Cloud accounting can help business owners fully leverage a powerful strategic growth tool they often overlook: the financial data recorded within their own business.

Businesses around the globe must be more agile than ever before if they want to successfully navigate economic challenges while adapting to the “new normal” of an uncertain global economy. While many entrepreneurs or company executives try to analyse the environment around them to adapt their business strategy, they often fail to fully utilise the insights that accurate and up-to-date financial data from within their own organisation can yield.

Many business owners lack time or resources to devote to the accounting function, while finance departments in larger businesses often try to make do with outdated software or may struggle to manage paperwork effectively. A streamlined flow of financial information enables higher-value financial activities that support company growth and empowers business owners to make critical strategic decisions at the right time. Conversely, a lack of timeous access to financial data hinders their ability to make quality financial decisions.

How do online accounting services empower decision-makers?

A rock-solid monthly bookkeeping and reporting process must form the basis of every company’s finance function. Outsourced CFO helps businesses to automate all their bookkeeping and accounting needs by using Xero Cloud Accounting, a leading cloud accounting software package. Cloud accounting services streamline the accounting process, making it less costly. This helps business owners to organise their business in a more efficient and effective manner that also reduces errors and inconsistency and saves  the most precious resource of all – time. 

Cloud accounting services increase the security of financial data, but at the same time, it enables business owners and other decision-makers to access live data and financial information from anywhere in the world. They can review a clean balance sheet that reflects the company’s current financial position accurately as well as cash flow reports that clearly show where and why money is flowing in and out of the business. 

In addition to improved cash flow management, live data can also aid in the collection of outstanding accounts from customers by providing access to debtors and creditors information that supports your cash flow cycle – all at your fingertips. Armed with the right information, you can confidently decide on income and expense allocation that makes business sense, improving both the operational and strategic decision-making process.

Getting down to the details

While quality and timely financial live data can already aid decision-making, the ability to analyse this data can turn it into an even more valuable tool. The more detailed the information or the granular data you can access to understand the economic drivers of your business, the better you will be equipped to generate industry-leading profitability.

Cloud accounting services provide this added benefit, which can be especially useful to help growing businesses navigate the increased complexity of managing multiple offerings and cost centres while scaling up or adding new divisions. It enables you to segment different revenue and cost centres within a business to track metrics such as revenue or expenses per division. This kind of detail will help you to better understand the bottom line of each of your business’s divisions and identify what is truly driving growth or what may be dragging it down.

Why you can’t do without financial reporting

Financial statements that are accurate and up to date are the cornerstone of financial compliance and provide quantitative data regarding specific aspects of a business’s financial performance. As the saying goes “if it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed” and without financial statements it is simply impossible to accurately evaluate a business’s success or unlock further growth. Business owners use annual financial statements to plan, structure their operations, and make investment decisions. External investors are more likely to invest in a company that is compliant with statutory requirements and has sound financial reporting.

Cloud accounting services are not limited to efficiently recording daily transactions,  but can also be used to compile annual financial statements and can simplify the annual financial statement compliance process. Outsourced CFO can assist business owners to overcome any shortcomings in their knowledge of compliance processes and requirements.

Make tax compliance less… taxing

Tax compliance is critical to allowing any business to operate but can represent great compliance and administrative burden. While businesses recognise how important it is to be tax compliant, it can be difficult to keep track of all the different taxes they are required to pay. For example, different taxes are triggered or levied at different times and returns have to be submitted in different formats or by different deadlines. Regulatory changes can also impact businesses negatively. Outsourcing the tax compliance function of your business will help to spare you the time and effort it takes to manage the filing and payment of different taxes a company can be subjected to such as corporate income tax, provisional tax, dividends tax, value added tax (VAT), or payroll taxes. It also allows you to focus on what is most important – growing your business.

Moving your accounting function online

Cloud accounting can help business owners to better position their businesses for success without the need to deal with extensive red tape or to make costly additions to existing software packages. It offers flexibility and adaptability to suit the needs of both SMEs and large businesses.  

Outsourced CFO is an award-winning CFO Services, Cloud Accounting and Automation company that serves rapidly growing organisations. Drawing from deep technical and professional wells of expertise, we help founder and management teams build world-class finance functions to support their growth. Whether your company has an annual turnover of R10 million or R200 million, OCFO can help you make the switch to the Accounting Cloud. 

By outsourcing your company’s accounting needs, you gain access to a team of professional accountants that can offer you valuable insights based on decades of experience across multiple industries and continents. Get into the cloud and join hundreds of ambitious high-growth companies that are using technology and outsourced accounting service to build sustainable and profitable businesses. Click here to learn more about Outsourced CFO’s offerings on everything Cloud.