Online accounting is a rapidly growing industry with many definitions.
Some people interpret “online bookkeeping” to mean using QuickBooks Online for their small business bookkeeping needs. But if you’re paying a monthly fee to QuickBooks and uploading your financial data to their servers, you don’t own that information. If you forget to pay your bill, or decide you no longer want to use QuickBooks Online for your accounting needs, you could lose all your data if you don’t complete the tedious process of copying it to Excel spreadsheets.
But there’s another kind of online bookkeeping that many mid-sized, rapidly growing businesses with revenue from $5 million to $50 million are beginning to use. When you contract an online accounting service that uses an Application Service Provider (ASP) to host your bookkeeping software and store your financial data on their servers, you still own that data. Yet, you get the benefits of frequent back-ups and professional-level security, which you probably don’t have the staff, budget or infrastructure to provide in your own office.
These are just a few of the lesser-known benefits of online accounting. There are more.
Read on to see what business owners love about online bookkeeping.
1. Online bookkeeping can reduce the risk of company fraud.
Disgruntled employees are often perceived to carry a large threat of employee fraud, as are employees who may be struggling financially. But the real ones to watch? Those long-trusted employees like your in-house bookkeeper who has been with you for years and refuses to take a vacation because “no one else can do the job.”
Without the right processes and internal controls, employee theft becomes not just possible, but likely.
On the other hand, AccountingDepartment.com has internal controls in place, with a financial controller overseeing the work of the bookkeeper. Only you, the business owner or CEO, has the ability to issue and sign checks.
Finally, your full-charge bookkeeper and the rest of your online accounting team live and work in your time zone, but not in your office or even your town. Our online accounting services are personalized, but not “personal,” so we won’t gossip about your business or collaborate with your employees to help them commit fraud.
In addition, we carry professional liability (E&O) insurance as well as employee dishonesty coverage.
2. Online accounting saves you time and stress.
There’s a perception that online accounting services save money, since business owners don’t have to pay for overhead, employee benefits, and other costs associated with in-house employees. This might be the case, but our clients tell us all the time that we save them time and hassles.
They don’t have to hire, train or manage the virtual accounting department, and, because of our Service Level Agreement, they never have to worry if their books are done accurately and on time. You can’t put a price on that kind of peace of mind.
3. Online accounting puts you in better control of your business.
A common fear associated with online bookkeeping is that the business owner will lose control of his business. In fact, the opposite is true. With 24/7/365 access to your company’s financial data, and a host of financial reports at your fingertips you’ll always know how well your company is doing, how much money you have in the bank, and the capability to find out where the company is likely to be heading in the near future. With a financial controller on your virtual accounting team, you’ll gain the benefits of wise financial advice and financial analysis, so you can make the best decisions for your business.
Online bookkeeping may put your financial data in the “cloud,” but you can keep your feet firmly on the ground with accurate financial data and realistic financial forecasting for the future of your business.
