If you’re planning an accounting software upgrade, it’s important to make the best choice for your company. Discover and choose the right cloud accounting software for your needs.
What features do the best cloud accounting software have, and what are the benefits?
In the old days, your accounting software would be installed on a computer in your office — and that’s where it would stay. You’d have to log in to that machine to use it and install updates regularly. If you couldn’t make it to the office, you’d be unable to access your accounts. These days, the best accounting software is located in the cloud, on a remote server. You can log in and access it wherever you are, and it’s updated automatically.
5 top cloud accounting software
AccountsIQ
Our cloud accounting software has been designed with growth, scalability, and efficiency in mind. We excel in providing your business with all of the accounting features that you will need as your organisation grows. These include budgeting, auditing, cash flow forecasting, group consolidation and more.
Suitable for: Mid-market, enterprise, and multi-entity organisations
Sage 50
Suitable for small and some medium businesses with lots of opportunities for customisation, including integration with desktop software, creating a hybrid hard drive and cloud-based solution.
Suitable for: Single entity organisations
Xero
Xero allows you to efficiently import data, manage fixed assets and track your sales and purchase transactions. It has made improvements to many aspects of its service, though it still has limits around reporting, and expense tracking functions.
Suitable for: Freelancers and Start-ups
Quickbooks
This software is usable, flexible and effective, and this is reflected in its more costly price tag. It provides great customisable report functions, but its auto-categorization can lack accuracy.
Suitable for: Freelancers and Start-ups
Sage 200
Like Sage 50, this software allows for integration with desktop systems, including Microsoft Office. However, it is very difficult to set up and can be challenging to use.
Suitable for: Organisations only requiring hybrid accounting environments
Key features for the best cloud accounting software
If you want to know what to look for when shopping for cloud accounting software, or how to tell whether your current system is up to scratch, take a glance at this checklist. If your software can do everything on this list, you’re probably getting a good deal. If it’s not checking the boxes, you might want to look elsewhere.
Use it on the move
When your accounting software is in the cloud, you can log in from any device, wherever you are, as long as you have an internet connection. It’s great for working from home or the office.
Stay secure
With cloud accounting, you don’t need to worry about protecting or updating your software – it’s all done for you, so you can get on with what’s important.
Get real-time data
A cloud-based system is always live, so no matter when you log in, you’ll always get access to the latest financial figures. If you’ve integrated it with your CRM, booking system or banking app, they’ll all link together for up-to-the-minute real-time reports.
Collaborate and integrate
In the cloud, it’s easy to connect with others. Multiple colleagues can all log into your accounting system and see live updates and you can approve invoices, POs and expenses via our mobile app whilst travelling too. You can integrate your accounting software with other cloud-based systems, like your banking software or CRM to create even more efficiencies.
Save money
Subscribing to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution rather than buying your own package works out cheaper in the long run, and IT hosting and support is all included in the package.
Performance, features and functionality to look for
What makes a good cloud accounting solution? Here are some of the key things to look out for, when you’re considering suppliers.
Features and Functionality
Can it consolidate accounts from multiple entities and in different currencies, without the need for fiddly workarounds? Will you need to design your working processes around the software, or will it work for you? Will it save you time and effort?
Scalability
Is your chosen accounting software flexible enough to grow with your requirements, where it is easy to add additional entities and extra modules as and when you need them? Can it integrate with other best-of-breed cloud apps to give you the efficiencies your business needs? This is really important if you plan to grow your company in the next 5 years.
Easy to implement
How quick is it to get going? Will you get full support during implementation?
Affordability
Is it good value for money? Will your accounting system save you time and money by automating routine tasks? Will you benefit from free customer support?
Award-winning cloud accounting software from AccountsIQ
Named Mid-Market and Enterprise Accounting Software of the Year twice in the last 3 years, AccountsIQ is the best cloud accounting software for growing businesses. The voting for the Accounting Excellence Awards is done by actual users of the product, and the win reflects the satisfaction of our client base with an accounting product that’s designed for their needs.
AccountsIQ’s award-winning accounting software simplifies how finance functions capture, process and report the results of multiple location businesses.
Built for the cloud, AccountsIQ is ideal for dynamic businesses that are growing locally or internationally, via subsidiaries, acquisition or through a franchising model, while allowing easy central control and consolidated reporting of results. The unique consolidation engine, along with its ability to integrate with other applications, makes it easy to scale.
Features that put AccountsIQ above their competitors
Multi-entity accounting
You can easily manage your multi-company accounting and handle full group consolidation for Groups and Entities with reports generated in one click.
Superior financial reporting capability
A suite of 250 reports and dashboards with editable parameters and extended department analysis (up to 6 dimensions e.g. dept, sector, project etc) that gives you the exact insight you need across your business. And graphic visualisations provide an instant snapshot of real-time figures.
Advanced functionality
A powerful, flexible 3-level General Ledger, feature-rich Journal Manager, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable and additional modules such as workflow approval, an expense and workflow approval mobile app, and an integrated fixed asset register.
Superior user experience and interface
AccountsIQ is simple to use with customisable tools, a transaction browser for drill-down to transaction level, and full user profiling and audit trail.
Affordable software
Our software is a good fit for a range of growing companies, of different sizes and sectors. AccountsIQ's cloud accounting systems can benefit businesses of all sizes and can radically impact the way your business works.
Read more about the key features of AccountsIQ’s cloud-based accounting software and contact us to request a demo.
If you're interested in setting up a cloud accounting system, get in touch today.
Discover what the best cloud accounting software is for medium-sized businesses.
If you're new to cloud accounting, discover our introduction to the cloud for all the information you need to get started.
