It’s always good to have regular reviews of all aspects of the different components of your business – online marketing, logistics, business development, sales approaches, staffing and of course, bookkeeping.

In business we should never get caught up in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset, rather we should strive to move the business forward.

Many of my clients are realising that their traditional desktop approach to bookkeeping has worked well up to a point, but as other parts of the business have moved forward with technology and online communication, desktop bookkeeping is becoming the cog in the business wheel that is slowing the engine down.

So, how should you review your bookkeeping approach? Here are 5 simple questions you can ask about the current capability of your bookkeeping process?

1. Have you streamlined your finances and internal processes within the last 12 months?
2. Can staff prepare quotes and sales invoices remotely and on the go wherever they may be?
3. Can you automate bank feeds in your desktop system?
4. Can you be sitting at the airport with the capability to download the company’s latest profit and loss statement reflected in real time?
5. Can your accountant quickly log on to your live system and help answer queries?

Hmmm….if you’ve answered NO to at least one of those questions, it may be time for a re-think of your bookkeeping approach.

But let’s not be presumptuous! Let’s ask a few more questions and see how you go.

1. Are you collecting every receipt manually and placing them in a bag or envelope to give to your bookkeeper every month?
2. Do you reconcile your bank statement manually every month?
3. Are you transferring desktop accounting files to your accountant?
4. Are you regularly backing up and running upgrades?
5. Do you have issues with multi user access?

Okay. If you answered YES to one or more of those questions, it’s time to look at cloud accounting as a bookkeeping alternative and a smart business strategy.

Cloud accounting saves time and it saves money. We have seen it firsthand in our own business and also with our clients. Time and money are like the holy grail of small businesses. We all want more of it!

The old style of bookkeeping is costing you money. Money and time that could be invested in other areas such as business development and research that could really kick-start your business to a whole new level.

Knowing which systems to introduce to your business and how to implement them is as easy as picking up the phone and speaking with de garis accounting.

We’re in the cloud…are you?