The Benefits of Cloud Accounting

If you are still using Quickbooks Desktop to keep your books, I’m here to turn you on to the benefits of cloud accounting and address any scepticism you may have. So, what are the benefits of cloud accounting?

You Can Access Your Information From Anywhere

Cloud accounting allows you to check your data from your business, your home, a parking lot, or any other place in the world where you get reception or wifi. The real magic of this is when your accounting software integrates other functions or apps to make life easier, which leads me to another benefit.

Integration and Automation

Let’s say you are running a bunch of errands for your business and you stop at the store to pick up something that your business needs. If you are using Quickbooks Online, you can download their app and then simply take a picture of the receipt with your phone. The app reads it, saves it, and you can add it as a new transaction to your books. It takes seconds and the receipt is then stored and available right in your books. Depending on the accounting software you end up using, there are tons of other applications that can integrate with your software and automate certain processes for you related to time tracking, payroll, inventory and sales, to document storage and financial analysis. All this saves you a lot of time and potential errors.

Collaboration With Your Team

Another great benefit of cloud accounting is the ability to easily collaborate with your bookkeeper, accountant, and other members of your team. If you have employees that deal with vendors, run payroll, or create reports you can grant them specific access to complete tasks. Instead of printing out reports for your accountant, they can access your books directly from their practice.

Security

Wondering if cloud accounting is secure? It is, and is perhaps more secure than storing your data in one location where it could be subject to damage or theft. Cloud accounting software uses encryption and cybersecurity systems, let’s you control who accesses what, and stores your data in multiple secure locations. It also saves you time and money maintaining your own servers. Like anything else, cloud accounting is not completely bulletproof but, with a little research and planning you can feel confident that your information is being protected well.

Cloud accounting is becoming standard practice because of its many benefits and its ability to save business owners time and money. I hope this article is helpful to you especially if you are still using Quickbooks Desktop and are still on the fence about upgrading.