I am frequently asked why am I so keen on the cloud. From my perspective, the cloud offers three key benefits that can significantly improve business operations, which I discuss below.
The environment
There has been a lot of debate in the news recently about the cloud being bad for the environment, arguing that storing data on the cloud can lead to large amounts of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. While this is partially true, it should be noted that this is not the entire picture (as is typical these days).
The fact of the matter is that all computing uses energy, whether it is on the cloud or a local device. Evidence shows that cloud hosted services are still a more environmentally friendly alternative to locally hosted services.
Focusing our efforts in the right places
We no longer need to spend our time and human resources entering data into the computer; software exists that can do this for us.
This is not about the end of the role of people in accounting and finance, but rather about utilising our people better. Utilising various software options frees up staff to do important things such as considering how to do it better, chase debts and seek to obtain better sources of finance.
Integration
The real benefits of cloud accounting do not just sit in the core accounting package. It is what you can do with the data when you keep it in a cloud-hosted database that can be integrated with other cloud-hosted apps that is of real benefit. This allows you to input your data quicker, more accurately and allows you to extract more relevant management information faster.
By holding your records in this way, you can automate your business processes to improve cashflow and credit control, as well as having the ability to look at what may happen in the future based on a granular analysis of historic patterns and trends in real-time.
For businesses, the challenge is tough. The balance between running the day-to-day activities of the company and investing enough time into handling the rapid pace of technological change and consumer demands is a difficult juggling act.
We can help you put together a suite of apps which will allow you to do what you do... even better. We can also act as your finance team to take the record keeping off your hands all together.
The next step
If you would like to know how we can help your business in cloud integration, please contact Matthew Granger on m.granger@uhy-uk.com or your usual UHY adviser.
