Why Use Cloud Bookkeeping Software?

What cloud-based accounting software can do for your business

Accounting software isn’t new, but many traditional industry heavyweights are too complex for the needs of smaller businesses, not to mention the unrealistic costs. Instead, sole traders and smaller limited companies were reliant on Excel spreadsheets and reams of paper to take care of their daily bookkeeping. Until the dawn of cloud-based accounting software.

What is cloud-based bookkeeping?

A digital ‘cloud’ is a highly-encrypted secure online storage location. Store your data and documents on the cloud, and you can access it all from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection. Using this tech for bookkeeping means that the software lives on the cloud, and you access it digitally. Gone are the days of downloading massive files from an installation disk.

Will cloud-based accounting help my business?

Using cloud software to do your bookkeeping has several advantages. Your accounts data is saved in a secure location, that you can access from anywhere, so you’re not tethered to one machine or location.

The software is always online, even when you’re not

- You won’t need to buy the newest version of the software, and then spend time downloading and installing updates. Instead, the provider just pushes updates out to the cloud, so you’re always working on the latest version (with any new features and security updates that come with it). Which is good news considering all of the Making Tax Digital updates on the horizon.

- Your bookkeeping data can work away in the background, whilst you’re working on something else. Bank feeds are a great example of this. Connect your cloud bookkeeping software to your bank account, and each transaction will automatically populate in your bookkeeping. You won’t need to spend time entering the information manually.

- You can pick up where you left off. Sign in online, and you’re ready to send an invoice, quote a potential client, record a supplier receipt, and beyond.
Financial transparency in your business

The beauty of this real-time approach to bookkeeping is transparency. You’ll always have oversight of your accounts, making it easier to keep on top of all those comings and goings. It’s essential for good business planning, and you’ll be able to make decisions without needing to run lots of updates first.

Collaborate with others in your business

OK, so some accounting software providers will throttle your usage based on how many users you’re allowed, or how many transactions in a month.

But in theory (and in a few real-world examples like Pandle or Bokio) you can give access to your cloud bookkeeping account to an unlimited number of people.

You’ll all be able to access the data at the same time, which makes it easier to keep everything up to date, even if you’re in separate locations.

And your accountant can join in too. With all of your business accounting stored securely in a cloud location, you can give your accountant easy access, ready for when they need to work on your numbers.

I’m no bookkeeping expert, can I still use cloud accounting?

The beauty of cloud accounting software is that there are plenty of options to choose from. Many are suitable for even the most novice users; those who have never used bookkeeping software before, or even sent an invoice.

Just do your research, and pick the software that suits your needs. There’s little value in paying more for complicated software that you won’t actually use.

Choosing cloud bookkeeping software

We created this website to help people find software that fits them. Everyone has different needs and varying bookkeeping skills. We’ve reviewed some of the most popular or well-known cloud accounting software brands available to UK users, to help you get started!

We’ve also added a star-review system so you can rate software that you’ve used, leave comments, or both.