In the past few years, we have drastically progressed towards a highly digital landscape. Take a look at the following data.
According to a study released by Statista, the spending on digital transformation reached USD 1.3 trillion in 2020, two years back. The spend was around 10% growth in digital transformation spending from the year before that. That’s not it, the global digital transformation spending is expected to reach 2.4 trillion in the next two years.
As the industries are shifting to a digitally-driven world, we need technology to work in a flexible, scalable, and feasible manner. Cloud hosting is one such comfortable technology that helps you improve data security, scalability, accessibility, and feasibility.
When you host accounting software on the cloud, you are able to improve employee productivity and business operational efficiency.
Why Should You Host Accounting Software On The Cloud?
From collecting huge amounts of data to receiving high-level processing power for the tax season, you can easily achieve these functions if you host accounting software on the cloud.
Here are some benefits of hosting accounting software on the cloud:
1. Unified Working
If you host accounting software on the cloud, you can work in a unified manner. Your application and its data are stored in a centralized location, which can be monitored and overviewed by your IT admins at any time. This helps reduce glitches and improve control of the IT team on the infrastructure.
2. Remote Accessibility
The best feature of hosting accounting software on the cloud is the ability to use it remotely. For example, if you are using QuickBooks Pro, you can only use the software at a dedicated desktop that is hosting the tool. With the cloud, you can access the software remotely from anywhere.
If you have a device that has an internet connection, there’s no location barrier with the cloud. Even when you are traveling or working from home, you have direct access to your QuickBooks or accounting software.
3. Regular Backups
When we host accounting software on the cloud, we are taking services from a cloud hosting provider. Usually, your CSP takes regular automated backups of your data and software. At regular intervals, new backups are created by the system to replace the old ones.
Since a cloud server is a huge network with server redundancy having different servers in geographically different regions, your backup files are stored on these servers for up to 15-30 days (depending on the provider).
If there’s a disaster in your region, you can retrieve your data from the backup without challenges. The redundancy principle of the cloud helps you reduce your dependency on the office infrastructure even during a disaster.
4. Third-Party Integrations — Essential for Accountanting Software
On the cloud, third-party integrations are simple. You can easily integrate your payroll or tax software into your accounting software for a smooth stream of data. With this integration, your team can enjoy seamless data connectivity and receive amazing unified working that reduces the hassle and improves productivity.
5. Multi-Device Access
Along with remote accessibility, when you host accounting software on the cloud, you are able to access data and software from any device. This involves your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. You can use any operating system as well, such as Windows, Mac, Android, or iOS.
For example, your accounting software is hosted on the cloud, which you have used in a Windows environment in your office. You can easily open the same software on a MacBook with the same interface and a cloud image.
The cloud service only provides you with an image of the software and data. Any resources and operating system on your end device don’t interact with the actual OS or resources of the accounting software.
6. Data Security
If you host accounting software on the cloud, you are able to maximize the security structure of your business. Here are some ways how:
- The cloud infrastructure is physically secured by the provider with the help of a CCTV camera and other equipment.
- For cyberthreats, the cloud uses various measures like multi-factor authentication, access control, DDoS protection, updating, patching, Intrusion Detection and Prevention, and data encryption.
When accessing accounting software on an end device, your software is not on the end device. Your device is just a medium to open a cloud instance. Therefore, any incident on the end device or office computer doesn’t make its way to your cloud-hosted software. This is how cloud computing secures your application and its data. You also have data backup as your contingency plan to restore software and sensitive information in case of cyberthreat or avoidable security circumstances.
7. Affordability
If you host accounting software on the cloud, you receive an affordable deal. In-house on office desktops, your IT team ends up spending more resources and time when compared to the cloud. Further, you need to consistently upgrade your desktops and repurpose them. So, there’s the huge cost of hardware.
On the cloud, you don’t need to manage IT infrastructure. As a result, you can reduce the size of your IT team. Similarly, we can upgrade system resources on the cloud, so we don’t actually need to purchase PCs with an upgraded configuration.
8. Scalability
Lastly, the cloud is scalable. The cloud service provider has a huge resource. They can offer you resources and storage on demand whenever required by your business.
If you were to increase this storage and performance in-house, you may spend a lot. It is not even possible to reduce storage once you don’t require it.
On the cloud, you can scale and descale on demand, which helps optimize the costing and storage requirements of your business.
Conclusion
Most accounting businesses use accounting software and tools to automate functions. It helps maintain books and accounts without challenging calculations and costly mistakes. When you host this accounting software on the cloud, you are able to improve features and functionalities.
The cloud offers you scalability, high performance, security, and disaster recovery. Find the right hosting provider to receive value-generating services.
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