Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/53322
CLIENT ACCOUNTING ONLINE T Numbers Have Moved to the Cloud… The Benefi ts of Online Client Accounting he Cloud has changed the world of accounting. This concept is not new—it actually dates back to the early 1990s—but the biggest growth by accounting fi rms starting to take advantage of this online technology has been within the last few years. Today's technology is used by more and more accounting professionals and business owners to accomplish their tasks with far more convenience and effi ciency. T ese new methods provide mutual benefi ts as owners and accountants work together in the Cloud. While most of the advantages have been around for some time, they are now fi nally being utilized as they should be. Consider four unique mutual benefi ts of online client accounting. Compared to cumbersome practices of the past, well, there really is no comparison. Online technologies have changed, and are continually improving the ways accounting is conducted. Sharing Information in Real Time Ease of access naturally leads to enhanced capabilities for sharing information. Financial data can be accessed by employees, clients, shareholders, and consultants regardless of their physical location. No longer do people have to wait for the answers as economic issues arise (and they always do). T e answers are available immediately and can be accessed by any authorized individual at any time. Sharing information in these ways enhances client and accounting relationships, and allows accountants to become more valuable to their clients because the accountants can see how their client's business is performing without the client having to make the fi rst move. T ese relation- ships are pro-active, not reactive, empowering accountants to do what clients want them to do: Help a business make good fi nancial decisions and grow its bot om line. Sharing information in the Cloud means Ease of Access Being online to conduct business is no longer a dream or a wish. It's a requirement professionally and personally. T e most powerful feature and benefi t of working in the Cloud is accessing information anytime, anywhere. All that is needed is an internet connection, and it seems that most profes- sionals are constantly "wired" to the internet. Ease of access means making the pro- cesses of storing, input ing, retrieving, and sharing accounting information simpler. Online technology allows instantaneous access for authorized people to see where their business stands: reviewing fi nancial statements, accounts payable and accounts receivable (technologies like Bill.com), along with access to documents, (like SmartVault.com), financial charts and spreadsheets. that even banking and accounting activities can be done in real-time. Wondering about, and waiting for information, are eliminated. Application Service Providers (ASP) have become popular because data is centralized in one place, and this "centralized computing" can save companies thousands of dollars in technology infrastructure (no need to manage applications, fi les, email servers) and software costs. With ASP hosted programs, fi rms and businesses can simply lease their programs instead of buying them, including QuickBooks and Microsoſt Offi ce products. With a current license, clients and accountants can access information from one central location. For fi rms considering moving to the online accounting world, make sure you use a hosting company (ASP) that is a certifi ed provider and has at least one of the following credentials: Managed Service 24 February 2012 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com Provider certification, the Authorized Commercial Host Intuit service program, or the authorized Sage hosting provider program. Risk Management Access to information truly is power, for your fi rm, your clients, but potentially also for bad guys. T erefore security will be a concern that always must be addressed and can never be taken for granted. T at's why strong security measures are a core, built-in component of online accounting systems. T is enhanced security is one of the addi- tional benefi ts of working in the Cloud. Common data protection includes combining 256-bit encryption at login, along with enterprise-level fi rewalls, state of the art Tier III data centers with 24/7/365 on-site monitoring and security, and Network Operations Center (NOC) teams that monitor potential threats and sabotage at all times. T ese NOCs keep an eye out for unauthorized intrusions, plus weather situ- ations and other events such as earthquakes and deploy redundancies of 2N or bet er on all systems, which helps ensure uptime and security even when disasters occur locally. Additionally, NOCs have indepen- dent and uninterruptable power supplies to ensure that users experience no downtime. T ese are just some of the security aspects that must be considered, but others include managing users and ensuring that only authorized users have access to information, with administrators having the power to turn this access on and off according to need. In short, management of risk is no longer optional and control over "who sees what and when they see it" is a paramount consideration. Because of the built-in security features, when managed eff ectively, online accounting mitigates if not eliminates the risks of compromised fi nancial data. Redundancy Another clear benefit of online client accounting, and one closely related to risk management, is redundancy. T is simply means that fi nancial information is backed up in the Cloud. With online systems, access to vital fi nancial information is not dependent any longer on in-house computers and soſt ware that may (and eventually will) fail. With automated backup in multiple locations, data is simply safer, and in the Cloud, the locations for storage are virtually limitless. Redundancy brings comfort to business owners who know that their information won't be lost. Finally, the result of this ease of access, sharing of information, risk management and redundancy, is much bet er recovery if something goes wrong. With online accounting systems, you can get the data back and get back to work quickly. Disaster recovery—knowing that information will never be lost permanently—is the endgame benefi t of online client accounting. Every decision in business depends on timely and accurate information. When disasters strike, regardless of their causes, a business professional can be assured that if he and his accountant are working together in the Cloud, access is assured, no mat er what occurs. Proof of the benefi ts rest in the opportu- nities this new technology represents. Online client accounting is safer, more accessible, automatically backed up and frees users from maintenance of programs. Wise business owners and their accounting professionals should use them to their full potential. By Robert J. Chandler Robert J. Chandler is President/CEO of Cloud9 Real Time (www.cloud9realtime. com), and has more than 17 years of experience as an accountant as well as cloud computing. He received CPA Practice Advisor's "40 Under 40 Award" in 2007, 2008, and 2010, and in 2012, Cloud9 Real Time received the publication's Reader's Choice Award for ASP-Hosted Solution Providers. Robert and the Cloud9 Team strive to offer the latest technological advances to the accounting and business communities, providing cloud services and application streaming of software and virtualization of the offi ce. Mr. Chandler is writing his fi rst book, "Together in the Cloud," which will be released in early 2012. The above article includes protected content from that upcoming book and is used by contractual permission. Robert can be contacted at robert@cloud9realtime.com.