The modern finance team of any growing business is armed with a suite of powerful software options to manage the company’s finances. They use different finance management tools to prepare budgets, send out invoices, account all the expenses, approve purchase requests, and handle payments. And, therein lies the rub!
They are often all disparate on-premise systems that do not talk to each other. A disjointed system results in massive miscommunication between teams, an incredible waste of time and resources, and a laborious process in which manual errors are commonplace.
How cloud financial management system works?
Cloud financial management is managing the organization’s financial planning on the cloud. It arms businesses and finance teams with an ecosystem of connected tools to manage accounts, create financial reports, process payments, handle payroll, and manage budgets. Since the data is online, it can be accessed from anywhere and anytime.
Q: When is the right time to switch to cloud financial management?
A: Today. So you can reap tons of benefits tomorrow.
The best time to make the jump is when you’re growing, or perhaps even before. You’re future-proofing your company’s finances by laying out an infrastructure that has the ability to scale.
If you’re facing some or all of the following problems, then it’s high time you bid goodbye to disparate systems and switch to a cloud financial management:
- When your financial data is inconsistent
- When your finance team spends most of their time switching between tools and entering the same data in different systems
- When your employees start making business trips
- When there’s no complete visibility into reporting and insights
- When more than one person needs access to your financial management system
- When you spend too much money on different tools
Benefits of a cloud financial management software:
Here are some of the benefits of switching to cloud financial management:
1. Affordable
Cloud financial management software is relatively inexpensive when compared to on-premise ERP systems. There’s no upfront cost, maintenance charges, or support fees. Since it’s a subscription-based pricing model, you can predict expenses, helping you manage your cash flow better.
2. Upgrades and Maintenance
Unlike on-premise systems, you don’t have to wait for upgrades and install them with cloud financial management software. The software updates happen by themselves, without the need for human intervention.
3. Mobile Access
With cloud financial management, you can access your data from anywhere and anytime even when you’re on the go. All you need to have is a mobile device and an internet connection.
4. Integration Options
With REST APIs or a tool like Zapier, you can connect cloud financial management software tools and make them share information with each other. This eliminates double entries and manual errors. The data is always up to date.
What to look for in a cloud financial management software
Cloud financial software helps you keep track of expenses, assets, sales, and purchases. It could be a single system like an ERP that helps you take care of the entire finance process, or a connected system of tools that share information with each other. It should also give you 360-degree visibility into the company’s finances, with insightful reports that help you solve current and future problems. It should be an online system, so it’s accessible from anywhere.
Here are some of the key finance areas your cloud financial management software should be able to handle:
- Purchase Orders
- Invoice Approval
- Asset Management
- Budget Approvals
- Payroll
- Expense Management
- Expense Reimbursements
- Advanced Reporting
- Tax Law Compliance
- Capital Expenditure
Why you should move to cloud financial management software
Usually, there’s a bunch of common information shared between multiple tools and different teams that can help you make faster, smarter decisions. Manual systems like spreadsheets and emails or disconnected software bog you down with incomplete information, repetitive tasks, and limited accessibility. You manually enter the same data again and again, which leads to manual errors.
Connecting all these systems and making information accessible from everywhere is vital to ensure everything runs smoothly. If you’re looking to improve efficiency and eliminate errors, then cloud financial management software is the way to go.
Exploring cloud security
While online systems have become the norm, most medium and enterprise businesses are hesitant when it comes to switching to the cloud financial management software. The argument around security and privacy issues in the cloud often arise when a company decides to switch to the best cloud financial management software.
Some of these concerns are valid, given the sensitive nature of the information (payroll, tax, revenue) stored in these systems.
A recent Gartner study reveals that the providers are at fault only 5 percent of the time. This shows how seriously cloud service providers take security and privacy. While an on-premise system gives you complete control over your data, it doesn’t quite offer the flexibility of an online system.
Apart from the monetary aspect, the time and resources required to manage firewalls and web servers and intranets to collaborate with other teams are incredibly high. You’ll need an IT team needs to take care of compliance with security standards. When you use cloud-based financial automation software, the burden of compliance is transferred to the provider.
How can Kissflow Finance & Ops Cloud help?
You need cloud financial management software that grows with your business, accommodating all your needs as you grow. However, your finance software can’t do everything, especially when it comes to approvals. That’s where Kissflow Finance comes into the picture.
You can set up an approval workflow to ensure that information reaches the right person. You can modify the forms and approval hierarchies as your business grows.
Financial process automation is rarely easy because of the sheer amount of manual work that comes with it. It becomes necessary to get most of the processes automated to run a more efficient business. Give Kissflow Finance & Ops Cloud a whirl and see how it makes your finance management a breeze.
