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It’s almost impossible today to avoid excited conversations about the cloud, and why we should be using it to host and power the things we love and do. Whether it’s storing or sharing documents, listening to music, watching movies, collaborating on work projects, managing personal or business banking, or even tracking our fitness and food – the possibilities of the cloud are seemingly infinite.
Today, businesses are evolving by moving their business management to the cloud. The integration of multiple systems is becoming commonplace (think CRM’s such as Salesforce, linked to an eCommerce platform such as Magento, plugged into an accounting system such as Saasu) with more and more businesses choosing to share data from one platform to another. Having the ability to manage our lives wherever we want, using our smartphones or tablets provides massive flexibility and control previously not possible, streamlining business operations across the board.
With businesses these days needing some form of accounting package to help track and manage their operating financials, report on business activities, and report tax milestones, cloud accounting packages are becoming the go-to choice for many. With this in mind however, there are still many businesses using dated desktop-based accounting software to manage their financials; but according to reports from The International Data Association, this is all about to change, with “50% of all small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) set to be be using cloud accounting methods by 2016.”.
So it looks like cloud accounting packages are here to stay, that’s why we’ve provided our 8 top ways you can streamline your business with cloud accounting.
- Subscribe to the services you need: Purchasing desktop accounting software outright is pretty expensive, and it can really hurt your cash flow. By subscribing monthly, quarterly or yearly to cloud services, online accounting immediately becomes a more affordable option, especially for startups and SMEs who are watching their pennies. Many cloud accounting applications like Saasu allow you to upgrade or downgrade at any time, which is especially useful for startups who may have outgrown basic desktop packages they have previously committed to.
- Setup Automatic Bank Feeds: One of the most popular features of cloud accounting packages are automatic bank feeds. Before bank feeds became available, you would have needed to download bank statements and then upload them into your desktop accounting system, which was both time-consuming and prone to error. Now, times have changed, allowing you to connect your banking data with your cloud accounting package, creating an automatic bank feed of all your transactions for matching and reconciling.
- Make decisions based on real-time data: All businesses in today’s world need information quickly that’s in real-time and always up to date. Cloud accounting packages provide you with up-to-date information from your dashboard, or by quickly running reports. In doing so you have the power to react almost instantly and make decisions without waiting on a callback from your accountant.
- Stay connected to your team and advisors: Multiple user licenses mean your team members can work collaboratively on your data. This is particularly useful for businesses with team members in different states or countries. If you work with an advisor, you can both view your data at the same time, without being in the same location, ensuring conversations about your business data are no longer restricted to a single office computer.
- Automate your contact statements: Improve your customer relationships by scheduling statements to be sent to customers automatically so they know what they owe you, and are less likely to fall behind. Automated statements give business owners peace of mind, and are very simple to setup.
- Integrate your other systems with your cloud accounting package: Many packages including Saasu have an API (application programming interface) that opens up a world of possibilities for your business, enabling you to connect with different business management applications. This could be your CRM (customer relationship management) system, an eCommerce package, or an employee scheduling system. Integrating business systems helps to streamline your daily processes and massively reduce duplicate data entry processes.
- Stop completing manual updates: Using a web-based application means updates and improvements happen automatically via the software vendor, voiding the need to install clunky CD upgrades to your desktop software. Updates tend to happen more frequently with cloud accounting packages, and often for free, ensuring you’ll always have the latest software version at your disposal.
- Reduced data entry: Automatic Bank feeds, automated invoices, and integrated systems, means less administrative work for you, and more free time to grow your business and spend time doing the things you love.
Summary
Online accounting is just one of the many processes that businesses are moving into the cloud. Because each business is different, it’s important to choose a solution that “ticks all of the boxes” for your individual circumstance instead of committing to a product simply on the recommendation of a business advisor or colleague. Self assessment of cloud accounting applications is made easy by obligation free (usually 30 day) trials, that business owners can sign up to before making a commitment. If you haven’t done so before, we recommend trialing a cloud accounting package, we’re sure you’ll find them to be of great assistance to your business no matter what your industry.
Author Bio
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Written by Coralie Scott – Marketing Manager at Saasu
Originally from London, Coralie has worked in a variety of marketing and communication focused roles. On finishing her studies in 2008, She worked in PR and Marketing at a record label and band management company followed by a stint at the UK’s top affiliate marketing network. Most recently Coralie was Marketing Manager for Connect2Field job management software, a partner of Saasu.
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