Cloud Accounting – What does it all really mean….In English Please!!!!

First and foremost the cloud way of technology has been around for probably 10-15 years. It just was not being utilized to its full potential. Think of this way if your office burned down and your back-ups were onsite, how does the data get recovered. The answer in short is it doesn’t. With the cloud our data is stored off site in a secured place. Think of a safety deposit box for your data. 

What if the internet crashes then what!!! First off the internet in the world is like electricity and it will not be down for long. Where if our computers crash or the hard drive life ends. We would be without the data for a lot longer. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the cloud shall we.

PROS:

• Reduced cost – cloud accounting is a very cost effective solution. It removes the necessity to purchase hardware or accounting software. And unlike the conventional software, it requires no updates or maintenance. All those things are managed by a cloud accounting service provider.

• Your computers are not slowed down by large software packages.

• Anytime, Anywhere access. All you need is an internet connection. You can access it from any location including from your cell phones and tablets.

• Real-time multi-user environment. No more back-ups to remember.

• No upfront investment. Cloud services tend to work as a subscription service so you are not paying for the entire software package. You only pay for what you use. Usually it based on the number of users that you need to be able to access the software at the same time.

• It allows for businesses to use their funds elsewhere instead of being wrapped up in expensive software and servers. That way businesses can spend money where they normally has short comings. Let’s maybe on marketing to bring in more business or on benefits for employees.

 

CONS:

• Lack of support – Know you vendor and do your research. Meaning I would not jump on bored with just any cloud vendor. Make sure they are not going anywhere anytime soon…..Long proven track record.

• Inflexibility – While doing my research I have found some companies have requirements on the amount of users. Like one company charges for 10 users regardless if you have less because that is their requirement for commitment. Make sure it is an easy process to add and subtract employees as you need to.

• Cost can be a factor and a smart thrifty business owner needs to do an apple to apple comparison to make sure they are saving like they should be. Most times it is definitely cheaper but it all depends on what you are looking to do as far as business needs go.

I feel a need to make you understand the real time advantage. Previously if you had a remote worker that worker in most cases would have to wait until after hours to log in and if somebody forgot to leave the work station turned on then you were not able to work remotely. Advances in technology has certainly come a long way with the things that we can now do. In today’s world advancement in technology seems to be a given and sometimes it takes us a while to fully embrace it. So do your research and embrace away. Happy Cloud Computing to all.