Due to the wildly fluctuating incomes of the entertainment industry, all of you working freelance in it need to be up to speed with your finances. You need to know the key numbers. Not the numbers in last year’s accounts; they’re out of date. You need today’s numbers.
That’s where a cloud accounting system comes in.
What are the four types of accounting system?
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 a long time. And time is valuable. Manual systems also do not provide information in a format you can easily assess how you are progressing.
2: The spreadsheet system
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 may need advanced Excel skills to produce reports in an appropriate format, again wastes hours changing the spreadsheet as your business grows and evolves.
3: The desktop system
Then there is the desktop based accounting software. The software can be relatively cheap. But there is a huge hidden cost of customisation, 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.
Typically clients find this method quite complex and it can often end up with your accountant charging you higher fees than the spreadsheet method.
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,
- The software obtains your transactions direct from your bank, via a bank feed.
- You can “train” the software to recognise regular transactions from the bank feed e.g. mobile phone monthly charge. Saving you time analysing transactions.
- 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,
- Since your accountant can access your data 24/7 you get more value from an accountant – they will help you run and grow your business.
In short, a cloud accounting system will make your life so much easier and give you real time figures.
What’s the main problem with cloud accounting?
The main problem with cloud accounting systems is deciding which cloud accounting system you should select! Some are better than others; some suit different types of business. 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, VAT registration number and so on) you also need to set up your 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.
Don’t fret, we can set up your cloud accounting for you
And you don’t even need to be in the same part of the UK… we can set it all up online.
Interested? Email me at markcarr@streetsweb.co.uk or give us a call on: 01273 778802