This topic is very close to my heart, and I share it everywhere I go. A couple of years into my career as a chartered accountant, I wondered if I was still enjoying working in the finance industry.
I was busy with so many routine, tedious tasks that I felt I was not growing. I did not feel like I was making a difference in other people’s lives.
I was so consumed with day-to-day accounting tasks that I did not have time to monitor the financial health of the businesses I was managing or to provide valuable feedback to business owners.
All of this made me question my career choice. In other industries, I saw innovation and people who were fulfilled by their work, and I remember thinking there must be a way to make accounting enjoyable and fulfilling.
What is Cloud Accounting?
Cloud accounting is a term that did not exist in my vocabulary a couple of years ago, but it completely changed my life and my thinking. Learning this term saw the beginning of an incredible journey for me where I went back to enjoying finance work again.
Cloud accounting enables users to access their accounting data and execute financial tasks remotely over the internet. This system provides 24/7 accessibility, facilitating real-time collaboration among team members and offering operational flexibility for organisations with distributed workforces or multiple business locations.
How Cloud Accounting Disrupted The Finance Industry
I stumbled upon cloud accounting while reading the Entrepreneur magazine and saw an advert for Xero.
The tag line was “Real-time accounting”.
It caught my eye immediately; I have never seen “real-time” and “accounting” in the same sentence.
I had been working in the finance industry for over ten years at the time. I had experienced that we, as accountants, were usually playing catch-up. In general, we were processing financial and business information that had happened a few months or even a few years ago. The idea of “real-time accounting” seemed unreal to me!
I knew that cloud accounting would disrupt the accounting and finance industry, like Uber disrupted the public transport sector and Airbnb disrupted the hospitality industry.
Why Cloud Accounting Is So Enjoyable and Good For Business
After reading the Xero advert in the Entrepreneur magazine, I decided to propose this new technology at the company where I worked.
We switched from a desktop accounting software to Xero. The switch was easier than I thought. Suddenly I had access to a variety of amazing features that I never knew existed. A whole new exciting accounting world opened up for me. If you’re curious about how Xero can streamline operations, especially in manufacturing, this article on managing manufacturing processes with Xero is a great read.
I could write an entire book about how this change improved my life but to give you a glimpse of what these features mean, I will only share a few of them.
Just a disclaimer: I am going to talk about automation – a lot.
1. Way Better Accounting Workflow
Firstly, let’s talk about aesthetics. Xero has been designed specifically for the web, making work screens straightforward and user-friendly. The platform is also great to look at and easy on the eye. This may not seem to be that important, but when you spend hours staring at a screen, you want to interact with the best-looking platform possible.
Not only is the design well-thought-out, but the logical flow of transactions happens much more efficiently than I have ever seen before. There is no more batch capturing; rather, there is a transaction flow. The cloud accounting software links directly with your bank. It feeds transactions automatically to the software, matching automatically with source transactions, for example, matching the supplier transaction with supplier payment. All you have to do is click OK.
2. Going Paperless
Xero’s platform allows for every transaction to have a source document digitally attached to the transaction. There is drill-down functionality available from the general ledger, and you can click right through to the supplier invoice. It makes any query and audit way easier than before. No more looking for source documents in files and no more worries that files or paperwork might get lost. All of this is then saved securely on the cloud.
Since the application is web-based and all the information is on the cloud, I can access it from anywhere I have an internet connection.
It means that I have the freedom to work from anywhere and check up using my mobile phone. How incredible is this! I am not bound to a desk anymore.
3. Automation Is The Name Of The Game
I have already mentioned the automatic bank feeds, but this is only the beginning of automation in Xero. There is an automatic link to XE.com, so multi-currency transactions are converted automatically to your reporting currency. When you pay the foreign supplier or receive money from a foreign client, Xero automatically calculates the foreign exchange profit and loss and posts the journals.
Fixed assets are a breeze. The fixed asset register is integrated into the software, and at month-end or year-end, you only have to click one button. Depreciation gets calculated automatically, and journals are posted (yes, you guessed it) automatically! This level of automation is unheard of in other accounting applications.
In summary, the automation functions in Xero save me significant time. This time can be spent on things that matter and that actually bring about positive change.
Old Desktop Software Frustrations
When I think back to the days when I was using old desktop accounting software, I remember how miserable and frustrated I felt. Compared to what I know now, the software design was terrible.
It took me hours to capture transactions manually, and there was so much room for human error. Typing errors, miscalculating errors, and misallocating errors could easily slip through the net. Dext Precision, a cloud-based software tool that plugs into Xero (or Quickbooks Online), runs a whole range of quality control checks on your financial data. It’s a solution designed to assist SMEs in improving their financial data quality. It can streamline your monthly processes and provide high-quality reporting insights.
In addition to the potential for errors, you could only work from a computer where that file was located. You had to have a very reliable backup procedure in place and make sure the file did not corrupt.
Every year you had to ensure that you received the software company’s updates and then install the latest version on your computer. Just talking about all these frustrations makes me feel exhausted. No wonder I was so miserable in the finance industry.
With all the software housekeeping, back-and-forth using non-automated software, and ensuring that I had not made a mistake, I never felt like I was adding real value to businesses. I never had time for the exciting things, like forecasting and presenting valuable business insights to business owners and helping them grow their businesses.
Now I Have Time To Do What Actually Matters
Since routine tasks are taken care of with cloud accounting, and I know that financial integrity is of a high standard, I can now focus on monitoring the financial health of the businesses I look after and providing regular and valuable feedback to business owners. It is important to understand the value of high-quality management reports.
I am now able to improve financial reporting and be innovative with bringing the business numbers to life so business owners can make better decisions.
I am not stuck in the past anymore, and I am certainly not playing catch-up all the time. Instead, I can look ahead in business, focus on cash flow forecasts and company targets, and help business owners prepare for what is coming.
I Am A Happy Accountant Again
Cloud accounting made me enjoy the finance industry again. It enables me to contribute meaningfully to businesses by utilising my financial expertise on a level that matters.
Routine tasks are necessary, but with this great new technology, you no longer have to waste time doing them yourself. I am also a happy accountant because I help other accountants and businesses switch to Xero and make them aware of this brilliant technology. I love to see how people’s lives are improved and how stress levels decrease because the automation of cloud accounting brings freedom and joy.Now that you are totally convinced to switch over, let’s get started by helping you build a tailored financial system and team that empowers you with data, knowledge, clarity, and direction.
