Accounting for the Cloud - The IT Imperative
Burns Waring has always used information technology to provide client services as efficiently as possible.
"We had an incomplete records accounting system back in 1980 when they were first introduced," recalls Richard Calderwood, one of the firm's two partners, "and over the past four or five years we've become even more focussed on IT where it helps efficiency." Now, as well as using various software packages to streamline its tax and accounting processes, the CharterGroup member manages its paperwork with a document management system, is introducing encrypted virtual mailboxes for clients, and servicing an increasing number of its clients using Liberty Accounts integrated cloud accounting, payroll and P11D system.
Liberty Accounts provides all the features you would expect of a small business accounting system - such as sales and purchase ledgers - and some you would not - such as stock control, payroll (with online filing), online VAT filing and a unique P11D data capture and online filing solution - which can deliver some impressive back-office and business efficiencies. In addition, the cloud based accounting system can be accessed "on-demand" from anywhere with an internet connection and a browser, by anybody with the permission and password. Because Liberty stores client data in a secure database, a single view of the financial picture can be shared by businesses, and their bookkeepers and accountants.
"There are lots of benefits to this," enthuses Calderwood. "It helps the firm to save time, money and effort," he says, and because the cloud accounting system makes it easier for Burns Waring to collaborate with its small and medium business clients, they appreciate it too.
"With Liberty, we can access client financial records quickly and easily, and if there is some sort of problem, we can be proactive, point it out to the client and discuss the various approaches to dealing with it, or even do it for them" he explains, "so clients feel as if we are always there to support them, and they are much more likely to discuss issues with us if they have difficult entries to make."
Liberty also makes various year-end processes much easier to handle, and not just because it offers online filing for PAYE and P11D; it also gives Burns Waring more control. "Getting client accounts ready for submission is so much easier," says Calderwood. With traditional accounting software, clients have to send their data to the firm, which often ends up with journals being sent to the client, who then needs to update their financial records. "This isn't necessary with Liberty, because we are sharing the same data, and after I've worked on the records and done the journals I can lock the accounting period," says the practitioner, using Liberty's lockdown feature.
Make life easier
Although some accounting systems are too complex for non-accountants, Liberty is simple to use, and it can be easily tailored by accountants, to give clients access to as much or as little system functionality as they are comfortable with. But it can simplify their financial record keeping in other ways too. "Some clients have part-time bookkeepers who work from home, and some clients want to access their books from more than one location," reports Calderwood, "and using Liberty is much easier and safer than email, or using a portable memory stick to move data between systems, and then having to ensure they are always up-to-date."
Removing the need to move data around doesn't just save time and minimise errors, it also reduces the potential for misunderstandings, as one Burns Waring client has happily discovered. "It is the UK subsidiary of a large Indian company, and when it had accounting software installed on its own computers, each country also had its own set of data. The two always differed, and there were lots of disputes about who was right and who was wrong," relates Calderwood, but with Liberty they both access exactly the same set of figures. "This has taken away all of the arguments and taken days and days of work off them and us," he adds.
Burns Waring's clients also find that cloud accounting improves the safety and security of their financial data. The financial records of each client are encrypted and stored at a secure data centre, by Liberty, which also takes care of backups. "You know that the client data is being backed up every single day," says Calderwood, which is something that many small businesses forget to do, despite their best intentions - with unpleasant consequences. "In the past, there were a number of occasions when client computers packed up and they lost their records," he recalls, which created enormous problems, "so this is a huge burden off their minds."
Focus on what you do best
The cloud-based approach can eliminate some other big burdens too, because all users always access exactly the same version of the software, which always the latest version of the software. "We don't need to worry about version incompatibility or installing the software upgrades for changes such as PAYE and VAT," says Calderwood, "as Liberty does that automatically". This saves the firm time and reduces the need for in-house IT expertise, and because the accounting system is accessed through a browser, users can upgrade their hardware when they choose to (rather than when a software upgrade demands it), so it can save money too.
Another advantage to using the Liberty cloud based system is the ongoing upgrade of the product. Unlike traditional software, where changes and improvements are released on an occasional basis, with all of the upheaval associated with system upgrades, Liberty is continually under development, and continually being improved. "A memorised transactions function already saves clients time," comments Calderwood, and Liberty is about to introduce "learned" codes for suppliers, which will cut down on data input times and errors.
Burns Waring has been particularly impressed by how much effort Liberty puts into supporting its clients, and how responsive the software developer is when queries arise. "We have a client who sells CDs, and one day they rang me to ask how to account for some supplier vouchers that a customer had just spent with them," recalls Calderwood, but when he looked at the options for cash accounting he couldn't find a solution. "I rang Liberty about it at around 4pm, and when I went into work the next day I had received an email to tell me that the functionality had been added."
"The support really is there when you need it," says the accountant, and this compares well with some of the providers of traditional 'on-premise' accounting systems - in terms of responsiveness and cost: "Liberty is very good value for money," says Calderwood. But it is the overall impact on the efficiency of the firm, and its capacity to streamline and improve its client services, that has made the transition to cloud accounting, and in particular Liberty Accounting, into a win-win situation for Burns Waring, as Calderwood observes: "Any way you look at it, it makes perfect sense."
