Any business owner knows that accounting is the language of business. The first tool invented to make the accounting process faster and more efficient was the abacus. Since then, accounting technology has evolved to address the growing need to conduct accounting more efficiently. As business processes evolved and accountants gained a deeper understanding of new technologies, accounting work became more streamlined.
Today, advancements in the accounting industry’s tools have enhanced the accountant’s capabilities to conduct thorough analyses of statistical values and interpret data. As a result, the accounting industry has now grown to become a corporation’s most reliable business advisor because of its ability to interpret the language of business.
Role of the Accounting Industry
The accounting industry provides an essential business process for all businesses. Whether you’re a tech giant, or global media network or a corner boutique bakeshop, your business won’t survive without a proper accounting department or firm.
Accounting has now become an industry in and of itself. Big or small firms offer accounting services that include vital functions like financial statement preparation, review, auditing, and tax work, providing advice on accounting systems and raising capital. These firms accept accounting work even for individuals, especially those with millions in assets.
With varying degrees of size and expertise, accounting as an industry relies on systems and offerings from software applications and similar resources to manage its data operations effectively. Microsoft Teams has all the tools to make accounting more efficient, and that’s why the accounting industry relies on it.
Cloud Computing
A significant factor that’s hindering the accounting industry from adapting to cloud computing is the considerable investment that accounting firms have put into onsite technology infrastructure. The world now works remotely, leaving these expensive IT infrastructures sitting idly in corporate offices. However, patching together different third-party applications and platforms is not advisable as this may be open to security breaches that could compromise your firm and your client’s business data.
Microsoft Teams is the collaborative tool that addresses this concern and many others besides. As a result, accounting firms can now ensure maximum efficiency and productivity of their staff, whether they’re hybrid or fully remote workforces. We will show you to leverage Microsoft Teams’ many innovative and feature-rich tools so your accounting firm can function at an optimum level. This will, in turn, drive customers’ satisfaction through the roof!
Microsoft Teams Benefit
The global lockdown has introduced the world to video conferencing, document sharing, online presentations, among others. With business continuity a major endeavour because of the pandemic, leveraging these features to maximize workforce productivity is not just essential but downright vital to ensure business survivability. After all, your clients are doing the same thing—adapting to the changing times.
A key Microsoft Teams benefit is it does not require the upkeep of a physical data centre. Moving all your important company and client data to the cloud saves you the cost of an expensive lease for a data centre.
With Microsoft Teams, a significant number of tools relevant to the accounting industry will allow you to transition IT functions to the cloud seamlessly. Furthermore, it will allow for effective integration of its tools with system applications and other platforms commonly used by accounting industry professionals.
Real-Time Collaboration for Real Productivity
Microsoft Teams has a flexible pricing term that allows accounting firms to pay only for licenses and applications that they need. In addition, using Microsoft Teams’ OneDrive for Business enables your employees to work collaboratively on documents in real-time. Once these documents are ready for your client’s feedback, they can then be shared with them. All of these are done through highly secure access controls to ensure your company’s data and client information are protected.
Integrated and Unified Communications
Microsoft Teams has taken the communications platform to a new level with its videoconferencing, file sharing, and chat features. Security is an underlying feature of all Microsoft Teams tools; hence you have peace of mind when using them. Aside from the capabilities mentioned earlier, Microsoft Teams offer a Live Events feature that allows you to broadcast meetings and live events online. This feature saves you on cost as you won’t need to purchase a separate videoconferencing license.
SharePoint
Addressing the needs of a geographically diverse workforce, Microsoft Teams Sharepoint is perfect for storing documents securely in a central location. With Sharepoint, managing your firm’s web presence can be done more efficiently by using the uploaded documents in their secure location.
Accounting Feature
Perfect for the CPA and the accounting industry in general is Microsoft’s Power BI. This feature is a cloud-based analytics platform that collects your company and client’s data and information. It then presents this collected information on intuitive dashboards that makes for easy analysis. Interactive reports may also be embedded in Microsoft Teams channels and chats, enabling your colleagues to find and discuss the data in the team channels easily.
Enhanced Data Security
Microsoft Teams has placed a particular emphasis on its security measures and protocols because it understands the value of clients’ trust in financial information. Spam and malware protection are deployed automatically and updated regularly to guard against breaches. In addition, Microsoft Teams’ 99.99% uptime and backup continuity guarantee access to your files whenever you need to, wherever you may be. All of these are available for a fraction of the cost of maintaining an on-premise operation.
Conclusion
The benefits of Microsoft Teams to the accounting industry do not end with these features as Microsoft Teams is continuously being updated to add more features. Deploying Microsoft Teams with its various features-rich applications allows your accounting firm and the accounting industry, in general, to adapt quickly to the changing times. The impact of Microsoft Teams can be measured by the number of new clients your firm gets as you earn a reputation for being a reliable, robust accounting firm.
To know more about Microsoft Teams, please contact us today.
