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ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES


cloud accounting Join the


revolution


By DEBBIE BOULTON, Director of Richardson Swift


staff, cloud accounting can arm you with the right information to keep your business on track.


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How does it work? In simple terms, this web-based software examines company accounts and finances in real-time, extracting data to give you a visual snapshot of how your business is performing on a daily basis. This can include graphical dashboards that track


Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as whether your business forecasts are on track and non-financial information, such as lead generation. Data can be linked to industry averages and accessed via remote devices so you can share vital information with your team, advisors or bank instantly, wherever you are.


The benefits There are many ways in which cloud accounting can support growth plans and simplify financial processes, including: 1 Business improvement – creates easy to use financial forecasts and monitors them daily so you can see instantly if margins aren’t being made and make adjustments; for example, altering a pricing model, or product mix. Data can also be used to spot business opportunities early on so you can act ahead of the competition.


2 Better decision-making – provides a real-time view of finances across a business, or group, enabling you to make fully informed decisions. Financial


22 insight JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017


forecasting tools also help with those strategic “what if” questions, for example, “what will happen if we put up prices?” or “can we afford to recruit?”


3 Healthier cash flow – automated processes for invoicing and chasing up payments with reminders help to reduce debtor days and improve your cash flow.


4 Cost and time savings – tasks such as bank reconciliation, bookkeeping, and payroll and expense management are simplified and all information is held in one place. This means less manual data inputting and reduces the need for your teams to prepare and analyse different documents, freeing up their time for other tasks.


‘Sage, Xero, Quickbooks and Kashflow are the main software vendors and usually offer a 30-day trial period with online tutorials’


Web-based software can utilise graphical dashboards that track Key Performance Indicators


hatever your business plan is for 2017, be it boosting profits or recruiting new


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