Making the most of your cloud accounting software

Are you maximising the potential of your cloud accounting software? Accounting Technician Jessica Maddams shares five top tips that will change your business.

Cloud accounting is no longer a new concept and most businesses will no doubt have some software in place and be up and running already. But is your business making taking full advantage of its potential? Could a few tweaks in your processes save you precious time? Here we have collated some tips to ensure the best use of your resources...

• Set up bank feeds

If you are still manually entering transactions from your bank statements, you need to put a stop to this immediately. Setting up a bank feed is very easy and then the work is done for you. All you need is your log-in details for online banking to get it set up in your accounting software.

• Generating sales invoices within your software

Invoice templates can be set up with company logos and any other details you require. Invoices can then be sent out straight from your accounting software to an email address set up on your customer's account. This removes the duplication of work that is caused by producing invoices in separate software and then having to manually send them out.

• Using apps alongside your cloud software

There are hundreds of apps that assist with a multitude of tasks. The one we recommend most often is Dext Prepare. You can have the app on your phone and simply take a photo of a receipt or invoice for an expense. The app can then be set up correctly to automatically know where to categorise the expense and enter it into your accounting software. You can throw away the scrappy piece of paper and not worry about storing it, as it will be kept on the cloud!

• Set up rules on the bank feed to auto-add transactions

The bank feed can be automated further by setting up rules to recognise transactions as they appear and then add them to the correct category, without you having to even click a button.

• Reconcile regularly

Keeping on top of your reconciliations ensures any mistakes or errors are caught early and makes light work of your businesses bookkeeping. Once a week would be ideal but probably once a month would be the longest to ideally leave it.

If you are not feeling confident or feel you need assistance with using your cloud accounting software, then we have experts here at Page Kirk who are able to offer advice or even keep on top of the bookkeeping and accounts for you. Give our friendly team a call, or drop us an email. and we will be in touch. Email enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk or phone us on 0115 955 5500.