How to choose your cloud accounting service
When you’re looking for a cloud-based accounting software it can be important to know exactly what you’re looking for in the service, and how using the software can benefit your business. Cloud accounting is an amazing tool which makes transferring and viewing all of your data and information simple and stress-free, and helps to provide a safety that you can guarantee – as long as you’re certain you’re using a reliable service. We decided to compile a list of ways that you can find the best cloud accounting service for you – and hopefully help you to believe that Xero accounting is the way forward for you. As Liverpool’s top Xero accountants, we try to make sure that our clients feel comfortable working with the software and understand how it can benefit their business.
1. Show systems are secure
When you are giving a company your financial data for their software, you have to be sure that the information will be protected, which can only be guaranteed with certain systems in place. As long as their site offers:
- Solid security
- Backup strategies
- Data encryption
- Planning for disaster recovery
Then you can be certain that the company you are trusting with your information can definitely protect you and your business. Any other service without these procedures is not worth your time, and is potentially dangerous to your financial information. When you use Xero accounting as your software you’ll find that the system is well protected and will make sure that your finances are secure and won’t suffer any potential losses or hacks.
2. Make your information available across devices
When using a cloud accounting service you should be able to know that you can access the application through many different devices and operating systems, so that you aren’t limited by location and device availability. You should always look for a cloud system that supports as many types of devices as possible so that you’re always able to access your information, so make sure that you will be covered on Apple iOS devices, Android OS devices, Apple Macs and Windows PCs at least. This will give you a broad range of devices to access the cloud accounting software from so you will have no issues.
3. Value users and provide support
It’s not always easy to tell if the software you’ll be working with will provide accurate and useful support for its users, and will take some research in online community forms so that you can see what other people who use the service think of it. Most cloud accounting providers have these kind of forums so you will find plenty of people discussing the service, asking questions and occasionally making complaints. From these you should be able to get an idea of not only how the current customers feel about the software, but you’ll also find how the company treats the users that are using the forum.
With Xero accounting software you’ll find plenty of conversations and suggestions made in their community forums, and you’ll always be able to see the forum staff treating all of the customers in a friendly and helpful manner that shows they value their customers – and shows why so many people are dedicated to using Xero for their cloud accounting needs.
4. Show company is in a healthy financial status
When you’re working with a cloud accounting service you have to be certain that they will always be able to keep your businesses information available and up to date. The worst thing that can happen is for you to leave your financial details with a company to later find that they have experienced financial issues and aren’t able to continue offering you the support that you were expecting.
To find out if your prospective accounting service is financially stable you should make sure to check their balance sheets and annual reports along with their other financial information. Then, to make sure you can understand the figures you should speak to your accountant.
5. Make sure everything is in writing
When you’ve decided on the provider that you want to use, then you should make sure all of your agreements are in writing. Any cloud organisations that has good intentions will provided a full customer check-list with all of the data they need, including location and number of data centres, emergency procedures and other matters including backup and service level agreement backups. You should always check these documents and make sure you’re completely certain you understand and legal terminology used.
6. Allow detailed plans for billing
When you find your cloud accounting software, you should check their pricing structure, especially when it comes to growing your business as the service you need will grow too. You should make sure that you can determine the difference between where your business is now and where it could be in the future, and form an idea of how the price could change in the future – finding out more about their existing clients could help here. If you make sure that your additional costs are included from the start then you won’t find any unexpected costs and will be able to see where your money will be going, and how you can plan for the future.
When looking for an accounting software, you should keep in mind that not only should your cloud accounting work well with your business and how you expect to manage your finances, but it can also be incredible if your software is compatible with the accountant that you are working with. If you will be using Xero accounting as your cloud software then you should be able to find accountants that can use the software with you. As Liverpool’s top Xero accountants, we know that we are the perfect people to help you use your cloud accounting software, and as Xero accountants we can help you to understand the software and feel comfortable to change to the software from whatever you may have been using beforehand.
