Moving Your Accounting Firm to the Cloud?

Accounting firms that move into the cloud become more efficient, more productive, more mobile, and, perhaps more importantly, more profitable. Here are the clear benefits of what to expect when you move your firm into the cloud.  

What’s the perfect setup for a football Sunday?  Everything within reach from the remote to the recliner and all of the best snacks.  Without moving much, you have everything you need to enjoy the big game.  Does your accounting firm offer this same type of high-level access?  Can you “reach” everything no matter what you need, where you are, or when you need it?  You should.  It’s essential to today’s profitable and successful accounting firm.  It’s time to move your firm into the cloud.

Why Your Firm Needs to Embrace the Cloud

Many accounting firms have heard a great deal about the “cloud.”  Don’t view it as an ominous, overbearing object in the sky.  It’s actually an investment you’ll make and then wonder why you waited so long to make your move.  When you embrace the cloud and move your accounting firm into it, you’ll gain incredible connectivity and mobility.  This generally leads to a highly effective way of managing your business, growing your clientele, and eventually, scaling.

All of this comes from one, specific benefit of the cloud.  It frees your firm from all physical location limitations when operating any component of the business.  Imagine, for a moment what this may mean.  Your company’s staff connects through the cloud to all stored data and components of your business.  This creates several benefits.

First, you and your staff can work anywhere.  You can connect with your clients at their office. You can pull up files from last year in the middle of the night to soothe the worries of a client.  It’s possible to network with others over the span of space to communicate in real time about actual information and funds.  Everything is within reach no matter where you, your client, or your staff is located.

Next, recognize the benefits this has on the day-to-day operations of your organization.  You can reduce the number of physical offices you have.  It’s no longer necessary to have numerous locations across the state.  You can meet with your clients at their office, connect over the cloud, and share information.

Your staff no longer needs to work from multiple local offices.  Instead, resources are poured into just one location.  This saves you significantly.  There’s less of a workforce to manage, pay, and provide benefits too.  And, you have your most talented professionals to work with on a routine basis.  You also need to spend less on servers, one of the more costly components of business operations.  All of this cost-savings directly impact your business’s bottom line.

It sounds so good, but is it really that easy and clear?

Going back to that football Sunday example, think for a moment about what goes into the process.  You still need to put some time and hard work into creating that man cave.  You still need to invest in the equipment including a big screen TV and the most comfortable of recliners. You also need to set up your technology, buy the food, invest in the right layout, and so on.  In other words, yes, there’s work to be done to set up the cloud, and it is not always simplistic or fast.

Moving to the Cloud Is a Big Step, But a Worthwhile One

There is an element of patience and a bit of an actual investment in the move into the cloud. The set-up process is not complex, especially when managed by a company with significant experience.  The biggest challenge comes from overcoming the fear of change.  Many accounting firms and their employees hesitate to make this transition for fear of what it will do to the day-to-day operations.

The change your firm experiences will be in moving what’s on your servers right now to the cloud. This must be done in a very systemic way to ensure it functions properly.  Your software will be integrated.  Your functions will work in the same manner.  This doesn’t amount to a significant amount of change in the way your team will operate in terms of inputting data, making calculations, and compiling reports.

Here’s the Bottom Line:  Why You Need to Move

Where are the core benefits of moving to the cloud?  Here’s what every accounting firm needs to know.

• It makes your firm more efficient. Every component of operations is done in the most efficient manner.  That saves you money.
• It saves you time. You spend less time navigating software and moving from place-to-place.  You need fewer labor hours to accomplish the same tasks.
• There’s better realization of data within reach. You can quickly calculate what your client needs to know.  You can then use this information to provide advice and guidance.
• It provides an opportunity to build revenue. You can cross-sell services more efficiently.  You can handle more clients without adding more staff or operational cost.
• The accounting firm gains insight into key areas of opportunity. You provide a better level of service to your clients.

Accounting firms that move to the cloud become better capable of meeting their clients’ specific needs.  They also become problem solvers that are fast and efficient.  Your business is impressive.  All compliance requirements are met.  All IRS components are handled in a streamlined manner.

The key to achieving this goal is to work with a provider that’s capable of helping you to create the best football Sunday.  It’s incredibly easy to see these benefits and to move your firm into the cloud.  Not doing so gives your competitors the opportunity to achieve more and to do so faster.

Jason Simons

ICS is a Texas-based 40-year-old technology company specializing in Managed IT, VoIP, Video Conferencing and Video Surveillance solutions for US and International businesses. ICS has over 4000 regional installations and specializes in multi-site businesses between 25 and 2500 employees. ICS’s customers enjoy the experience of ICS’s Total Care program which provides clients flat fee services with obsolescence and growth protection. Whether a customer elects to deploy their IT, Video Conferencing or VoIP in the cloud or on the customer’s premise, ICS can provide a full turn-key solution for our clients under one flat monthly fee.