Switching to Cloud-Based Accounting Software: Transforming Your Financial Management

Accounting Software - Then and Now

For many businesses, the job of bookkeeping has long been a very labor intensive, manual process. This meant a lot of math and handwritten forms where small errors could end up leading to much bigger problems. With everything moving towards the cloud, it only made sense that accounting software as well, would go digital. Companies could now exchange their room full of filing cabinets for more secure servers, able to safely back up every piece of information. Seeing the ability to make the job more efficient and boost overall profitability, companies began making the move to cloud-based accounting software as a way to streamline the work needed and ensure fewer errors were made.

 

26% of US companies take up to 10 hours per year to handle tax-related duties, while 40% claim it can add up to 40 hours per year. | NSBA, 2018

 

As a result of the switch, these businesses quickly realize a number of benefits, including; The ability to view their bookkeeping data in real time, the ability to collaborate with your team from anywhere, the ability to configure workflows to automate processes vs older manual efforts, and simplified reporting to help remain in compliance. Before getting started however, there are a few things that organizations need to consider.

 

Considerations

In 2021, there’s no reason for businesses to be completing their bookkeeping with old or complicated methods. Thankfully it’s a lot easier than it used to be to make the move to a cloud software solution, which is good news for organizations of every size. Smart businesses will want to do their homework to determine what they should focus on when making the move. Some of the things that need to be considered include:

 

Fig1: Considerations before switching to Cloud-Based Accounting Software

• How easy to use the solution is
• What features your business requires
• What will the overall impact to the business be
• How affordable is the solution
• How are upgrades managed
• What technical customer support is available

91% of accountants say that accounting technology has increased their productivity. | Sage, 2020

 

Aside from things like the reliability of your CSP to deliver a consistent experience, these considerations represent important guidelines for organizations still in the early stages of researching a cloud solution for their bookkeeping needs.

 

How Easy to Use the Solution is!

This is more important than you may initially think. If your chosen solution is difficult to navigate and requires as much effort as older, manual processes, it could end up taking just a long to complete a task that may result in a whole new type of error being made. A familiar interface, with logically arranged functions goes a long way towards a seamless transition. Of course, you want to confirm that all your other products work together with any new software.

 

What Features Your Business Requires

Quite simply, can the software you are evaluating do the things you need it to do? You’ll want to be absolutely certain that your requirements are met when making the final decision on what software to implement. The last thing you want is to realize after the fact that your new Cloud Accounting Software is unable to process reports the way you need them, especially when it comes to possible issues with compliance.

 

What will the Overall Impact to the Business be!

While its good to make your choice based on ease of use, required features and pricing, you also need to know how long it will take. You’ll need to be positive about how long it takes to implement, train users, and be up and running error-free to minimize disruptions to your operations. Without this point covered, implementation costs could quickly get out of control.

 

How Affordable is the Solution

A combination of licensing, implementation and training costs, it’s critical to understand what your chosen solution will cost year after year, to help determine your ROI, which will be different for every business. With cloud software you also get to skip the cost of hardware maintenance, with SLA-backed reliability available from today’s growing network of CSPs.

 

How are Upgrades Managed

With legacy bookkeeping software, updates are managed by internal IT departments managing in-house servers. These teams are responsible for ensuring all products integrate seamlessly, which can lead to customizations in order to accommodate certain software that might get left behind. This can become difficult to manage as customizations grow. Updates to cloud solutions are handled by the provider according to a predetermined schedule, where they can also complete any regression testing to keep legacy products running as long as possible.

 

What Technical Customer Support is Available

This is a big point of contention for organizations used to keeping a large IT department in-house to handle day-to-day operations. You’ll want to know that you can access a support team when you need them, and even when you don’t think you do. In the event that there’s an interruption to your services, a good support team can keep your business up and running.

 

Final Thoughts

The global cloud accounting market share is projected to increase by up to $5.65 billion by 2028. | Market.us, 2021

 

When it comes to cloud accounting software, benefits like improved collaboration, automated workflows and reduced paperwork might be clear, but benefits aren’t the only thing that matter when it comes to cloud solutions. As more organizations look to cloud accounting solutions, they’ll want to be sure they do enough research into the things that could present an interruption to their business, including defining a schedule, making sure requirements are met, ensuring usability, and understanding what levels of support are required.