Online Accounting Definition
Online Accounting uses internet technologies like your web browser and smartphone to help you perform business accounting functions. It replaces traditional software, spreadsheets or manual paper-based accounting systems. The following are some common characteristics of online accounting:
Real-time financials
Online accounting lets you see how your business is doing real-time. You can see how much money you have across bank accounts and cards, what money is coming in, what money is going out. This is your cashflow. This helps make decisions quickly and address areas that need attention before it’s too late. Many used to just fly blind, make decisions based on “gut instinct”, or only understand what was going on after the bookkeeper had been for their monthly visit.
No software updates
Online Accounting is always up to date because it is browser based. This means there’s no fees for the next version and all your security and feature updates happen automatically behind the scenes. Updates to Tax Tables, payroll reporting (Single Touch Payroll) and superannuation happen automatically.
Bank Feeds
Once you setup a Bank feed your transaction data automatically comes into online accounting and thus you can match payments you received or made to transaction Invoices or Purchases in Saasu very quickly. You can use bank rules and recurring transactions to make this even faster.
Value for money
Subscription based online accounting means you pay as you go. You aren’t locked into long term contracts.
Scale-ability
Multiple users working from home, overseas or different offices can all access the same accounting data file. 100% in sync. However, for your privacy you can control how much access each person has
A large degree of business complexity can be managed in online accounting before you need to consider complicated, more expensive solutions, which may cost thousands of dollars per annum.
Automated debt collection
Minimise the dreaded phone calls and the number of clients owing you money for a long time. Online accounting automates debt collection, giving businesses four substantial benefits such as Improved cashflow and Reduced debtor days. Clients stop seeing you as “the bad guy” as it removes the discomfort and awkwardness put between you and your clients when you have to chase debts.
Centralised data
You have one data file for each business. In the old software world business owners often had more than one data file and often people would update the wrong one. Online accounting means you have just one file being managed, automatically backed up and upgraded behind the scenes.
Live customer accounts
How many hours do you currently spend looking for transactions and customer information? We’ve done some research and found some eye-opening stats – did you know you can lose a minimum of 3 hours a week looking for data and information in systems? That’s what makes our online accounting search tool so powerful. Find things in seconds.
Online invoices look professional
You can invoice on the go and on the job, without having a pile of data to enter in the system later. And you can even set recurring invoices to run on a particular period which Saasu sends away for you.
Some of our clients, particularly online businesses, go as far as fully automating their sales process in Saasu. Clients purchase something via their website, receive the invoice, stock gets handled in the system, instructions get processed by the shipping system – all without human interference. Imagine the savings!
Less data entry with bank feeds
Saasu clients have ditched the pen and paper and said goodbye to manually entering bank transactions for hours on end. And they love it! Transactions come straight through to Saasu as they happen, and rules can be set to automatically reconcile them leaving the manual input to a minimum. The time savings in this area add up significantly.
Secure sharing
You have complete control of users and their level of access in online accounting. You may want to share a read only access to a prospective buyer of your business, a banker or you might want to give full edit access to your accountant or bookkeeper.
Inbuilt inventory
This is one of Saasu’s main points of difference. Our clients enjoy full inbuilt inventory in Saasu, without the need for technical and expensive add-ons. For a fraction of the cost, Saasu users enjoy robust inventory tracking functionality which caters for a range of business needs, from e-commerce to manufacturing, to franchises, retail, inventory and services.
We are in an age where businesses productise services. Many of our savvy clients use inventory for building up their offering from their service components and allowing for margin.
We also support the subscription economy where you offer subscription type products or services needing repeat payments, annual renewals and the like.
Track aspects of your business
Businesses of a certain complexity (manufacturing companies, franchises, building companies, online companies, cafe and food chains, and many other types) can track everything inside Saasu, which they find vital. From jobs (and how they are performing financially on those), to teams, divisions, locations and more.
Again, it’s all about no longer shooting in the dark and seeing exactly how each aspect of the business is performing in real-time.
Managed Backups
Never backup your accounting file again. The cloud completely changed how people backup. Online accounting removes your need to do the backups. We replicate your data across multiple servers. Good online accounting systems like Saasu also let you download your documents and export your transaction data so you can keep your own offline set of data should you ever need it.
Work from anywhere
Many underestimated the power and benefits of being online, until they had to start working from home in the current crisis. It has meant business owners can work from home on the online accounting or hire remote bookkeepers and advisors.
Connect to other apps live
Online accounting can connect and synchronise with popular business apps. Your inventory can work with many e-commerce platforms. Product names, prices, stock levels and more update on your website automatically.
Straight through processing
Online accounting enables connections to PayPal, eWay, Stripe, Shopify, Magento and more so that your customers actually do your data entry for you as they checkout in their shopping carts. The transactions are created in e-commerce software and sent and synced to online accounting all automatically so you have what the big end of town call “Straight through processing” of transactions.
Reduces risks
Duplicate data is a risk in spreadsheets. It’s a challenge making sense of your data. When online accounting connects directly with e-commerce websites and other business systems, the data in those systems is updated automatically. This means that once the connections are set up, your online accounts are up-to-date without extra work.
Creates efficiency
Make the most of down-time if you are stuck on the train, delayed at the airport or waiting for the kids. You can use online accounting from anywhere, you don’t have to wait to get back into the office to be productive. Thus, moments you have free can be used productively. Send out a few invoices or run reports or see how business has been this week.
Online accounting is simply the new, more efficient and safer way to manage a small business.