Just like a new calendar year is a great time to make changes so to is a new financial year. One of the most cool things to do at the start of a new financial year is change your accounting system. Traditionally a new financial year had been seen as the perfect time to start afresh as the previous system can be ended at the end of a tax year for us here in Australia. Technology has improved so much these days that this “perfect moment” in the eyes of an accountant is no longer the absolutely best time to change accounting systems. The sophistication of conversions to online accounting systems means you can in fact change your accounting system at any time within the financial year. But why would you want to change your accounting system to the cloud?
- Bank feeds – one of the key features of online accounting systems is the ability to import your line-by-line bank statement transactions directly into your accounting systems each day. The whole process is automated which saves countless hours of data entry. You just need to tell the system what the transaction relates to and voila, transaction accounted for.
- Access from anywhere – Have access to your accounting system from anywhere when it’s online. No more wondering if you’ve got the current version of your software or whether that’s with your accountant or bookkeeper. Your online accounting system is available to share with whomever needs access. Your accountant, bookkeeper, team members; anyone that needs to view or create things within your accounting system can have access. And they can access from anywhere. Most accounting systems also have an app to allow for basic transactions to be completed from your phone! This also means you’re not constrained geographically for team members either. Your accountant can now be 2000 km’s away and it doesn’t matter one bit!
- No more big bills just to get a payroll upgrade – online accounting systems use a subscription model, meaning you pay a monthly fee that allows you access to your software and also includes any further updates to occur. Not only can you spread the cost to each month which is better for cashflow, Often the total annual cost is less than the update for proprietary software.
- Security and backup – online accounting systems are often more secure than proprietary systems sitting on your computer. They have many servers based in many different areas continually backing up your system and due to the nature of the information held within these systems have security that is often seen as the standard required for the secret government agencies. Yes, you know those ones that no one talks about. Personally I’ve seen computers stolen and along with it the financial information. Having an online accounting solution however means that if your computer is stolen they don’t have access to it and you still do.
- Automate your business – Accounting systems are the final resting place for end results of all of the information that flows in your business. What online systems are great at is integrating with each other to provide you with a seamless flow of information. Use a online project management system? No worries, integrated it with your accounting system. Want to connect your online customer relationship management (CRM) system with your accounting system? Easy. Have a online point of sale system? Yes, you can integrate that as well. The data entry time and money savings in this area is huge.
Yes, you can change to an online accounting system right now. Want to save time and money this next financial year? Take action today to get your business on the cloud for 2015 and reap the benefits. To discuss changing to an online accounting system such a Xero or Saasu contact Alycia here and she’ll be back in touch.
