Sometimes it may sound like a bit of overkill, but the past couple of years since the beginning of the global pandemic have shown us just how important it is to have a “Plan B.” There are many things we can blame on SARS-CoV-2, but the ultimate demise of many small businesses was a direct result of shutdowns, lockdowns, travel restrictions, and mandates such as masking and distancing.
However, one of the positive outcomes could be that a growing number of businesses are finally understanding the benefits of working in the cloud. If you are a CPA looking at offering accounting services in the cloud, there are plenty of reasons you may want to do just that.
1. Wider Reach
According to Poe Group Advisors in SC, cloud accounting firms have the advantage of a wider reach when seeking to grow their client base. In the past, clients were literally forced to meet face-to-face with their accountants for a number of reasons. They would often meet to hand over ledgers to be balanced or even to bring new documents to be entered into files. These things can be avoided when everything happens in the cloud. All meetings can be virtual where clients from any part of the state can access cloud-based services.
2. Cost-Effective Solutions
From the firm’s perspective, overhead can be significantly reduced because less space and fewer resources will be needed when meeting and working with clients online. Many accountants, bookkeepers, and office support staff will be working remotely, so HVAC and power bills will be dramatically reduced. On the client side, there will no longer be a need to leave their company to travel, even if only across town, to meet with their accountants. Most clients will access their financials online.
3. Scalability
Scalability is something that offers a truly amazing advantage over a land-based accountancy. Offering services in the cloud means that you can secure more bandwidth or greater amounts of storage as needed while downsizing as well on the drop of a hat. When a local accounting firm needs more room, the only real solution is the upheaval of moving. Should they need less space or fewer resources, moving may be the only solution as well.
4. Wider Market When Listing Your Business for Sale
There may come a time when the accounting firm decides it’s time to list their business for sale. Unfortunately, even though all their clients may be listed as part of the transaction, there may be no accountants willing or ready to move to a new location. When it’s a cloud-based firm listed for sale, buyers are more apt to consider making an offer since relocation is not an issue.
Services are cost and time effective for both the accounting firm and their clients. It is easier to grow a business with the wider reach of the internet and scalability keeps it cost-effective as well for the accounting firm. If the pandemic taught us anything, it showed us the way forward where there is a safety net in place when all those shutdowns and mandates threaten the very existence of the business you’ve fought so hard to build.
