5 Benefits of Learning to Use a Computerized Accounting System

Today’s market for business technology is a wide and sophisticated one. While this is ultimately a good thing for businesses, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer range and complexity of all the available product offerings. What kind of technology is actually worth investing in right now? Which solutions will actually prove to be the most useful after all the effort a company’s staff will put into learning them?

If you’re thinking about which technologies to buy and where to allot your company’s tech budget, one type of solution you should definitely consider is a computerized accounting system (CAS). Though a new CAS will demand a significant upfront cost, you may be able to get quick returns on your investment thanks to huge improvements in your company’s financial housekeeping. It doesn’t hurt that many of today’s product offerings are user-friendly, easy to use, and highly scalable.

Your choice to spend on new accounting software and to work through the initial learning curve will not be for naught. Below are the advantages of upgrading your accounting system and learning the ins and outs of how to use a CAS.

You’ll Be Able to Observe Best Accounting Practices

As a business owner and supervisor of your own accounting staff, you may already be acquainted with the best practices for accounting and bookkeeping, like keeping a chart of account and having control of your accounts payable (APs) and accounts receivable (ARs). But the bigger your business grows, and the more complex your financial needs inevitably end up being, the harder it will be to keep your finances in order.

Having your team learn how to use a CAS will help you address the challenge of implementing best accounting practices for a growing company. You and your staff will be able to relearn the basics of sound financial management—and better yet, you’ll be empowered to do them well.

You’ll Be Able to Fully Streamline All Your Accounting Processes

Manual accounting procedures may have taken you through the earliest stages of your business development, but they likely won’t suffice now. Although the prospect of incorporating more tech into your accounting system may initially scare you, adapting to slow, nebulous, and inefficient manual methods will ultimately make things even harder for your company.

Thanks to a CAS’s high-powered automation and calculation functions, plus its ability to consolidate huge volumes of accounting data in real time, you’ll be able to streamline key accounting processes like reconciling your figures, generating documents like balance sheets and invoices, and compiling financial reports. All of this will result in an accounting system that’s constantly reliable and that works like a well-oiled machine.

You’ll Make Fewer Mistakes and Save More Money

Accounting, bookkeeping, and financial management are all tedious tasks, and if they’re done using manual methods, there’s a lot of room for error. Unfortunately, even the smallest accounting errors can end up costing a company a huge amount of money, and accountants know this for a fact.

Becoming well-versed in the features offered by your CAS will help you reduce the number of accounting mistakes that you and your staff make, therefore saving you a significant amount of money in terms of cost-efficiency. In addition, if you can count on your new system to crunch numbers quickly and accurately, you’ll be better at beating your accounting deadlines, preparing complete financial reports for auditors and regulators, and avoiding costly fines and penalties.

You’ll Be Able to Disaster-Proof and Future-Proof Your Company’s Financial Records

One of the best arguments for modernizing your accounting system and shifting to more tech-driven, data-driven accounting approaches is that these will serve you well in times of adversity. You may not want to think about it while things are going well, but an event like a natural disaster or a security breach could wipe out your company’s financial records and cause a devastating business interruption. If you don’t act now to digitalize your accounting system, your business may never recover from such crises.

By upgrading your software, you’ll be able to do two things at once for your company’s financial housekeeping system. First, you’ll be able to disaster-proof it and make your financial data more accessible to you and your staff in difficult situations. Second, you’ll be able future-proof it—making it easier for your company to transition into the digital age and the challenges that the latter may bring. This is good enough reason to invest in a CAS and to learn all the trappings of computerized accounting.

You’ll Be Able to Foster a Reputation for Financial Transparency and Accountability

Lastly, mastery over a new CAS will reflect well on your business. It communicates how serious you are about achieving financial transparency and accountability and giving everyone who interacts with your company the best possible experience.

Your effort to onboard and learn how to use your new CAS will do more for you than improve your business’s bottom line. It will earn you two things that have no easy substitutes: the respect of your peers in the industry and the trust of your customers.

Do your research about which computerized solution will best match your company’s financial needs, and find a reputable CAS vendor to implement it for you. Soon enough, you’ll be able to reap the fruits of such a big investment.