Don’t you just hate the old cliché, cash is king. I do.

But the fact is, running out of cash is the number one reason businesses fail. Despite the fact that very often they are profitable. But profit and cash is not the same thing.

So how do you protect yourself?

There are really two critical things you need to get right:

Keeping your finger on the pulse of your business, andCollecting money fast.

So let’s look at each of those and how we can use modern technology to our advantage.

Your future is at stake

Better financial information helps you to make better business decisions. But it’s more important than that. We’ve seen many businesses fail through lack of financial information. Very often businesses run out of cash. They thought they had a profitable business, but suddenly they can’t meet the payroll at the end of the month.

Having the right numbers at your fingertips will give you an early warning system if things are not going so well.

What you need is an accounting system that gives you 24/7 access to up-to-date financial information and reports. And that’s where cloud-based software comes in. With a modern cloud accounting system you can access your financial data in real time from any device with an Internet connection.

Quicker cash collection

A modern cloud accounting system gives you fast, simple customised sales invoicing that will make your life simpler. And the facility for emailing of invoices, with the option to attach a statement at the same time makes it so easy to manage your sales and get paid quicker.

Even better, it allows you to embody payment methods into your invoicing. For example, click and pay to drive quick collection of your debts. It makes it so much easier for you to get paid, reducing bad debts and slow payers and putting more cash in your bank account.

You can also chase debtors whilst you’re on the go.

If you want to minimize the risk of running out of cash moving to a cloud accounting system is an important step to take.

Call us on (03) 9555 5810, mention this post and get a free Cloud Accounting consultation

Every successful business has its finger on the pulse.

You need to know the key numbers. Not the numbers in last year’s accounts; they’re out of date. Redundant.

You need today’s numbers.

And that’s where your cloud accounting system comes in. If you don’t have a cloud accounting system this blog will explain the benefits and how to get started.

There are essentially just 4 types of accounting system:

Type 1: The Manual System

A manual system is cheap; you only have to buy a book. But that’s a false economy. Manual systems simply take too long. And your time is too valuable. It also takes the accountant more time to produce accounts so you end up with bigger accountancy fees. Manual systems also do not provide that all-important management information for making great business decisions.

Type 2: The Spreadsheet

Excel and other spreadsheet-based systems are also cheap. And whilst you can automate some processes (e.g. adding up columns), they take time to set up, you need advanced Excel skills to produce management reports and you can waste hours changing the spreadsheet as your business grows and evolves.

Type 3: The Desktop system

Then there is the old-fashioned desktop system. Whilst these are far better than manual and spreadsheet-based accounting systems they come with a host of hidden costs. Yes, the software can be relatively cheap. But there is a huge hidden cost of customization, implementation, maintaining your hardware to meet the demands of changing software, dealing with (often costly and compulsory) software upgrades, security, scheduling back up routines and restoring data when things go wrong.

Type 4: The Cloud Accounting System

In contrast a modern cloud accounting system gives you the following benefits:

It saves you a very significant amount of time,Gives you 24/7 access to up-to-date financial information and reports (you can use cloud-based software from any device with an internet connection),You can sleep at night knowing your sensitive financial data is always secure and backed-up automatically,No system downtime because all software upgrades are automatically installed.This worry-free maintenance saves you time and hassle,It reduces your accountancy fees because it makes it easier for your accountant to produce end of year accounts, andSince your accountant can access your data 24/7 you get more value from an accountant – they will help you run and grow your business rather than just adding up the numbers.

In short, a cloud accounting system will make your life so much easier and give you the critical numbers for your business in real time.

Now the bad news…

Your first problem is deciding which cloud accounting system to adopt for your business. There are a myriad of different systems. They are all different. Some are better than others. Some suit different types of business. And getting the wrong solutions will cause you a big headache. Assessing all of the options is time-consuming.

Then, once you’ve settled on the best system for you and your business you have to set it up.

Unless you’re familiar with setting up accounting systems this typically takes a full day or more. Not only do you have to enter all the key details of your business (accounting year end date, ABN, GST registration and so on) you also need to set up you chart of accounts (that’s the specific types of sales, income, expenses, assets and liabilities unique to your business). And once that’s done you need to transfer any opening balances.

Whilst you can do that yourself, your time is precious and valuable. So we recommend you talk to your accountant. Every good accountant will be able to set up your cloud accounting software.

We specialize in cloud accounting, so if your accountant doesn’t offer this service we can help. And you don’t even need to be in the same part of the Australia… we can set it up online for you.

Call us on (03) 9555 5810, mention this post and get a free Cloud Accounting consultation