Before you stepped in 2020, you must have set a plethora of New Year resolutions for yourself, like – exercising regularly, visiting new places, increasing your firm's growth, and reaping even greater profits. However, just three months in and you witnessed the novel coronavirus wasting all your plans.
Spreading like wildfire, the pandemic caught everyone unprepared and inflicted heavy causalities. It also affected multiple industries financially and stunted their growth. However, several sectors had timely implemented the latest technological measures and kept themselves afloat.
Similarly, accounting firms can take a page out of their book and integrate technological innovations like cloud computing. Implementing the cloud will help them to leverage their resources and make the best of tax season 2021.
Here are a few reasons why it is the right time for accounting firms to move to the cloud:
For Working Remotely
When the COVID-19 struck the world in 2020, no one knew it would have such serious consequences. To contain its spread, stringent lockdown restrictions were put in place that affected people physically, mentally, and economically.
Businesses that lacked the infrastructure for working remotely, were put on hold and suffered dearly. However, businesses that had already implemented remote working measures triumphed and kept themselves running. And with things still so uncertain for tax season 2021, accounting firms and CPAs should adopt cloud as well.
Since the cloud is innately developed to be accessible round the clock and can host premium accounting software like QuickBooks, Sage, etc., your employees can efficiently work from their homes.
Even your clients, who are still apprehensive about going outside, need not physically visit your office as they can update their data remotely. This way, you can readily offer your services to anyone, anytime, and make sure you don't lose any work during tax season2021.
Hassle-freeCollaboration
Operations in accounting are reasonably complex and require collaborating with co-workers and clients. However, conventional methods for file sharing are time-taking and tedious. The process involves sharing the same file every time a revision is made.
This creates numerous copies of the same data and slows down the collaboration. In addition, as the COVID-19 limits physical interactions and calls for physical distancing, collaborating physically also becomes difficult.
This is where the cloud can solve all your collaboration hassles. In the cloud, the data is centralized in a single resource pool. So, any changes made are reflected in the original file itself. This way, instead of sharing a file back and forth multiple times, all you need is authorized access to the data, and you can efficiently work together with your co-workers and clients.
A Modern AccountingSolution
There were times when accounting involved recording financial transactions and handling fiscal resources -fast-forward it to the 21st century, and people now need just more than a traditional accounting experience. They want a pro-active approach to their organization's financial activities, which will help them devise appropriate fiscal strategies for an increased ROI.
And especially during these times, where COVID-19 has caused multiple countries' economies to hit an all-time low, having an accurate financial plan for your business's sustenance is more than necessary.
Implementing the cloud in your firms will help you deliver what your customers need. Apart from hosting the desired accounting software, various service providers also offer modern AI tools and big data analytics software. They help you streamline all your financial data and develop comprehensive reports to get crucial insights into business activities.
This way, you can monitor the spending pattern of your clients and advise them appropriately. Implementing also allows you to identify any fraudulent transactions and improve their adherence to corporate policy.
Saves Your Revenue
When an organization implements a software solution for improving their productivity, they want a certain degree of cost-effectiveness. However, integrating software may not go as smoothly as anticipated and require considerable setup costs.
You may also have to invest handsomely for scaling up your resources when your organizational needs grow over time. So, what should you do? In this pandemic-struck world, where everyone's fiscal deposits have been severely depleted due to strict lockdown guidelines, it is hard to get an affordable solution to guarantee your success.
Moving your accounting firm to the cloud helps you save your revenue and benefits you in the long run. Since the CSPs take responsibility for setting up the IT infrastructure, you don't have to invest significantly.
They provide you a ‘pay-per-use model', requiring you to pay only for the services you use. Also, they offer rapid scale-up facilities for your growing needs. And as the cloud can be accessed remotely, you can avoid other office-related costs a well.
Cutting The Clutter:
When running an accounting firm, you have to handle various non-accounting operations like managing customers, employing new personnel, monitoring employee activity, processing payrolls, and maintaining your work-space.
While proper management of these activities can ensure an overall enhanced efficiency for your firms, the opposite can slow down your activities and increase your workload. And in an industry where every minute can get you paid-cutting down on the non-billable hours also becomes necessary.
Integrating the cloud allows you to ease up on these administrative tasks and keep your organization on the right track. For managing the customers, you can centralize their data using the cloud and implement CRM software like ServiceHub for handling their queries, scheduling meetings, and providing support.
Also, you don't have to spend time maintaining your IT infrastructure, as your CSPs have their team of expert professionals for managing it. And as for your employees, you have other cloud-based solutions for monitoring their performance, accurately track time, and process payments.
Improved Data Security:
And lastly, for improving data security. With an over fivefold increase in cyberattacks, it is not the only coronavirus that's deadly. An accounting firm deals with sensitive financial information, whose protection and safety require trustworthy security measures. However, most of the firms still deploy a terrestrial data framework that is either outdated or can be easily hacked.
They also lack the technical expertise to create a multi-tier security system that can be continuously updated and withstand modern cyberattacks.
Conclusion
2020 has completely changed the working of accounting firms, how they use technology and the benefits of remote working. However, the cloud has come to their rescue and offered features that have helped firms survive the pandemic. If you have still not migrated to the cloud, there will never be a better time.
