There has been enormous coverage in the accounting and IT press about the need for accounting practices to transfer their clients to Cloud packages so as to enable the professional to be more in touch with their clients and be able to conduct regular reviews of business as the information is on-line, up to date and accessible. What the commentators do not provide advice on is how do we make the change and get the data into a cloud environment.
For a practice that has clients that use a variety of accounting packages the decision to move to the cloud is a difficult one as not all client businesses fit just one package and then there is the huge task of not only convincing the client of the benefits of cloud accounting but also how do we get all of the balances and pertinent data into the cloud package. The cost of undertaking these conversions can be huge both in terms of time and lost billable hours as it is unlikely that you will be able to recoup all the time spent on such an exercise.
However, there is a solution and that is that you engage a suitably qualified accounting outsourcing team to undertake the conversions at an agreed price and timeline. Most outsourcing operators will, providing that the number of ledgers to be converted make economic sense, enter into such agreements. The advantage in such agreements is that you have a known cost as well as you will be able to agree on a uniform set up so that all your clients have a similar reporting structure which then makes it easier to set up standard reports etc. This agreement could cover a number of cloud accounting packages but it does require a minimum volume to make it beneficial for not only the outsource team but also the accounting practice.
This process has begun in earnest in New Zealand where we have seen whole practices convert their clients to a particular cloud accounting package with all the conversions being carried out by an outsource accounting provider at a set price.
Experience has shown that to try and undertake the whole exercise in-house is less than successful and it leads to huge backlogs of work and large write offs of unbillable time and only a small level of conversions being achieved in a reporting season.
A properly planned approach using a qualified outsourcing provider can get the job done.
About Connect Accounting
Directors of accounting outsource provider Connect Accounting Tim Davidson and Greg Rathbun both are on the wrong side of 50 and with the benefit of hindsight enjoyed the best years of the profession between 1990 and 2010 when system efficiencies were coming thick and fast and clients were generally receptive to rising fees. Back in 2008 Greg and Tim made the prediction that CA’s would have no choice but to use outsourcing and indeed would be using it because of the better quality of work. Now in 2013 Greg and Tim can confidently say that for many clients of Connect this is indeed the case. Visit www.connectaccounting.com.au for more information
Tim's experience was recognised by his appointment as Chairman of Polaris International - Oceania in 2010. This role sees Tim leading & representing accounting and business services firms from across the Oceania region.
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