The United States Department of Labor estimates that there were as many as 1,397,000 accounting jobs in the U.S. in 2016. The number is only going to rise.
Yet, even with the sheer demand of accountants, they can have it tough, with all the bookkeeping needs and detailing requirements. An accounting software on a PC has been able to improve the productivity, but it does have its fair share of problems.
While accountants do not have to deal with the book and paper method to keep accounts for a while now, the problem with storing data on the computer has had its own perils – data loss, corrupt hard disks, and server issues could mean that accountants would be kept scourging to keep the records right.
All that might be a thing of the past, though, with these 3 key technological innovations, the work of accountants can be a lot faster, efficient, and more secure.
1. Real-Time Cloud-Based Data Accounting Solutions
Gone are the days of maintaining ledgers by hand or entering figures in a spreadsheet. Most accounting firms would be using cloud accounting software soon, a research by Xero finds.
Accountants have taken the help of accounting softwares for some time now. Still, the current trend stresses on real-time data and the integration of information from different channels for effective accounting. Cloud-based accounting softwares enable accountants to store and sync data between different systems and access the software through mobile or tablets.
Accountants can access and create real-time reports based on solid data with just a few clicks. They don’t have to turn pages after pages or scan hundreds of spreadsheets to find some specific expenditure.
The modern cloud-based real-time data accounting solution is a key to the technological transformation of accounting. Some of the better online cloud-based invoicing softwares like Zipbooks even offer unlimited invoicing and integrations with credit cards and Paypal to make invoicing simpler.
2. End of Manual Data Entry
Ask an accountant the nightmares he/she faces in his profession- and he is sure to point out just how painful it is to enter each and every bill, receipt, and invoices by hand into an accounting software.
Now, they don’t need to do that. Instead, computers can automatically read and enter a printed document’s content; known as Optical Character Recognition (OCR), it uses your office scanner to do the job.
The technology scans receipts and images and converts them into ASC IItext, which is automatically recorded in the system. You can click a picture of a whiteboard after the accounting meeting and have all the data processed and entered in a matter of minutes.
It saves the accountants a lot of time and unnecessary effort in processing handwritten bills.
3. Use of Advanced Communication Tools
A few years back, if an accountant had a query, he would have to meet the responsible person to sort it out. Face-to-face meetings with clients were a regular thing because of this and led to improper utilization of resources.
Today, there isn’t a need to do that. Instead, you can use different accounting tools like Slack or Skype to interact with team members and get your queries answered faster.
It doesn’t matter if you are in a firm or are self-employed, with the right accounting software and good internet connectivity, you have nothing to worry about!
