Category
Technology
Posted by
Alan Brown
Making the switch to cloud Accounting
Switching from network-based accounts software to a cloud version needn’t be daunting.
The shift from on-premises to the cloud has been transformative for businesses, with many benefiting from the improved accessibility, security, and reduced maintenance and cost of a cloud product. With Internet access now considered as essential as utilities like electricity and water, the concerns of disrupted access have dissipated, and uptake has soared. This is true of email and software services such as Office 365, file storage services such as DropBox, messaging apps such as Slack, and many more.
Moving away from running and maintaining a dusty, old server in the back office and all the associate costs and concerns it brings has shifted the management headaches from businesses to product providers, with end-users benefitting. Here at Growflo, we are obviously big advocates for moving from on-premises to the cloud. Our customers, having reaped the many benefits of going their ERP to the cloud, are now taking the next step and moving their accounts production to the cloud, which is excellent news for them and us.
Cloud Accounting packages such as Xero, SAGE, and QuickBooks are not just comprehensive in terms of functionality; they are user-friendly and, crucially, have been developed with 3rd party integrations in mind. As well as the apparent benefits of accessibility, no maintenance/backups, enhanced security, scalability, etc., they offer a range of data endpoints for systems like Growflo to connect to and share data with. Data such as invoices, credits, account balances, and more can easily be exchanged. New customers can be added to the ERP, which will create the customer in the accounts software, removing the need for duplicate data entry. This simplifies data management and provides options for improved customer engagement, such as displaying a customer’s live account balance on the webshop.
Moving isn't difficult. Once the decision is made on a product, the Growflo team begins the integration. When the endpoints are connected, testing of all the end-to-end data exchanges begins. Deployments typically take a few days. Once connected, they are highly reliable - we are yet to see a single connection failure from any of the leading products on the market – and the feedback from our customers has been very positive.
Contact Growflo to find out more.
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