenarios or deadlines. A good accounting service provider must offer real-time solutions to client’s queries and issues.
It is natural to doubt the security of online bookkeeping methods. Since cyber threats like data fraud, corruption, malware attacks, etc., remain quite prevalent, online software and servers demand a very high level of data security. However, cloud accounting remains safe due to its encrypted nature.
The cloud accounting technology encrypts the data when storing or moving it. It means the business data is written in a secret code that can only be decrypted by the service provider. Which ensures the business data is secured from corruption, fraud, or cyber-attacks. Moreover, a backup is stored in the cloud so that the original data can be restored in case of breakdown or data loss.
This makes cloud accounting more secure than storing physical documents, which can be lost or tampered with.
Cloud accounting software is similar to the business model of accounting software or SaaS (Software as a Service). However, the main difference is that the software is hosted on cloud servers instead of being installed on a computer or local storage. Cloud accounting hosts accounting software on the cloud, which can be easily accessed on any device.
Here are the most popular cloud accounting software for small and mid-sized businesses.
1. Sage
2. Xero
3. QuickBooks
It isn’t easy to find a reliable cloud accounting service provider. However, we stand out from the crowd of accounting service providers owing to our values and high-quality services.
Here are the top features of A2 Accountants cloud hosting services:
Here’s what A2 Accountants do for small and mid-sized businesses:
Here are the values we work for to ensure that businesses benefit the maximum from our services:
The best thing about our cloud accounting service is that we don’t require commitments from our clients. They can change their plans anytime and check out our services without paying. Therefore, connect with us, take a free initial consultation, and start your free trial today. Dial 1800 580-5375 now.
Kevin really helped me avoid mental and physical stress by handling all my books. Really appreciate his help.
Accountant
Unlike others, they are professional and always work hard to keep my business finances in order.
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I can totally rely on them with my accounts, and I really think they care about what I am doing.
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The team has a good knowledge of tax laws, and they've really helped me to avoid several mistakes.
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