Web-based accounting, first developed in the late 1990s as an alternative to desktop accounting, makes business accounting accessible from anywhere in the world. Malcolm Granville, MD of InterSystems partner Web Accounting Solutions, looks at the many benefits it has to offer.
The ongoing drive to up revenue and cut costs makes technology enhancements and system upgrades a pain for most organisations. However, archaic systems that were designed to meet your business needs five years ago may be holding you back from acquiring the information you need to expand the depth and breadth of your organisation today.
But businesses looking to upgrade their accounting systems without making a large investment in new hardware, software, service agreements, and administration costs can now turn to the Internet, which is increasingly becoming a provider of low-cost business tools.
A Web-based accounting package is a complete accounting system that resides on a Web server. Anyone can access their financial records with a simple browser and a password. Instead of paying large sums of money up-front for hardware and software, you pay a smaller monthly rental fee to a service provider. The service provider securely stores and backs up your financial information, and is responsible for providing software updates, security and data storage.
The benefits of Web-based accounting
* All you need is a browser and a connection to the Internet, which makes it easy to deploy the system across your organisation, and to remote users.
* There is no massive up-front investment in software, and no huge annual licence fee.
* There are also no major outlays for all the hardware, and ongoing infrastructure overheads.
* The cost for IT staff to maintain the system is worked into the monthly rental fee, so there is no need for you to hire expensive staff.
* Because the Web-based accounting package is already up and running, the implementation time frame is slashed. All you have to do is log in.
* The Web-based accounting model enables even small companies to have access to a single system from multiple locations at affordable prices.
* As your company grows, you won`t need to worry about outgrowing your system`s storage capacity or setting up a network to accommodate multiple users. The service provider will manage this for you.
* The model also enables small business owners to work from home and have access to process payments, print reports, and conduct other transactions.
* Web-based accounting solutions use the same high-end databases that large companies do, so small businesses need not worry about outgrowing the system`s capacity.
* Backups are conducted frequently, which mitigates the risk of data loss.
* Web-based accounting solutions continually apply enhancements and patches to their product. They are therefore more responsive to customer needs and the customer is assured that they are always using the latest version of the software. In addition, system upgrades occur automatically and at no additional cost.
Web-based accounting solutions are set to change the accounting software landscape in the near future, making best-of-breed (and otherwise unaffordable) solutions available to the smallest of businesses.
Web Accounting Solutions has designed a Web-based accounting application, Accknowledge, built on InterSystems` CACH'E post-relational database.
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