The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) reveals that the overall cloud adoption rate in the UK stands at nearly 90 per cent, with 67 per cent of users expecting to increase their adoption of cloud services over the coming year. Moving to the cloud has a whole host of benefits, so it’s no wonder that many business owners are looking to move their accounts software now too.
Here’s 10 of our top reasons for taking your accounts software and making the move to the cloud.
- Improved Financial Management
Effective financial management in the cloud can lead to increased visibility of your finances across the board. That equates to a better understanding of your current position, with access to real-time data at any given moment. You’ll have a single source of truth with reliable data that means you can react to circumstances in a timely and informed way.
- Break Down Silos with Cloud Technology
Finance teams can consist of various different roles. When you have those team members using different systems and different methods of working (such as data collecting, processes for structuring that data and storing it), it can easily lead to miscommunication of correct and up-to-date data and a lack of standardisation. With cloud technology, everyone has access to the correct data, whenever they need it. Cloud technology means better collaboration, better quality of data and consistent, standardised processes.
- Minimise Data Breaches and Enjoy Improved Security
You can keep your data safe and secure with cloud technology. Cloud technology facilitates the privacy and secure archival of sensitive data and transactions of your business. By hosting your accounts software in the cloud, you can rely on the fact your system is always up-to-date and with proper cyber hygiene processes. Your teams are equipped with the right tools to detect and remediate any possible vulnerabilities in your system.
- Accessibility, Always
Utilising cloud software means your teams can continue to work closely with one another, regardless of where they work, as they can continue to work on the same server. All the information they need will be at their fingertips. Information, data and documents can be shared in seconds and information and communication can be shared just as easily as if they were in the same room.
- Improved Collaboration and Productivity
Cloud-based accounting systems, unsurprisingly, tend to be far more advanced when it comes to functionality. By providing your finance team with the tools they need to work more efficiently and collaboratively, you can maximise productivity and agile work collaboration. The automation of previously manual tasks allows employees to spend more time on value-adding tasks.
- Improved Compliance
CFOs have faced the challenge of managing multiple changing regulatory requirements regarding data handling, privacy and data safety as part of the bigger financial puzzle in recent years. Complying with government regulations is enhanced by the Cloud’s scalability of resources, as well as an unparalleled levels of security services and features. Cloud accounting systems have a layered approach to security and enjoy software updates which require little to no downtime, meaning businesses are always operating on the most current and robust versions.
- No Hardware Required
The obvious difference between an on-premise solution and a cloud alternative is the savings on hardware. Not only is it a very costly investment, consider the fact you’ll need to maintain those systems too. To have an on-prem system you’ll need: power, cables, servers, storage drives, firewalls, cooling equipment, networking gear and load balancers. That doesn’t take into account the skilled staff you’ll need on-hand to execute maintenance.
- A More Sustainable, Green Choice
We’ve spoken about the cost element, but what about the environmental impact of cloud technology versus on-premise accounts systems? When you have all of that equipment, you need an increased amount of power to operate, sufficient cooling systems – all that equates to much more in emissions. Plus, if you can have teams working remotely because they can access cloud-based systems, you’re minimising transport emissions too.
- Easy Upgrades
When you operate your accounts software using an on-premise system, you’re responsible for all of the upgrades. It requires time and effort for your teams and most likely, downtime which will affect productivity and output. With cloud accounting, upgrades are readily available and oftentimes, you can dictate when updates take place – meaning no downtime for your teams.
- Disaster Recovery
Having a cloud-based accounts software makes disaster recovery much simpler and reliable. With traditional on-premise servers, if there is a problem with the server, a restore can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks depending on the size of the amount of data lost and the action that caused the issue to occur. With cloud accounting, it is much simpler – simply click “undo” and restore your data back to the state it was in a few hours ago.
