What is virtual accounting and can it help my business?

What is virtual accounting and can it help my business?

Virtual accounting allows accountants to provide their accounting services to their clients outside of a traditional office and usually away from clients’ offices. Leveraging technology and utilizing cloud-based accounting software, clients have increased insight into their business in real time. Communication between the accountant and client is done via phone and email. This is a fairly new concept for business owners, but should be considered given the numerous benefits.

Gain real-time benefits

Virtual accountants have job duties like every other job, but they focus exclusively on accounting duties. This prevents them from getting reassigned other tasks that prevent them from finishing their month end duties so they can produce timely financial statements and view key financial data in real time.

Cost savings over hiring an in-house bookkeeper or accountant

As a business owner, you know turnover is a real problem and can be expensive. There is the process of hiring, interviewing, training, and getting the new hire up to speed. If the new employee ends up being a good fit, then great! But how many times has a business owner hired a problem employee?

Utilizing a virtual accountant allows the business owner to ask questions, get references, and see work samples before making the decision to work with them. The virtual accountant is not an employee, rather they are considered a vendor to the business owner. There are no payroll taxes, paid time off benefits, or other perks the business owner is required to pay for the virtual accountant. Typically there is a fixed monthly fee for services rendered.

Another consideration for business owners is whether they need a part-time or full-time accountant. Maybe they just need someone a few hours a month to prepare the financial statements. Business owners have flexibility when it comes to the picking and choosing the services they need from virtual accountants.

All of this adds up to significant savings and headaches for business owners.

Use safe and secure cloud-based software

Using cloud-based technology allows users to access technology on a subscription basis, meaning users pay each month for access to the program. In return for users’ payments, software is hosted on the providers’ servers, software is maintained and kept up-to-update, and data is safeguarded by instituting security measures that most business owners wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford.

Additionally, users can integrate their accounting system with other cloud-based tools to solve problems specific to their industry. These programs function together, seamlessly providing a way for business owners to spend less time on data entry and paperwork and more time improving the operation process and efficiency, increasing their productivity and hopefully company profitability.

Eliminate inefficient processes and streamline financial information

Business owners are able to incorporate new technology into their businesses helping them eliminate low-value tasks and waste time and money. Today, there are apps that can extract data from receipts by simply taking a picture. Using bank feeds, business owners can import transactions from their bank directly to their accounting software and match them in minutes rather than manually entering each transaction each day. Eliminating inefficient processes helps business owners streamline financial information into real-time data.

Accounting that moves with you

For business owners who travel or prefer a tablet in hand instead of sitting at a desk, cloud accounting can go wherever you they go. All of their financial information lives on a server online and can be accessed from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Real-time information at your fingertips.

At Okie Accounting Group, we partner with our clients to provide innovative, high-quality accounting services remotely. Contact us today to discuss how we may help your business.

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