Before the advent of cloud accounting, the small business owner would be doing the day to day data entry. Every month payroll information for themselves and their employees would need to be completed. They would have to use unfamiliar software and worry about making mistakes and if they were complying with all of their legal obligations.
Larger businesses may have an internal payroll department or still outsource their payroll, meaning they are paying salaries to employees just to enter data and calculate salaries. If they outsource their payroll function, then they are consistently giving out commercially-sensitive information to an outside business.
Thanks to cloud accounting, businesses of all sizes are able to capture savings by automating those repetitive, tedious tasks, ensure compliance with all legal requirements, improve data security and reduce the costs associated with payroll processing and company accounting.
Cloud Computing-What Is It?
Cloud computing is really not mysterious or difficult to understand. It is not even as new or complicated as it might sound. When we talk about moving to the cloud, what it really means is that a business is using the internet to store data and run applications. Before the cloud, you would have to run programs on your computer and store all of the data on your hard drive. With cloud software, the programs run online using an app or browser, and your data is safe and secure on remote servers instead of on your own hard drive.
Cloud computing and Payroll Accounting
It is pretty easy to see how cloud accounting simplifies the payroll process and makes it a full-service payroll process by looking at the generic process workflow for a payroll accounting app.
- Your business logs into a secure portal.
- Enter employee work hours for the relevant time period.
- System data is immediately available to access, cutting down on data entry.
- Payroll is automatically processed.
- Payment reports and tax information are generated and made available for review.
- All tax and withholding deposits are electronically filed with tax authorities along with any other required reports and forms.
All of this can be achieved much more quickly and easily than with the traditional more manual payroll processing and represents a big step forward compared with the traditional way of working.
Benefits
How can cloud payroll accounting help your business? There are several ways cloud accounting can bring benefits to your company, but in the end, the primary benefit is that of automation.
Cloud payroll accounting software simplifies processes and reduces manual labor. It provides your company with the same type of tools that the big, dedicated companies use, helping to keep you competitive. Immediate benefits of cloud accounting and payroll include:
- Secure access at any time, from anywhere, using any mobile device with internet access
- Easy employee set up
- Automated payments
- Better compliance with employer reporting regulations
- Ability to scale your operations
- Overall control over access and data
- Cost Savings
- Move to data-driven, analytics to provide deeper insights into your business
Your business will have the information and insights it needs to make better strategic decisions while ensuring that you are always in compliance. You will also enjoy the increase in productivity and efficiency while reducing your overall accounting costs. It is a smart move that will help your company thrive in an ever more competitive market place.
