How Accounting Firms Maximize Their ROI With Cloud Computing

Technology, from time to time, has allowed CPAs to enjoy better efficiency. Modern solutions, including development in accounting software, have always uplifted CPAs and empowered them to maximize their ROI.

Continuing this trend, they now have one more tool in their arsenal that can help them optimize their business operations and enjoy an enhanced return on their investments – opting for the cloud from a service provider.

It is a fantastic tool that can significantly ramp up organizational ROI. Its multi-dimensional functionalities have made many operational activities more economical and allowed CPAs to save money.

Here are seven ways by which accounting firms can optimize their ROI with the cloud:

1. Lower Maintenance Costs

Owning a local desktop setup comes with considerable maintenance costs. You have to invest extensively in purchasing the required hardware, handle their repair/replacement yourself, and even make necessary arrangements for housing them securely. All this calls for a hefty capital investment which in the end could burden your organization financially.

With the cloud, your organization doesn’t need to worry about it becoming a liability for them. As the IT infrastructure is deployed on the cloud and managed by your service provider, you do not need to worry about its maintenance. And the best part is that all of this is covered in your pricing plan, plus there are no extra charges for the same.

2. Better Uptime

Most accounting firms use locally installed accounting software. Such solutions always have some limitations like inadequate data security, no remote access, and the like. Thus, any hard disk failure or fire at your workplace could result in significant business downtime. Such a situation is undesirable as a few minutes of downtime can cost businesses a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

However, firms can solve this by hosting their favorite accounting application like Sage, QuickBooks, etc., on the cloud. CPAs and firms get access to their data with an uptime of at least 99.99% with the cloud. This means that there will be a downtime of a few minutes per year, and this is backed by SLA (Service Level Agreement) guarantee from reputed cloud providers. This ensures that business operations are not disrupted during unfortunate circumstances.

3. Economical Security Solution

Despite providing quality accounting services, CPA firms must effectively protect their sensitive financial data as well. However, local desktops are comparatively easier to compromise and can be illicitly accessed easily. Also, even if you want to implement premium security measures, they are pretty expensive to manage in-house.

The answer to this problem is cloud hosting. Service providers offer a multi-tier security infrastructure with bank-grade 256-bit encryption, AI surveillance, etc. Also, it is armed with antivirus/anti-malware, while any intrusion is safeguarded with the modern IDPS (Intrusion Detection and Prevention System). All these features come in-built with your monthly plans and are quite economical. Thus, letting you deploy quality security solutions without burning a hole in your pocket.

4. Flexible Scalability Options

During the peak tax season, firms require more storage and RAM for running their exhaustive processes. However, once over, they don’t need such extensive deployment until the following year. And this is where the main problem lies. Scaling up your local IT setup requires the permanent purchase of hardware, which is rather cost-inefficient. Also, the purchased hardware will become obsolete after a few years.

The cloud offers flexible scalability options that are manifold better than conventional upgrades. Instead of permanently investing in IT resources like storage and RAM, you can access them temporarily. Just contact your service provider, and they will provide you the necessary computational resources. Also, once your work is finished, you can conveniently scale back to your pre-season monthly plan.

5. High-Performance Computing

Improving productivity with the help of add-ons and graphic-intensive applications (GIAs) is another way by which firms can optimize their ROI. The firms that optimize their productivity automatically witness better ROI and reach higher growth levels. The cloud helps you achieve the same without letting the limitations of local IT infrastructure hinder you.

Unlike the traditional desktop environment, where the usage of GIAs and add-ons is restricted due to the limited computational ability, most service providers offer high-performance computing servers for a seamless end-user experience. So, no matter how many GIAs or add-ons you are using, you can smoothly carry out your operations without suffering from any performance lag without any extra cost.

6. Easy Remote Access

An accounting firm has to manage different kinds of operational expenditures. They have to manage accounting-related expenses, the cost of the IT setup, rent/buy a workplace, pay the maintenance charges, and bear other miscellaneous fees as well. Furthermore, they need to handle the payrolls of their employees too. However, you can avoid various office-related costs with the cloud and save up on your crucial finances.

As you can easily access the cloud from anywhere, you can avoid setting up a sizeable official premise anytime using the Internet. You can allow maximum of your employees to work from home, which helps you minimize your office space. This way, you are not required to invest considerably in office space and conveniently carry out your work remotely.

7. Smoother Paperless Integration

Everyone knows how cost-efficient and productive a paperless environment is. You do not need to deal with paper storage costs and issues and not worry about a crucial document getting misplaced. Everything is systematically managed and sorted digitally. Also, you don’t have to bear any printing-related costs. However, data even upon digitization can be easily destroyed if proper measures are not implemented.

The cloud allows you to get the best out of a paperless environment without letting its limitations bothering you. The data stored in the cloud is maintained at several remote servers, each of them having advanced protection measures. So, unlike conventional desktops, where you could permanently lose the stored data due to events like natural calamities and accidents, the data on the cloud is thoroughly secured and impervious to such incidents.

Conclusion

The cloud can be the magic bean that completely transforms the way accounting firms handle their finances. It offers multiple ways like enhanced data security, easy remote access, better uptime, and the like by which accounting firms can leverage it to gain the maximum ROI from their investment.

Wish to know how the cloud will benefit your business? Get in touch with our Solutions Consultant at 855-781-8934.