Is cloud accounting right for your business?  

Did you know that 38% of European businesses use cloud-based financial software, and 67% of accountants prefer it over locally installed software?

Industries are striving to grab the best offers and innovative solutions and try their best to stay ahead of the curve. While these numbers reflect rising popularity, there is still hesitancy when it comes to cloud finance management; concerns around the safety of financial data online persist.

So, are cloud solutions right for hospitality finance management? Or should businesses stay in safer lanes?

What is Cloud Accounting?

Cloud accounting vs traditional accounting

• Traditional accounting methods have limited accessibility as financial data is restricted to a specific physical location.
• Lack of real-time insights and delays in reporting hinder business decision-making. 
• Scaling operations in the industry can pose challenges, such as maintaining service quality, ensuring consistency, and managing increased demands. 
• Manual data entry may impact the flow with the likelihood of errors and inconsistency in the format.
• Traditional methods require significant initial investments in servers, limiting businesses from accessing powerful tools due to the high expenses.

Upgrading to smart accounting: benefits, features and what to expect

What makes cloud finance and accounting solutions ideal over traditional solutions?

1. Digitalised tasks management

Cloud solutions for hotel operations streamline tasks by digitalising data entry, reconciliation, and reporting. Instead of contending with time-consuming software installation, backups, and manual data entry, hotel finance officials can rely on the software to automatically complete those tasks; the software can import bank and credit card transactions, produce recurring invoices, schedule reports, pay subscriptions and post transactions to the correct ledger. With less time spent on administration, the employees will be freed to focus on more productive and value-added tasks that require human intellect, thereby contributing to business growth.

2. Ensure strict compliance

Regulatory and tax compliance are essential to ensure business sustainability and to avoid the reputational and financial losses associated with non-compliance and the lawsuits that come with it. Thanks to cloud platforms, hospitality businesses can ensure compliance by producing accurate financial statements, automated calculations, streamlined reporting, and an audit trail that enhances transparency and accountability. Regulatory compliance ensures a business operates within the legal and tax frameworks. This avoids penalties and unexpected financial burdens, allowing long-term stability and growth.

3. Data security

Sensitive information online has often raised security concerns. Thankfully, most software enhances security for businesses in several ways as opposed to traditional accounting practices. With multiple levels of security, including advanced encryption and access control, these systems only allow authorised users to access data. These smart solutions let operators define different levels of access; all transaction details of a hospitality business will be secured while allowing employees to still access data relevant to managing their operations without hindrance. Further, cloud modules also automatically backs up operational data, reducing the risk of losing vital financial records even in the case of an emergency.

4. Accurate transaction details

Inaccurate and incomplete transaction data are often the culprits behind discrepancies in financial processes. Cloud-based accounting software tackles this issue effectively by eliminating many error-prone manual steps required when using spreadsheets or pen-and-paper methods. By automating reconciliation processes, tracking interunit transfers, matching internal transactions to bank records and flagging errors, smart financial systems ensure that errors do not go unnoticed. With accurate financial information stored in a single database, everyone in a hospitality organisation will have a single source of truth that guarantees consistency across all accounting processes and financial reports.

5. Real-time data

Spreadsheets and paper-based processes may not always provide an accurate, up-to-date view of business performance, often leaving hospitality leaders in the dark about financial issues. It may also prevent them from resolving the issues before they develop into bigger challenges. Hospitality cloud accounting systems can solve this problem by providing real-time access to centralised data. Decision-makers can have an up-to-date view of the organisation’s financial position without delays or working with outdated data. Dashboards and built-in or integrated analytics tools translate this complex data into easy-to-understand visuals, helping businesses track their key performance indicators, gain new insights and quickly identify trends.

Simplify your bookkeeping with our cloud finance software. Book a demo today!

Cloud accounting—keeping bookkeeping simple

Share this blog on