Here Is Why Accountants And CPAs Should Harness The Cloud

Cloud technology has created opportunities for a huge boost in productivity, efficiency, and profitability. That’s why a number of industries in Canada are steadily transitioning more and more of their business into the cloud.

According to Statista and Newswire.ca:

By last year, the number of cloud users worldwide had grown to 3.6 billion
Over the course of a single year, Canadian businesses operating in the cloud grew from 59% to 73%, a growth which has since continued
According to research published by Xero, accounting firms that use the cloud tend to have five times as many clients as those who don’t

What Is The Cloud & What Does It Do?

The cloud is a network of technologies that allows access to computing resources, such as storage, processing power, and more. That’s where the data is – in these data centers all around the world. Which data center your data is in depends on what cloud service provider you’re working with.

In addition to the statistic discussed above, you should be using the cloud for the same reasons that thousands of other accounting firms have already adopted cloud computing:

Reliable Costs
The cloud services subscription model offers the strategic advantage of low-cost, low-risk opt-in combined with a simple, predictable monthly fee.
Easy Scalability
Cloud services have the unique strategic characteristic of being able to stretch or shrink to suit your current level of demand. This is especially useful for businesses of scale or companies that go through seasons of activity.
Real-Time Collaboration
With cloud technology, your staff doesn’t have to wait for each other to be done with their part of the document or project in order to tackle their own aspect. They can all work on the same project at the same time to maximize productivity.
Remote Work Capability
This cloud feature allows you and your employees to work remotely as need be, which will give your business members the flexibility they desire to have a more balanced home/work life.

But those are just the general benefits offered to any business that harness the cloud…

Why Should Your Accounting Firm Be Using The Cloud?

Access Extensive IT Resources
The cloud has the ability to activate tens of thousands of CPUs. This unparalleled power can quickly perform deep analytics of your data, and process nearly any ad-hoc queries that you require.

Connect Team Members
With cloud technology, your staff doesn’t have to wait for each other to be done with their part of the document or project in order to tackle their own aspect. They can all work on the same project at the same time to maximize productivity.

Say Goodbye To Legacy Software
Are you still using the same old line of business software that you’ve been using for years and years? As dependable as it may be (and let’s be honest, mileage varies) software like this has a core flaw – it only works for those who are fluent in it. After all, it’s not that accessible if you’re not familiar with it.

While some members of your team, depending on their experience and skill set, may be an expert with your legacy software, what about the wider community of subcontractors you have to work with?

The cloud can help with this as well – new centralized project management platforms bring everyone together in one intuitive cloud location. Now, instead of needing to be trained on unintuitive, outdated software, your entire team can make use of a modern, user-friendly cloud platform.

Enhance Your Cybersecurity
By storing your data offsite in a data center, you access a vast range of digital and physical security measures to ensure they’re safe from all threats. Managed firewall, antivirus, antispam measures, onsite security personnel, and more ensure the security of your server information so that you can do your work without having to worry.

Store & Access Vital Data
This is a core benefit of all cloud deployments – store your data in the cloud so you can keep it safe, and access it from where and where you need to.

By moving your vital data to the cloud, you can enhance your security, increase data accessibility for staff members and lower costs. Instead of storing onsite, you can reduce costly local hardware by storing your files in the cloud, where they’ll be safe and easily accessible by you and your staff.

Automate Your Processes
Automation with machine learning plays an enormous role in optimizing workflows and predicting problems before they occur. With workflows based in the cloud, you can automate or semi-automate many processes that had to be handled manually before.

Harness Big Data
During the lifecycle of any project, you must process and share massive amounts of information like architectural and engineering drawings, production schedules, time and materials inventories, and more. The cloud provides the ability to store and process the big data that’s needed for this.

Enhance Business Continuity
By storing your hardware off-site, you gain a valuable contingency against any on-site emergencies. Power outages, malware attacks or other disasters can strike your business at any time, but by having your IT infrastructure managed safely off-premises, you have one less thing to account for during an emergency.

The cloud is changing the way business technology works, proving to be a powerful resource for busy professionals that need more out of their technology. Having the right tools and support in place for your team can make all the difference for your firm as that technology continues to evolve.

Your concerns about the cloud made a lot more sense when it was new. It may still feel like a newer technology, but it’s really not. Years have been spent ironing out the kinks for cloud solutions – there’s never been a better time to get on board.

Contents