Practically overnight, social distancing has forced us to change everything about how we live and work. As an accountant or bookkeeper, two of your primary concerns right now are probably how to keep your employees accountable while they work from home, and how to make sure your clients’ data – and your company’s data – stays safe. Many firms are moving to a cloud based systems such as QuickBooks enterprise cloud hosting, however, that alone will not resolve the situation, and there are specific practices that need to be followed in order to stay competitive and relevant in the industry.
Even the most focused and dedicated employees will appreciate some accountability to help them navigate through changes. Implementing these suggestions for accountability will also help you feel more confident that client work is being handled effectively and efficiently.
Here are some practices you can follow in your accounting firm while working remotely
Set up a collaborated environment
Some employees work better when they're alone; others work better when they're around other people. Schedule a virtual meeting using any video conferencing software and encourage employees to join the meeting with their team members. This way, everyone can continue to collaborate and keep the office morale high, even though you're all working from different locations.
Use a Dashboard
The purpose of the dashboard is to provide a space for your employees to update you on the status of each project they're working on, without you being bombarded with multiple emails throughout the day. By making the dashboard visible to all employees - and letting them know that you're able to see it too - a sense of healthy competition can develop. This helps keep everyone productive and accountable, which is vital for the success of any company.
Virtual Desktops
A better solution for remote workers is to either implement a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or, at the very least, have a remote access tool like QuickBooks enterprise hosting that'll allow them to connect to on-premise computers at their place of business. VDI essentially entails hosting virtual desktops on servers in a secure location - like a data center or public cloud - so users can connect from anywhere and work. The advantage of this is that they can be at the office or at home during the shutdown. Granted, VDI does take more planning and offers better security overall (seeing as the data will be in a datacenter as opposed to on-premise) but remote access software such as QuickBooks hosting is far easier to implement and deploy in contrast.
Ensuring data security
While having things like firewalls and antivirus installed are both essential and necessary, they unfortunately are not enough to provide sufficient protection for most businesses - especially not on their own. The single best security protection that a business can put in place is Multi-factor Authentication (MFA). In fact, Microsoft claims that nearly 99% of all attacks on accounts could be stopped simply by having MFA enabled. Most cloud software providers will offer a way to enable MFA either through a text message or an app on your phone and this is something you everyone should look to implement as soon as possible.
Take daily meetings before starting the day
Having a daily meeting helps keep everyone connected and accountable, even when you’re all working from home. Schedule a virtual meeting platform at the start of each day, at the same time your employees would report to the office. It should be like everyone reporting to the office. This way, you can keep everyone on track and moving forward with your company goals!
Keeping your team up-to-date on the big picture of your business is important for keeping them motivated and focused. This can include sharing deadlines that are approaching, new initiatives you want to launch, or anything else that would be beneficial for your team to know on a daily basis.
Final Words
In any other circumstance, your employees would be thrilled at the opportunity to avoid the daily commute and work remotely. Right now, however, they might be overwhelmed by the prospect of turning a part of their homes into office space. This means that accountants are challenged not only with handling increased demand for their services, but also with managing remote working environments. With more businesses than ever working remotely, accountants have to be adaptable in order to provide the best possible service to their clients but the state of our healthcare system and economy can be distracting, to say the least.
360Quadrants has released a quadrant on the best accounting software help businesses make quicker and more informed decisions for their business.
Ranking Quadrants are generated post analysis of companies (product portfolios and business strategies) and will be updated every three months based on market and regional analyses and developments in the accounting software space.
It also helps clients choose the most appropriate vendor for their requirements.What are the major benefits of using Accounting Solutions?Simplification – Accounting software put control of funds in the hands of a non-accounting crowd, aimed at giving significance to statistics while executing electronic computations.
They also raise printing and storage prices and store confidential data is safe and controlled locations.Total financial disclosure – The key advantage of effective accounting processes for an accountant or an auditor is that they avoid expensive and repeated human mistakes.
Calculating incorrect quantities or failing to disclose results on time will potentially contribute to a business problem and this is when it is most helpful to optimize calculations.Read a Press Release: https://www.360quadrants.com/press-release/360quadrants-releases-best-accounting-software-companies-of-2020Best Accounting SoftwareWhat are the most important features in an Accounting System?Best accounting software can help businesses in managing their accounting tasks in many different ways, based on the key features and goals.
Accounting systems offer all sorts of bonuses, from simpler invoicing to complicated tax reporting, that is not even likely without a precise framework.
Accounting mistakes can be incredibly expensive to a company.
You don't want to mess up your numbers so it will keep your company from rising.
Owing to the absence of appropriate accounting practices, Small business owners sometimes make errors in their early years.It is crucial for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to manage their finances efficiently.
Because resources like finances have the potential to build your business or break it.
Many small-scale business owners handle their finances on their own by hiring a bookkeeper or an accountant.Small business owners have a great potential to significantly grow their business.
The best accounting software which understands your business needs will help manage your finances efficiently, and play a significant role in your business growth.Moreover, many business owners handle tasks like accounts payable, receivable, invoicing, and pay salaries manually.
Accounting software can manage the businesses in several different ways, based on the key characteristics and goals.
Simplification - Accounting software put control of funds in the hands of a non-accounting crowd, aimed at giving significance to statistics while executing electronic computations.
Total financial disclosure - The key advantage of effective accounting processes for an accountant or an auditor is that they avoid expensive and repeated human mistakes.
Calculating incorrect quantities or failing to disclose results on time will potentially contribute to a business problem and this is when it is most helpful to optimize calculations.
Precise forecasting - This is one of the major advantages of the best accounting software.
Capable of understanding the financial results patterns and developments in depth is something that will take years to achieve without a strong framework.
Singapore Accounting Software - Offering accounting software in Singapore for corporate companies.
Singapore No 1 Specialist in Accounting.
Automation is the next big thing in business.
The goals of automation are simple to save costs, streamline processes, improve productivity and efficiency.
and We Discover Top 7 commonly overlooked aspects of business automation, from lead analysis benefits to preventing decision fatigue.
