By Neil Hall, Strategy Consultant at Daisy
Technological innovation is leading the way in how today’s accounting is done. From improving efficiency and enhancing collaboration to improving data security and customer engagement.
Our accountancy customers are seeing the benefits of technology within their organisations, but are you?
So, what advantages can technology offer your accountancy firm?
1. Increased efficiency
For any accountancy firm, time is money; every minute of billable time works into your organisation’s profit margins. That’s why optimising operations has never been more important to remain competitive in today’s uncertain economic climate. Technology offers opportunities here, that will empower your firm to flourish if you embrace them.
With the right cloud-based solution, you can improve the overall efficiency of your employees by streamlining your processes, maximising performance, and minimising the risk of downtime or systems being unavailable. For example, our cloud-based systems and services can enable your firm to gather and analyse data and communicate information to your customers securely. Documents can easily be tracked, reviewed, and signed electronically optimising your customer engagement to invoice timelines.
2. Real-time collaboration
For accountancy practices with cross-functional teams, being able to collaborate effectively has a direct impact on your ability to meet customer expectations and regulatory requirements. Having the right technology in place is key to this and will give you the ability to save your firm time, enhance the customer experience and boost employee engagement.
The right cloud solution will allow you to share data and documents among colleagues and with customers securely and instantly. It will also allow you to equip your employees with the tools to collaborate at anytime, anywhere, improving delivery speed through improved communication and real-time file sharing.
3. Improved customer engagement
Customer satisfaction is at the heart of any successful accountancy firm, and so recent developments in technology have been designed to address this and bring accounting professionals and customers closer together. Cloud-based solutions are vital to improving customer service and ensuring your firm achieves regulatory compliance. Dedicated platforms allow you to collect and share data with customers in a controlled and secure manner, in line with regulatory compliance. This gives your customers improved visibility and a more personalised service, promoting a stronger and more direct working relationship. Your customers can review and digitally sign documents, which makes processes quicker and easier for them, and also accelerates when the customer can be invoiced.
4. Maximise data security and privacy
With data breaches and privacy concerns on the rise, ensuring your firm is protected as much as possible is paramount. With customer data protection being a legal requirement, technology can offer advantages in consolidating compliance work, adhering to regulations and implementing data encryption. Our cloud solutions are supported heavily by security measures, including but not limited to next generation firewalls, intrusion detection systems, encryption, and vulnerability scanning which are all essential to protect your sensitive data.
5. Boost flexibility and scalability
Seasonality can have a huge impact on demand for IT services and the ability to scale up and down without limitations is a huge advantage for accountancy firms. Cloud-based solutions provide you with the flexibility and scalability required to respond to demand. It allows you to scale your IT resources without the need for additional investment, paying only for what you consume, as and when you need to consume it, whether that would be the end of the tax year, budgeting times or to accommodate your growing customer base.
6. Enabling easier management of legacy workloads
Accountancy firms can be hesitant about changing systems for several reasons such as perceived loss of control, or fear of increased work. It’s a natural response to refer to the past to see what worked and have the attitude that if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. However, for your firm to grow and flourish, new technology must be adopted – or you run the very real risk of being left behind while your competitors make the most of the benefits and opportunities that new technology delivers. It’s not uncommon for accountancy firms to have a range of legacy applications that are outdated, or not compatible with the modern way of working. We have a wealth of experience of reviewing, provisioning, and supporting legacy workloads in cloud environments. So, what’s holding you back?
7. Continued evolution
It’s no secret that technology is revolutionising the accountancy industry. With the emergence of novel applications and services in the market, it is now more important than ever that technologists play the role of enablers, embracing these innovations and promptly integrating them into the technology portfolio. This is what is allowing firms to drive continuous growth and enhancements.
Cloud-based solutions streamline processes, boost employee productivity, and ensure regulatory compliance, empowering firms to adapt, grow, and thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
Read more about our cloud solutions here.