Stacked paperwork, overflowing filing cabinets… they’ve slowly faded out of existence in the wake of cloud accounting. Despite this, though, some have stayed true to what they know by sticking with traditional methods.
Yet accountants already set up with online processes benefitted considerably over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, forcing the hand of others to adopt the cloud. The benefits of this modern accounting method simply cannot be ignored, and they can make a real difference to your workload.
Here, we provide an overview of cloud accounting compared to traditional methods – and take a look at what the future holds for those that take their money matters online.
What is cloud accounting?
For those who haven’t quite got their head around the cloud, it’s essentially the online equivalent of storage. But unlike physical containers, the cloud is virtual and accessible from anywhere on any device.
Apply that to accounting, and all of your records and receipts are uploaded online. It’s all secured and only accessible with login details. Through a chosen software solution, your accounts can be reached from anywhere with an internet connection.
Let’s highlight the key benefits that set cloud accounting apart from traditional methods:
- Transactions and data regarding sales, income and purchases transfer directly from the bank to your books – saving hours of manual data entry
- All data is automatically backed up, helping remove the risk of losing sensitive paperwork
- Multiple users can access your accounts at the same time, keeping unnecessary communication to a minimum
- You can collect and view all your vital information in one place (often with sophisticated reporting options), saving time and streamlining tasks
The future is bright
Simply put, the cloud offers clarity, transparency and efficiency when it comes to your finance-related processes. Take bookkeeping and accountancy, for example – two entities with different purposes. While a bookkeeper is responsible for records of purchases and sales, an accountant takes these records and analyses them to provide insights and advice.
All-in-one cloud accounting software turns these two functions into a single solution. And while both services still play different roles, business owners no longer have to decide between the two to meet the demands of their organisation – they make use of cloud solutions to offer both as and when it’s needed.
We can expect this aspect of cloud accounting to strengthen in the future, with more and more features and add-on modules to ensure that business owners only ever need to turn to one place for all things tax and accounting.
What we are ‘looking forward’ to
This is an amazing play on words, as we are looking forward to… looking forward! Specifically, using cloud accounting to keep your profit, balance sheet and cash flow forecasts automatically up to date as the months tick over – replacing your monthly budget with actual results and being able to see what that means for the rest of the year.
The best software does this automatically, but it is with an accountant’s trained eye that this type of advisory and future-looking work becomes a valuable financial tool for a business owner.
Get started with Nabarro Poole
At Nabarro Poole, we use cloud accounting to deliver exactly that: an all-in-one service that streamlines your books and accounts. We work with a number of software providers, offering an honest analysis of each one to determine which is best suited to meet your specific needs.
With this technology behind our expert advice, support and analysis, we’re more equipped than ever to support your business with all your accounting needs.
To learn more about our wide range of bespoke services, from budgeting and forecasting to tax planning and much more, contact us on 0161 998 4276. Alternatively, you can email info@nabarropoole.com. We’d be happy to explore your current money management methods to see if we can give it a boost.
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