Change is constant in business, so when faced with disruptions or evolutions, leaders need to take a hard look at their tools, systems, processes and strategies to make sure they are positioned to respond. While some systems like QuickBooks provide the basic functionality small businesses need, they can also constrain the scale of your outsourcing practice and your fastest growing clients in ways that can be tough to recognize. Steering a company during uncertain times requires an analytical approach with an emphasis on visibility, control and agility and a dependency on QuickBooks can often become a burden.
Make sure to join the Insightful Accountant webinar with Oracle NetSuite, "Using a Cloud Solution to Boost Remote Collaboration in Outsourcing," on June 16, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can register here.
Organizations recognize that in order to remain as healthy as possible, sometimes a more sustainable approach is necessary. Here are five signs that it’s time for your outsourcing firm to look beyond QuickBooks to a more robust financial system for your practice:
1. Lack of business visibility. If your clients are currently performing more accounting outside of the financial system than in it, QuickBooks is likely hindering efficiencies. Help your clients break free from a siloed and manual mindset with a financial system that generates and shares insights and data in real-time across the entire enterprise. With so many critical decisions to make, your clients need the right numbers, and they need them right away. With up-to-date financial data and “what-if” scenarios in hand, your clients can better determine the steps they need to take to navigate challenging times.
2. Financial consolidation across systems is sluggish. When businesses need to contain costs during periods of uncertainty, any inefficiency can impact the bottom line. As you and your clients manage through a downturn in the market, eliminating inefficiencies and automating manual tasks can improve cash flow in the short term and better position companies for long term growth. Standalone accounting applications like QuickBooks make it difficult to integrate and share data, requiring manual data re-entry across systems. Automating key accounting processes minimizes the risk of error while also producing financial consolidation in a fraction of the time.
3. Unable to work securely with colleagues and clients anytime, anywhere. With teleworking becoming the new normal for most, standard desktop systems that once did the trick just don’t cut it anymore. Desktop versions of QuickBooks require employees and clients to either be in the same physical location, share files back and forth, or use other solutions like hosting providers that can have equally questionable security. A unified cloud-based financial system allows your practice to securely collaborate with clients in real time and allows clients to easily “self-service” without having to navigate firewalls and other obstacles.
4. Difficulty adding new sales channels, product lines or revenue streams (domestic or international). In challenging times, new ideas will spur new skillsets, new business models, and even new industries. Companies that work to remain competitive in the market require a system with the capabilities to scale and meet the business requirements of their new strategies. QuickBooks doesn’t offer a full suite of business functionality and may not be compatible with other systems. Your clients need an integrated business system that centralizes accounting, order management, customer relationship management (CRM) and ecommerce processes to support even the most aggressive growth strategies.
5. Dependent on Excel spreadsheets and third-party applications to connect data. In times like these we need visibility. Band-aid solutions like spreadsheets and standalone applications like QuickBooks don’t have the ability to “talk” or share data with one another, requiring more human intervention. With a more sophisticated outsourcing platform, your clients can eliminate the need for manual data entry, significantly reducing errors in the financial management process.
Life after QuickBooks: What Comes Next?
If you or your clients are experiencing any of these challenges, consider looking beyond QuickBooks. Now could be the best time to evaluate a solution that will allow your business and your client’s business to respond to what comes next. As an outsourcing provider, you play a key role in helping clients determine the right time to upgrade their accounting system and advising which product is right for them. Adding another solution to your portfolio to support larger, more sophisticated clients can also keep your business healthy and increase your value as a trusted advisor.
Make sure to join the Insightful Accountant webinar with Oracle NetSuite, "Using a Cloud Solution to Boost Remote Collaboration in Outsourcing," on June 16, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can register here. VIEW THE ARCHIVE IN OUR WEBINAR VAULT