Over the last decade technology has advanced so much and the world of bookkeeping has changed significantly and for the better. Long gone are the days of using excel to document all your transactions. Well I say that, however I do still come across clients using this old school method. Spreadsheets did the trick when we didn’t have access to the software which we have now, but recording all your financial data on a spreadsheet doesn’t always give you an accurate picture of your finances. There’s much more room for human error when recording this way, missing transactions, duplicating transactions or not using the right rates when it comes to changes in legislation. Doing your bookkeeping on a spreadsheet isn’t MTD compliant either. If you’re a sole trader who doesn’t yet have to comply with MTD so you’re happy to plod along with a spreadsheet, think again! Getting yourself organised and prepared for MTD has so many advantages. Having the right software can make a huge difference to your business growth and your time management. 

So what other options do you have? 

Here we’re going to compare the main differences between desktop accounting software and cloud software.

Both have their advantages, however cloud software stands out from the crowd. Being cloud based gives you more flexibility when it comes to accessing your finances. You can login from wherever you are in the world, any time of day providing you have an internet connection. Whereas desktop software means you can only access your information on a particular device, not great if you’re on the go and need to make informative and accurate business decisions. 

Using desktop accounting software has its downtime. When there’s updates you won’t be able to access your accounts until the update has completed and it can also slow your computer down. This can take hours which means it can hold your bookkeeper back from what they need to be doing and it can be quite frustrating for you having to wait to access your data. When the software is cloud based there’s no need for downtime, it can be regularly updated in the background.

Cloud software is much more secure than desktop software and of course an excel document. If your computer was to get stolen for instance all your information is on there which could be hacked. You would also lose access to your accounts if you no longer have your device. Can you imagine how long it would take to get back into your account and what harm could come to your data if it fell into the wrong hands? With cloud accounting software you can be sure that your sensitive information is safe. The information stored is encrypted and in order to access it you require 2 factor authentication with the use of an authenticator app or back up code. 

If you’re looking to make the switch to cloud accounting then we’d love to have a chat with you.