Cloud computing is transforming many industries and aspects of human lives. In the legal industry, the use of cloud computing systems, such as QuickBooks Hosting, is no exception.
In reality, the adoption of cloud technology, such as hosted QuickBooks is accelerating. A Forbes report states that most law firms experience a better return on investment, and lower total cost of ownership—somewhere in the 30% to 60% range—by shifting to the cloud and SaaS compared to running an on-premises data center.
Benefits of QuickBooks Hosting for Law Firms
Read on to explore the many benefits of QuickBooks Hosting for law firms and see how cloud adoption can simplify the accounting tasks.
1. Accurate Trust Accounting Management
Trust accounting is one of the critical responsibilities of legal firm attorneys, which requires the maintenance of error-free records in compliance with state regulations. Law firms generally need to comply with the trust account rules, failing which may result in huge penalties and issues with clients.
QuickBooks Hosting services enable law firms to gather legal and accounting data , track client funds, and manage the trust accounts’ inward/outward cash flows. They can access the list of financial trust transactions, client ledgers, bank statements, and more with QuickBooks desktop hosting.
2. Improvement in Accounting Workflow
Whether attending courthouse sessions or meeting clients, legal professionals must be out of the office in most cases. They must travel to various locations, requiring law firms to manage the travel and miscellaneous expenses. While on-premise QuickBooks software helps in adding their costs, it has limitations, such as:
- Users can’t add their traveling or other expenses in real-time
- Data entries are prone to error because of multiple sources of truth
- Complicated accounting processes
To overcome these challenges, legal firms can use hosted QuickBooks. They can add all the expenses in real-time, reducing the chance of errors. Moreover, they can access the legal and accounting software remotely, maintaining a flexible working culture.
3. Legal Specifics
Law firms must record the accounting transactions in compliance with the state bar and other regulating agencies. While the on-premise QuickBooks serves the purpose, it can’t cater to the mobile needs of today’s legal professionals. They can’t access the accounting software and data remotely.
Law firms can use cloud-hosted software like QuickBooks and customize them to suit their requirements. Not only can they access the software remotely, but they can also categorize the trust accounts for each client. As a result, tracking all client-related activities and checking the trust account balance gets effortless.
Recommended Read: QuickBooks Hosting FAQs: What Your Clients Need to Know
4. Multi-App Functionality
Besides QuickBooks, legal firms must use other applications for customer management, time tracking, human resources, etc. Doing this requires them to upgrade the office desktop computers regularly.
Reliable QuickBooks Hosting providers offer their customers with high-performance computing platform backed by parallel processing systems. As such, they get an excellent opportunity to work on multiple applications simultaneously, eliminating the scope of performance lags.
5. Secure Operations
Legal professionals of a law firm handle some critical data of clients, including debit/credit card details, social security numbers (SSNs), addresses, etc. It is of utmost importance for them to ensure the safety and security of such data.
Cloud solutions for the legal industry, like QuickBooks desktop hosting, offer end-users an advanced security infrastructure to secure QB files. Reputed hosting providers deploy data security at physical, network, and server levels. The off-site data centers hosting customer data are installed with surveillance and biometric systems – an effective way to protect sensitive data.
QuickBooks Hosting providers also encrypt every data that undergoes transmission from remote servers. Such measures eliminate the risk of any data breach attempt. Besides, their IT security team identifies and mitigates cyber threats by monitoring the network round the clock.
6. Unlimited Data Storage
Legal professionals process enormous amounts of accounting data, increasing with time. Using on-premise QuickBooks requires them to deploy multiple backup servers physically, leading to overhead expenses and a need to maintain them regularly.
Law firms can take advantage of hosted QuickBooks that offer unlimited storage space to store all the accounting data. QuickBooks hosting providers back up their customers’ data frequently, enabling their customers to recover lost data anytime.
7. Customized Solution
Accounting requirements for every industry differ; the same goes for the legal industry. It is necessary to understand the correct server configuration and service needs for QuickBooks, failing which may waste resources. Ensuring this requires technical assistance, which a QuickBooks cloud hosting provider could offer.
Leading hosting providers offer tailor-made QuickBooks hosting plans for the legal industry. They give the advantage of customizing the server configuration and services depending on their unique needs. All they need to do is pay as per the usage of resources under the monthly/yearly subscription-based plans.
What’s Keeping Some Law Firms from Making the Switch to QuickBooks Hosting?
Despite all the advantages of hosted QuickBooks, many law firms are still hesitant to move to the cloud due to persistent misconceptions. These include higher prices, data security concerns, and worries about the potential detrimental effects on their business. They also worry about keeping access to and preserving or maintaining control over the client and corporate data.
These misconceptions are simply untrue when put to the test. For instance, leading cloud hosting providers defend their offices and buildings with military-grade physical security. They can quickly move a company’s operations to another data center with transparency in the case of a disaster. Besides, cloud hosting providers employ expert security professionals to secure their servers, applications, and data. Businesses can have much better data security in the cloud with the same (or better) access to and control over data.
QuickBooks Hosting : The Future of Law Firms
QuickBooks hosting provides a comprehensive and all-encompassing solution for law firms looking to grow their business. While the benefits of QuickBooks cloud hosting are manifold, some of the most notable include accurate trust accounting management, data security, multi-app functionality, customization options, accounting workflow improvement, and unlimited data storage.
If you are looking for an accounting solution to manage your law firm more effectively, look no further than QuickBooks hosting.