Cloud computing has been around long enough for it to become an integral part of the tech world. However, now it is moving on to all kinds of businesses bringing along all the advantages and possibilities that have made it indispensable for the technological trade.
Accountants all over the globe are now switching over to cloud accounting for a more advanced and simpler resolution to their issues and work demands.
Cloud accounting helps accountants take a more productive approach in providing sound business advice to their clients because of its collaborative features. By using the cloud, accountants work together on shared real-time data so that the work can be done in a much more efficient and timely manner.
CPA.com, a subsidiary of AICPA released a study that says that 9 out of 10 CPAs surveyed agreed that the delivery of digital business processes to their clients will become a major factor in differentiating accounting firms within the next 5 years.
Here are few benefits cloud technology provides to CPAs and accountants:
1. Get Higher Return for Lower Budget Input
Cloud-based services are very cost effective. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that they don’t need a high budget infrastructure to function. Cost incurring factors like hardware and maintenance are virtually eliminated because they are taken care of by the service providers. Most of these service providers offer highly affordable monthly or yearly plans that the accountants can choose from.
Moreover higher values CFO and planning services that are offered by cloud accounting display a much better profit margin than other services like tax or auditing. Due to the real-time nature of the transactional data, accountants can discover a lot of opportunities for services that the clients are willing to pay for.
2. Go Paper Free
Cloud accountancy works completely on computers and thus there is no longer the need for paperwork. All the records and data are fed into a shared real-time virtual storage space. This permits a collaborative effort by the team members without any need for separate record sheets for each of them.
Besides the ease of operations, paperless operations also help in saving trees. Being an environmentally friendly firm helps in garnering a good reputation not only with the clients but with other contemporary organizations as well.
3. Be Free of Downtime
The biggest disadvantage of using technology in any kind of business is the downtime the organization has to face due to technological issues. However, when using cloud-based accounting, there is no need to worry about downtimes at all.
When choosing cloud-based services, accountants can rest assured that there are going to be no hindrances to their work. This is because service providers are ready to instantly fix any issue over the internet. Even in cases of data loss, they have a backup copy readily available that can be used at a moment’s notice.
4. Work from Anywhere and Expand Your Reach
Another major advantage of cloud accounting is its easy and large-scale accessibility. Cloud-based services run as a software on the internet. Therefore, they are platform independent as well as free from any geographical constraints.
By being able to be used anywhere, cloud accounting services help accountants increase their professional reach. These accountants can deal with clients half a world away without any problems. This lets them gain a lot more business opportunities thus boosting the overall growth of the firm.
5. Keep Your Data Secured With Added Security Measures
While some accountants are still unsure about it, all those accountants who understand how cloud technology works know that cloud security is wonderful. Service providers add many layers of security measures and firewalls that keep the private data of the clients safe from malicious users.
Moreover, the service providers also keep the data encrypted so that even in a case that security breach does happen, the data cannot be accessed by anyone else.
6. Make Your Firm Flexible and Scalable
Cloud accounting is highly flexible. Accountants can easily the scale of the service they are using up or down immediately. Most service providers have flexible plans that allow a user to choose the one that best suits their needs and budget.
In a case when there’s a need to scale up or down, a simple call or email to the service provider will get it done. As most of these providers have monthly paid plans, there are no problems if things need a change
Conclusion
Cloud technology is a very important tool for accountants and CPAs if they want to stay on the edge in today’s ever-changing market. The various benefits it provides can help out in utilizing new opportunities and build a successful practice. The possibilities cloud accounting provides for the professionals in this economy are endless.
Comments (1)
With the help of the cloud, accountants can now slowly switch to paperless offices. If other businesses take an page of their book, using paper in office work can be slowly made obsolete. This will make a highly positive impact on the environment as offices are the main users of papers and most of these papers don’t have long term use.
Cloud accounting has been a tremendous development in making the works of accountants a lot easier. With the various collaboration and remote accessibility features , accountants can be more flexible with their work while still retaining maximum efficiency.
Great post kartik. I would like to add that cloud accounting can help better interaction between accountants and clients as accountants can now work on financial data as soon as the clients update it. This makes the overall working a lot faster and smoother.
Accountants now have to switch over to cloud accounting if they want to maintain their competitive edge. With the myriad of features cloud provides, any accountant be it a CPA or a regular one if he chooses to avoid it will find that he is out of business very soon.