Advantages of Cloud Computing for Accountants

Like any other industry sector, accounting has benefited from the continuing developments and improvements in cloud computing. It reduces the need for tedious, human-performed data entry and frees up time and resources for more dynamic work. It also shortens the time many processes take, getting clients to finish results sooner. Cloud computing has changed and improved accounting at multiple levels.

Here are just some of the key benefits of cloud computing for accountants.

Better Security for Data

Accounting data contains sensitive info such as social security numbers and tax ID numbers used in tax filings, earnings reports and other confidential information. One of the key features of cloud-based accounting systems is robust security that maintains defense against cybercriminals and other threats seeking to obtain and compromise this data. Cloud storage offers a safe place for data and also gets regular security upgrades. Using cloud storage also keeps the data intact in floods, fires and other events that can damage physical data centers.

Improved Accessibility

In traditional accounting environments, everything is stored on local hard drives. This includes accounting data as well as any proprietary software the company uses. In this scenario, accounting personnel can only get work done at the office. With a cloud platform, accountants can access everything they need wherever they are as long as they have an internet connection. As with other cloud computing applications, accessing accounting resources in the cloud is fast, efficient, and accessible any time, any day.

Greater Precision

Accuracy is crucial with accounting since a misplaced decimal point or an incorrect calculation can have a far-reaching negative impact. Cloud computing supports automating many accounting tasks, which helps to reduce the errors that can potentially occur with human oversight. These include calculating large numbers of invoices and adding data to spreadsheets. Events and updates are also logged and time-stamped, so there is a record to review and audit if needed.

Faster Job Completion

Automation in the cloud has the additional benefit of speeding up the overall accounting process. This reduces turnaround time, even for large jobs with a lot of data to process and the automation leaves human accountants with more time to focus on other tasks. Thanks to cloud computing, job progress is continually saved and kept up to date. This means there’s no need to save or back up data manually.

Sharing Resources and Knowledge

Any data stored in the cloud is accessible to any authorized user, making it easy for teams to work together and collaborate. Members of different teams can also easily combine efforts and keep everyone on the same page.

Less Physical Waste

It’s easy to imagine an accounting office filled to the brim with paperwork. Tax forms, invoices, receipts and more can easily take up multiple filing cabinets. Cloud computing lets users scan in copies of documents and dispense with retaining hard copies except where necessary or required by law.

Happier Clients

Trust from customers is essential for any accounting firm. The client company is handing over their financial records and expecting accurate results and reliable service. With the accuracy and speed provided by cloud computing, this is much simpler to provide, which satisfies current customers and helps to attract new ones.

Improvements in Scalability and Adaptability

When an accounting business takes on more customers, cloud computing allows them to scale up their operations to handle the growing workload easily. There’s also the ability to add new software to the cloud to improve operations.

Keeping Everything in One Place

Rather than updating different spreadsheets on different computers, cloud computing lets everyone update everything at the same time. It also stores all data in a central location, so it’s easier to access people in multiple departments or teams across different regions.