As a business owner you probably hear a lot of people raving about the “cloud” and wonder if this is something your business should be using (or you could be one of the people who is embracing this already). The cloud is completely changing how accountants work with their clients, so I thought this would be a great topic to chat about here.
Our clients utilise cloud accounts packages, which allows us to access their figures in real time and make changes to the live data. Traditionally, when desktop software was being used, information from clients would have to be requested, which would be out of date by the time it was received, which would result in asking clients to make necessary adjustments.
Cloud accounting now means that accountants can be much more pro-active than previously in the past. Now, data can be shared so that clients can do some of the bookkeeping and we can process the more complex transactions. I can also run off current information to discuss how well my client’s businesses are performing, giving them up to date advice on anything from tax planning to business expansion plans.
Additionally, what is even more useful, is that clients are now utilising their accountants to train and support them on how to adopt the accounts software. This means that more business owners are now capable to do their own bookkeeping, which not only gives them efficient management decisions based on accurate figures, but also gives them a much greater visibility over their figures.
If you haven’t been sold already on adopting cloud software, another great benefit my clients love, is that they can do bookkeeping on the go or check the financials whilst sat on a train to London, for example, as long as you have a good internet connection, you can literally access your data from anywhere (although I don’t recommend doing this when you are meant to be enjoying a family holiday).
As you can probably tell by now, I’m a big fan of the developments in cloud accounting! If you want to know if it would work for your business or how we can help I’d love to talk to you.
For further information visit www.cardensaccountants.com
