Why Cloud Accounting and Dog Grooming Will Change Your Life

I had a life changing moment a year ago. I realized there are easy or difficult ways to do things.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

But really think about it. Are there tasks you have to do everyday that you find difficult or frustrating? Here are two golden nuggets of wisdom I have for you:

You can either:

1. Outsource these tasks and get someone else to do them and spend the time you save making money

 
Or
 

2. Change the way you do these tasks to make them easy

 
For example, I loved accounting as much as I liked washing and cutting my dog’s hair. I dreaded it. So for the same reason I hire a top-notch groomer to manage my dog’s unruly curls, I use (surprisingly reasonably priced) cloud accounting software to manage my money.

What is Cloud Accounting?

Cloud-based accounting software is accounting software that is stored and accessed online (ie. you can’t access it without the internet). Your data is securely stored and processed on the servers of the cloud accounting company otherwise known as the cloud.

How can cloud accounting change your life and make accounting easy?

1. You can see your accountant virtually

If you use cloud accounting, all of your accounting records are stored online on the cloud. So you and your accountant can look at real-time data together from different locations without having to meet in person saving you time and money.

2. Cloud accounting makes accounting fun

Yes I am shocked I am writing this too. But it’s true. Doing accounting by traditional methods e.g. paper, Excel spreadsheets, manual data entry (or in my case, the back of napkins) can be extremely boring and stressful. More importantly the risk of human error is a lot higher using these methods instead of cloud accounting software. Popular cloud accounting software like Xero, Quickbooks Online and Freshbooks makes accounting intuitive, extremely simple and enjoyable to use.

3. Cloud accounting gives you immediate updates about your money

It’s hard to know where you are going if you don’t know where you are. Cloud accounting shows you exactly what’s going on with your money at any given time so you can plan your next business move. This means no more guessing or assuming what’s in your account. You can be certain.

4. Get rid of paper receipts

When I learned to expense and was told I would need to keep a receipt of every single thing I spent, I thought to myself: “Yep, that’s not happening.” So I looked for an easier way, and guess what, with cloud accounting you can just take a handy little snapshot of your receipt and store it online (giving you the ability to attach the receipt to the corresponding expense). Yep, it’s that easy.

5. Get organized

I save about 5 hours a month using cloud accounting software. I love that I can pull up all of my accounting information in a snap at any time. I also feel a lot more professional using industry recommended tools to help manage my income and send out branded invoices.

6. Make money quicker

Cloud accounting software helps you track who owes you money and allows you to send out automated invoices. According to Freshbooks its users are likely to get paid 5 days quicker.

You may have heard the quote by Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

If your accounting system isn’t working for you and it’s causing you to feel stressed, it might be time to try something new. Either that, or it’s time to get a groomer for your dog…

What’s one task you’ve made easier in your life? Tweet us @bdgllp.

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This guest blog post is written by Aisha Tejani, a freelance business writer who resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.