Online Accounting for SMEs

With your accounts kept up to date in cloud accounting software, your accountant can work from the same financial information as you, without waiting for records to be sent over at year end.

It also creates opportunities to automate time-consuming jobs such as invoicing, expense processing and bank reconciliation. Done properly, that means less admin for your team, fewer manual errors and more useful conversations with your accountant about what the numbers actually mean for your business.

Bank transactions, invoices, receipts and expenses can be captured and organised as you go, rather than pieced together when your accounts are due. Your accountant can then access the same information remotely, helping to keep your records in good order, prepare your annual accounts and tax returns, and spot issues or opportunities earlier.

Online accounting software can connect directly to your bank accounts and other business systems, automate recurring invoices, capture receipts and expenses, and reduce the amount of information your team has to enter more than once.

But the software is only part of it. A good online accountant will look at how information moves through your business and identify where processes can be simplified or automated. That can mean fewer hours spent on finance admin, fewer avoidable mistakes and better financial information when you need to make a decision.

Because your accountant can access up-to-date financial information through your accounting software, they can also help with cash flow forecasting, budgeting and wider financial decisions without needing to be based in your office. At Accounts and Legal, the aim isn’t simply to process your accounts remotely. It’s to give you an accounting service that stays connected to what’s happening in your business throughout the year.

They should understand businesses of your size, take the time to learn how your finance function currently works and be able to recommend practical improvements.

That could mean tightening up bookkeeping processes, improving reporting, introducing useful software integrations or automating work your team is still doing manually. Most importantly, you should have access to people who can explain your numbers clearly and give you useful advice when you need it, rather than only getting in touch when a deadline is approaching.

Your accounting platform can connect with your bank and other systems your business uses, allowing transactions and financial information to flow into your accounts throughout the year. Your accountant can access the same information remotely, keep records up to date and use current figures to provide reporting and advice. Tasks such as invoicing, bank reconciliation and expense processing can also be automated where it makes sense.

It can connect to your bank accounts and a wide range of other business apps, helping to streamline jobs such as invoicing, bank reconciliation, expense management and financial reporting.

Because both you and your accountant can work from the same financial information, Xero can also make it easier to keep your accounts current and understand how the business is performing throughout the year. The real value comes from setting Xero up around the way your business actually operates, rather than simply replacing an existing bookkeeping system with a digital one.

Before making the move, it’s worth reviewing how your finance function currently works. That gives you an opportunity to clean up your records, improve processes and decide what should be automated rather than simply recreating old ways of working in new software.

An experienced online accountant can manage the transition, configure the software and integrations, and make sure your team knows how the new setup works. The goal should be a finance function that’s easier to manage and gives you better information, not just a different place to keep your accounts.