QuickBooks Cloud Accounting: Best Practices for Choosing Your Hosting Provider (Series Part – 3)

We already know how cloud accounting has become an essential tool for businesses in the current digital era, particularly those in the finance industry. QuickBooks Cloud Accounting offers unparalleled convenience and efficiency.

However, to maximize these benefits, selecting the right hosting provider is crucial. In the last edition of this series blog, we explored different methods for accessing QuickBooks virtually. Since hosting with a third-party service provider is one of the best options to access QuickBooks on the cloud, selecting the right hosting provider is crucial, especially for accounting firms and SMBs.

So, in this blog, we’ll explore the best practices one must follow to choose the right service provider that supports your needs.

How Does Cloud-based QuickBooks Work?

A hosting provider plays a crucial role in delivering cloud-based QuickBooks. Here’s how the process works:

• Select QuickBooks Version: With Intuit discontinuing the popular QuickBooks Pro and Premier versions, new users now have only one QuickBooks Desktop option: Enterprise. However, existing users of Pro and Premier can continue hosting their preferred versions.
• Get Licenses: The cloud service provider will ask for a valid QB License when hosting it on the cloud. Make sure you have a license or buy it directly from a QuickBooks Solution Provider or Intuit. Usually, a hosting provider will only support your IT infrastructure.
• Choose the Right Service Provider: Find your perfect fit for hosting QuickBooks and related applications on the cloud.
• Assess Your Requirements: With the hosting provider’s consultations, identify your system requirements, including storage, RAM, and other specifications required to host your accounting infra on the cloud.
• Onboarding and Migration: From here on, the hosting provider will set up your infrastructure in the cloud. Many hosting providers also offer a free migration that’ll help you move your existing data to the cloud for on-premises or another cloud service provider.
• Training and Maintenance: Although navigating the cloud-based software is exactly like navigating the desktop version, the hosting provider will provide preliminary training through the system. They will also take care of further infra maintenance, updating integrations, scaling up and down the specifications, or upgrading the security.

This is a standard process for hosting applications on the cloud. On average, getting the complete setup ‘up and running’ takes a couple of days. The time depends mainly on the data that must be migrated to the server.

Let’s assess the…

Best practices required for choosing a hosting provider

Assess Security Measures

Security is paramount in cloud accounting. As a financial institution, you handle sensitive data daily, making it critical to ensure your hosting provider offers robust security features. These features should include advanced encryption, multi-factor authentication, intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and regular security audits.

• Advanced Encryption: Encryption protects your data by converting it into a coded format only accessed by authorized parties. This is essential for protecting sensitive financial information in transit and at rest against malware such as ransomware.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring two or more verification methods before granting access. This significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access.
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS): IDS/IPS monitors your network for suspicious activity and can detect and prevent potential threats in real time. These systems are vital for protecting against cyber-attacks.
• Regular Security Audits: Security audits help identify and address vulnerabilities in your system. Choosing a provider that conducts regular audits ensures your data remains secure against emerging threats.

Evaluate Compliance Standards

Financial institutions must adhere to strict regulatory standards to protect client data and maintain trust. Therefore, your hosting provider should comply with industry regulations such as GDPR, PCI DSS, and SOX.

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): GDPR is a regulation in the European Union that mandates data protection and privacy for all individuals within the EU. Ensuring compliance with GDPR protects your business from legal penalties and builds customer trust.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): PCI DSS is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Compliance with PCI DSS is crucial for protecting payment data.
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX): SOX sets requirements for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms. Compliance with SOX ensures the accuracy and security of financial reporting.

Check for Scalability and Flexibility

Your business needs can change over time, and your hosting provider should be able to adapt to these changes. Choose a provider that offers scalable solutions, allowing you to adjust resources as needed. Flexible hosting plans ensure that you only pay for what you use, making it a cost-effective option as your business grows.

• Scalability: Scalability allows your business to grow without being hindered by limited resources. This means adding more users, increasing storage capacity, or upgrading your system’s performance without major disruptions.
• Flexibility: Flexible hosting plans enable you to customize your services based on your needs. Whether you need additional security features, more storage space, or higher processing power, a flexible provider can accommodate your requirements.

Look for High Availability and Reliability

Downtime can be costly for financial institutions, leading to lost revenue and customer dissatisfaction. Opt for a hosting provider that guarantees high availability with redundant systems and failover mechanisms. This ensures continuous service uptime, keeping your QuickBooks cloud application accessible at all times.

• High Availability: High availability refers to systems that are continuously operational and accessible. A good hosting provider will have measures to minimize downtime and ensure your applications are always up and running.
• Redundancy: Redundant systems provide backup in case of a failure. If one system goes down, another can take over, ensuring uninterrupted service.
• Failover Mechanisms: Failover mechanisms automatically switch to a standby system if the primary system fails. This ensures your operations can continue without interruption.

Review Backup and Disaster Recovery Plans

Data loss can have severe consequences for financial institutions. Ensure your hosting provider has a rolling backup and robust disaster recovery plans. Knowing that your data can be quickly restored during an unforeseen incident provides peace of mind.

• Rolling Backup: A rolling backup continuously updates and stores copies of your data over a specified period. For example, if your provider offers you a 45-day rolling backup, you can recover data from any point within the last 45 days, minimizing the risk of data loss.
• Disaster Recovery: Disaster recovery plans outline procedures for restoring data and resuming operations after a disaster. A robust disaster recovery plan ensures your business can quickly recover from incidents like hardware failures, cyber-attacks, or natural disasters.

Examine Support Services

Reliable customer support is essential for maintaining smooth operations. Your hosting provider should offer 24/7 technical support from certified professionals. Prompt and effective support can resolve issues quickly, minimizing disruptions to your operations.

• 24/7 Support: Round-the-clock support ensures that help is available whenever needed, regardless of time zones or business hours.
• Certified Professionals: Support from certified professionals means you get help from individuals with the expertise and knowledge to resolve your issues effectively.

Test Performance and Speed

Efficient performance and fast loading times are critical for smooth operations. To ensure your QuickBooks applications run smoothly, conduct performance tests or request performance guarantees from your hosting provider.

• Performance Tests: Performance tests evaluate how well your system handles various tasks and loads. They can help identify bottlenecks or areas for improvement.
• Speed Guarantees: Speed guarantees ensure your applications load quickly and perform efficiently. This is crucial for maintaining productivity and providing a positive user experience.
• High-performance Computing: Ensure your provider has HPC technology with a server uptime of at least 99.99% in place, ensuring no sluggishness and downtime while performing tasks on QuickBooks Cloud.

Conclusion

Choosing the right hosting provider for QuickBooks Cloud Accounting is a strategic decision that can significantly impact your business operations. By prioritizing security, compliance, scalability, reliability, backup solutions, support services, and performance, you can ensure a seamless and efficient cloud accounting experience.

Ready to take your QuickBooks accounting to the cloud? Experience the benefits of a secure, scalable, and reliable hosting solution with Ace Cloud. Contact us today to learn more and start your free trial.

In the next blog- “QuickBooks Cloud Accounting Prioritizing Security in Cloud Based Accounting,” we will discuss the possible security threats and best practices to overcome them.