First of all Record Keeping in The Cloud deals with a business task neglected and disliked by many. Similarly Cloud accounting does the power lifting of record keeping. Furthermore it saves time, money, and gets businesses to connect to. Hence letting you take charge of your financial numbers.
We try to capture moments that we will treasure for life. So that is why we usually end up taking videos and pictures, so that we never forget. We know we won’t be able to recall all of life’s events.
Likewise the same thing applies in business. Some businesses process 100s of transactions daily. With all that going on it is hard to keep reliable mental notes.
Consequently, it is best practice to keep a record of the financial events in your business.
The importance of record keeping
Therefore if you don’t have proper recording procedures in place it’s difficult to know how your business is doing.
- Record keeping helps you to
- Easily record, connect with & understand your financial numbers
- Know its profitability
- What things cost
- Control & manage cash
- Planning
- Where to improve
- How to turn ideas into something meaningful
- Tax authorities, for example VAT and Tax returns
Other Record Keeping Benefits
First of all, it shows good management thinking. The key is that the business recognises its importance.
Similarly, bookkeeping is the backbone of any management information system. Also financial information, such as profit margins and costs are prepared from the records. For that reason you can use it with sales information to calculate customer profitability.
Finally, it should keep your accountancy and tax fees at a reasonable level. The quality of your bookkeeping can affect your accounting fees.
Cloud Accounting and Xero
The term ‘cloud’ originated back in the 1990s when techies were trying to draw diagrams of technology systems.
As a result drawings of a simple cloud illustrated that multiple computers were connected to multiple other computers.
Consequently what started out as a simple way to draw something very complex is now part of our vocabulary.
There are variety of Cloud Accounting packages out there, all with similar features and capabilities. We have experienced many of them. Xero is normally our recommendation and preference. Xero will be our reference point. While many of the points can apply to other packages.
If you want your business to work smarter and faster, switching to Xero is a wise investment. Working in the cloud gives you a better overview of your finances. Likewise it increases control with up-to-date financial information.
Cloud Benefits
- Better real-time overview of your current financial position
- Access for multiple users
- Automatic updates
- Everything runs online which cuts out the need for installation.
- Your work is saved and backed up all the time, ensuring you don’t lose anything
- Free updates which are available for instant use
- Costs such as version upgrades, maintenance, system admin costs and within the subscription cost
Main benefits to using Xero include:
- Better productivity and efficiency gains.
- No more tedious data entry
- Live financial information at your fingertips
- Xero mobile app for on-the-go
- Pay monthly, making the investment in software more manageable
- Security of your financial information
- A range of third-party apps connecting to Xero.
The power and capability of Cloud Accounting can be used for any business, size, shape or form.
Xero Add Ins
Included within each Xero version are the following perks
• Live bank feeds. Xero can talk directly to your bank account and pull in your transactions for you.
• Tracking categories. These allow you to keep track of income and expenses that relate to certain projects.
• File storage. Upload all your important files such as invoices. No more digging out receipts from a year ago.
Xero eases your business burden. It frees up your time and allow you to spend more quality time with your customers and team. As a result this frees some of your time to focus on other important aspects of running your business.
Costs
The Cloud Service provider pays for maintenance. These include version upgrades, and system administration costs. Therefore there is no need for any major up-front investment in hardware and software.
Security
Xero provides high-level encrypted data security. There is no extra cost for online back-ups. This is included in your subscription cost. In addition you get practically unlimited file storage. Also all your business documents comprehensive documents can be uploaded and stored online.
The original document can be attached to the recorded transaction. This significantly cuts down the time looking for and querying transactions.
Conclusion
As a result we have seen the benefits of Cloud accounting in practice. It’s great for organisations who may not have the resources and budget of a team of dedicated accounting staff. In short, robust management and reporting become easier, more efficient and powerful.
In conclusion, proper record keeping is important. Therefore if you do it properly your business is likely to be more sustainable.
The power and capability of Cloud Accounting can be harnessed for any business. Xero can be tailored to suit your own business.
Check out our Business Growth Club, and help move your business forward with the cloud. Get in touch with us to see how we can help you and your business resilience and all your accounting and tax needs. For more business and finance , news, advice and tips, don’t forget to watch our weekly broadcasts, listen to our weekly podcast I Hate Numbers.