Is a cloud solution for A/R and other Finance duties the right fit for you?

Small- to medium-sized companies are still skittish about moving Finance data and functions such as Accounts Receivable (A/R) to the cloud, for the most part.

That’s bound to change soon as larger companies change the landscape and continue to embrace the cloud for Finance in order to save time and money.

Approximately 54% of large businesses with 2,000 or more employees are pursuing cloud finance solutions or are already on the cloud, according to accounting experts KPMG International Limited.

Of course many firms, particularly smaller ones, prefer to maintain on-site servers for customers’ sensitive data. And no wonder – a major data breach puts the majority of companies out of business within two years.

What your firm deserves in a vendor

You may be questioning if A/R or other areas of Finance would benefit from cloud functionality.

Questions to ask first include:

• Do Finance staffers struggle to stay on top of late payments?
• Can Finance team members quickly tell you which customers pay on time? And who are the slow-pays?
• Could a software upgrade help boost cash flow?

If you decide it’s time to talk to some vendors, you’ll want to make your financial goals understood right off the bat. The No. 1 reason companies invest in new software and IT hardware is to reduce costs. But only about a third of organizations that outsource spell out their cost-savings goals to vendors, according to an ESI International Survey.

Along the same lines, about a third of companies don’t evaluate how an outsourced project is matching up with the original goals. Even if you set out your goals from the start, it pays to check back throughout the process.

Too many companies get used to minor problems and accept them as the normal hiccups. Don’t fall into the sunk costs fallacy with vendors. It’s always a headache to fire a vendor and look for a replacement, but it may be necessary if you’re not getting the best bang for your buck.

Your Finance staffers can tell you what they like and hate about a new system. Time-wasters may include slow connectivity, “too many bells and whistles” and “clunky” functions.

Here are some of the top-rated scalable cloud software solutions for A/R (all are rated high for Payroll and Accounts Payable too):

1. FreshBooks
2. NetSuite ERP
3. Zoho Books
4. Sage 50cloud
5. Xero
6. FreeAgent
7. QuickBooks
8. Sage Intacct
9. QuickBooks Online
10. Sage Business Cloud Accounting
11. Alorica
12. NCS
13. Financial Recovery Services