Five Secret Benefits of the Cloud For Accountants

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You already know that cloud-based solutions let you work anywhere, anytime. But the most innovative cloud solutions for accounting, payroll, and document management offer so much more. They help you boost your revenue, streamline your processes, and build greater client loyalty and retention.

By now you’ve already heard about some of the key benefits that cloud computing offers to accountants. You can work from anywhere at any time, easily share documents with your clients, and find the information you need quickly and easily. These benefits are proven and well-documented.But that’s just the beginning. You can also realize a host of unexpected benefits when you start to take advantage of integration between cloud solutions and collaboration with your clients. Integration between various cloud solutions has far greater implications than integration between Windows applications. While integration between Windows applications has traditionally allowed seamless data exchange, the synergy between cloud-based solutions goes two steps further. This new type of integration can streamline processes and create a much smoother workflow than ever before possible.The ability to work collaboratively with your clients has completely changed the dynamics of two core services: accounting and payroll. And this capability offers truly innovative ways for your practice to boost its profits without incurring more risk or costs.


Here are some unexpected benefits of cloud computing you may not have thought of.

Eliminate client bookkeeping errors

Become a virtual controller/CFO for your small business clients

Improve your cash flow and cash management capabilities

Make money from "insourcing"

Streamline your payroll service by eliminating compliance headaches, data entry and check and report printing

Naturally, the ways in which each of these benefits may apply to you practice will depend on your specific situation. But let’s delve deeper into how a new breed of cloud-based accounting, payroll and document sharing portals can offer some of these remarkable benefits by seamlessly working together.AccountingThe new-breed of Accountant-Centric accounting solutions include everything you and your clients need - bookkeeping, trial balance, write-up and financial reporting - in one integrated system. An important feature of these systems is that they let you customize the system for each client, so you can limit their access only to the functions that they’re comfortable performing. For a client who doesn’t know anything about accounting, you can limit their access so they simply write checks and enter deposits. For a client who has a professional bookkeeper, you can provide full access to accounts receivable, accounts payable and bank reconciliation. Because you maintain this level of control, you can minimize client errors - a major source of wasted time in accounting.Best of all, because your client’s data is always accurate and up-to-date in one unified system, you’re able to offer a much higher degree of strategic insight into their complete fiscal picture. Simply take a few minutes each morning to scan their key indicators, and set up alerts to signal to you and your clients any potential warning signs in their cash flow or accounts receivable. This proactive stance allows you to serve as a virtual CFO for your clients’ businesses, which is a clear win-win. They benefit from your advice and guidance, and you become indispensable.Document Management and IntegrationDocument sharing portals let you share your documents with your clients, and also have the ability to store scanned documents. Now let’s see what happens when document sharing portals are integrated with the type of cloud-based accounting system described above. This union changes the landscape for accounting services. Now accounting firms can offer complete end-to-end accounting services at high profit margins for service industries. Here’s how it works.

Your client scans her invoices and all source documents.

These documents automatically go into the appropriate folder in your document management system.

When your staff logs in, all the unpaid invoices are displayed. Your staff enters the amount and the invoice is attached to the data field.

Your client scans their credit card statements (or better yet, you electronically download those so the credit card transaction can be entered painlessly).

A clerical staff prints the self-adhesive checks and mails them.

To make cash receipt entries, you just need your client to scan the checks received from customers and bank deposit slips.

You download bank statements to quickly perform bank reconciliation.

This is how the cloud makes insourcing easy and profitable. It can be your firm’s next big growth area.Payroll ProcessingThe cloud has also revolutionized another core small business service - payroll processing. Ever wonder how payroll service bureaus have made payroll processing so highly profitable? Their secret: high levels of automation. Now cloud computing has leveled the playing field. Newer cloud-based payroll solutions caneliminate all the headaches associated with payroll processing - tax payments, compliance forms, direct deposit and even printing and mailing of paycheck and reports. Innovative cloud-based payroll solutions do all of these functions for you. Here’s an example of how this can work:

Your client enters their payroll data right into your payroll system (or emails this data in an Excel spreadsheet).

The payroll system performs direct deposit, deposits all required taxes, and electronically files all compliance forms.

You create a PDF of the paychecks, if any, and place the files in the client portal. From the portal, your client can log in anytime to download the paychecks and print them.

Similarly, all reports are automatically stored in the client portal for easy access 24x7. There is no hassle of printing and mailing paycheck and reports.

SummaryThe common thread in all of these scenarios is that cloud computing solutions are working to help you deliver more value in less time. By integrating


-previously disparate functions and solutions, you can see unexpected benefits that transform your practice.





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