Cohen Consulting Group

Mobile Accounting

mobilephone If you are the type of person who loves mobile apps, texting, and getting your email on your phone, then you’re in for a treat: accounting has finally come around to your smartphone. Here are a couple of great developments you can try so you can stay on top of your numbers.

Accounting Apps

For users of QuickBooks desktop and QuickBooks Online, an app is available to help you stay on top of your accounts receivables. You can send invoices, view and update customer information, mark an invoice paid, and check up on customers’ balances.

Examples of other accounting apps that you can access through your phone and sync seamlessly with QuickBooks are: Concur Expense Reporting and ExpenseCloud for expense reports from credit card charges. Bill.com automates your payables, receivables and cash management. SmartVault is a secure document management system. TSheets Time Tracking for Employees.

These apps work on the iPhone, iPad, and Android. Most have a small monthly charge after a free trial.

Bank Apps

If you’re banking with a major bank, chances are “there’s an app for that.” Downloading your banking mobile app will allow you to stay on top of balances, receive alerts, and manage your cash flow more effectively.

Payment Apps

More and more businesses are collecting customer payments via their smartphones. You don’t even need a merchant account for some of these payment apps, like Square, PayPal, or Intuit Mobile GoPayment, but it is cheaper if you do. If you’re not already taking credit cards, it’s an effective way to get started; your customers can pay via Visa, American Express, MasterCard, and Discover.

With many of these payment apps, you download the app, receive a reader in the mail, and are then able to swipe or key in a client’s credit card information. You are charged by the transaction, or monthly, if you sign up for a merchant account. Plus, you can often customize the receipts the client receives with your logo to make them look professional.

Add-on Apps

There are many other mobile apps that can increase your accounting capabilities. Both ADP and Paychex have payroll apps for their clients. There are numerous apps to extend many of your accounting functions, such as expense management, document management, invoicing, time-tracking, bill payment, and even work order management.

Accounting to Go

Now you have a choice with your accounting: you can “eat here” or take it “to go.” If we can help get you equipped as an accounting road warrior, give us a shout.

What Is Cloud Accounting?

Clouds and Green Field One of the most exciting changes in the accounting industry is cloud accounting. The concept is easy to grasp: cloud accounting simply puts your accounting system in a private space online so that it is fully accessible to you via a browser or a secure remote connection.

Two Ways to Be in the Clouds

There are primarily two ways to have your accounting system in the cloud. First, it can be “hosted.” This means that the current software you are using on your desktop, such as QuickBooks or Sage, does not change. Neither does your company file.

The only thing you do differently once it’s set up is click a different icon to start the software. Once you log in, most everything else is the same. There are a couple of differences in printer access, Microsoft Excel® access, and some of the other interfaces, but it’s essentially the same experience.

So if it’s the same, why would you want to move to the cloud? Because it completely eliminates the passing back and forth of the file among you, your CPA, your bookkeeper, and anyone else that needs to update or access your accounting file. No more restores. No more DropBox or YouSendIt downloads.

Hosting saves a ton of time because the people you grant access to can login to your file from anywhere.

The second way to have your accounting system in the clouds is to switch to an online accounting system. In industry jargon, this is called SaaS, which stands for Software as a Service. Examples of online accounting systems include QuickBooks Online, Xero, Wave, and Kashoo. These systems have fewer features and will only be right for a client with a need for a simpler accounting system.

When you switch from desktop accounting software to SaaS, it will likely require conversion, setup, and training. It’s a major change.

Benefits

There are many benefits to moving to the cloud; here are just a few of the more common ones:

Anywhere, anytime access to your accounting system. Companies with multiple locations will benefit significantly from a hosted solution.
No more worrying about who has what version and whether the changes the accountant made were updated or applied. There is one central file, and multiple people can be accessing it at the same time as long as you have the right number of user licenses.
No more software updates that you have to apply yourself or wait for. This is done by the hosting provider or the SaaS.
Tighter security for your data. The data centers typically have multiple state-of-the-art data security controls and must pass a rigid audit, which is far more protection than any small business can afford to provide for their own data.
Automatic offsite backup for disaster recovery purposes.

Concerns

Clients’ two major concerns include security, which is covered above, and costs. When it comes to costs, the most important thing to look at is return on investment. Will the time you save be of greater value to you than the costs of hosting or moving to a SaaS? That answer varies for each client.

Curious About the Cloud?

If we’ve piqued your curiosity about cloud accounting, please feel free to reach out so we can continue the conversation.