Cloud Accounting

[SteveJG]

Hi, been reading these forums for awhile and lots of useful information

Currently I use Quickbooks Desktop, and been having a look at all the different cloud packages there are out their. The two big issues that put me off are, you can only kinda customise their templates a little and not have it exactly how you want, and the 2nd issue is what happens when it rains and their is no more cloud left I.e the company who has all your information goes bust and pulls the plug? At the moment if something were to happen to my PC I have my database backed up to my NAS and to my online storage so worst case is I would have to reinstall but I wont have lost my data

 

[Scalloway]

If I was using a cloud accounting system for a minimum I would regularly down load the nominal ledger and debtor/purchases ledgers as PDFs.

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

QuickFile lets you set up a scheduled weekly/monthly data back up to Dropbox or emailed to you.

The problem comes in trying to read the data backup if the software is no longer available. Not always easy unless in a read easy format.

 

[SteveJG]

And also with the back up you can do can you change to another company? Ive noticed lots of them say you can import sage and quickbooks but what if you want to change again? Once you join are you stuck for life?

 

[Glenn Martin]

I am fairly sure the big players have insurance etc in place that in the event of insolvency your data and won't be lost.

If your already with Quickbooks look no further than QBO it will do everything you need and some good discounts knocking around for it

 

[SteveJG]

Unfortunately it doesn't, you have to use their templates for invoice, credit note etc and you can only customise it a little eg colour and logo. Already spoke to them and not something in the pipeline

 

[Glenn Martin]

What is it extra you want on the invoice that is not on the template, the main thing is with cloud products is that they effectively a "light" version of the desktop product so you have trade in some of the functionality to gain the extra convenience and flexibility of the cloud stuff.

If your emailing invoices I wouldn't worry too much what they look like as long as they have you branding on and they get paid I wouldn't worry about it. The convenience of been able to invoice someone from a mobile surely is worth a few compromises on invoice presentation.

 

[IanC6571]

The concern that I have and which keeps my documents on my seperate hard drive, is the accessibility of Cloud stored documents to the likes of the Inland Revenue, Police and othr parties that can use relevant legislation to access them, without even telling us. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear is a warnout concept these days. Would I trust my PC World with my books, just becasue I bought my software from them?

 

[soundengineeruk]

The concern that I have and which keeps my documents on my seperate hard drive, is the accessibility of Cloud stored documents to the likes of the Inland Revenue, Police and othr parties that can use relevant legislation to access them, without even telling us. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear is a warnout concept these days. Would I trust my PC World with my books, just becasue I bought my software from them?

That is good comment.. If a provider receives a court order then they have to comply with the request.. However, you can use cloud storage but encrypt the data before it is stored there.. There is plenty tools out there; one springs to mind is veraCrypt; the longer and more complex the password the harder it is to break.

A 30 character strong complex password will take over number of life times to brute force attack. Where it fails if you make it easy or if it noted down anywhere; however if you forget it then it would unrecoverable.

So how far do you take it?, it is more of an art to in getting right level of data protection that is not too weak or over zealous.

Some simple rules

• If you store data in the office/home then make sure it is encrypted, especially if it is personal data as Data Protection police will be after you.
• If the data is critical to your business then make sure there is secure off-site backup; don't forget to encrypt the off-site backup
• Work on least privilege access if you have employees; this catches most people out

 

[Glenn Martin]

The concern that I have and which keeps my documents on my seperate hard drive, is the accessibility of Cloud stored documents to the likes of the Inland Revenue, Police and othr parties that can use relevant legislation to access them, without even telling us. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear is a warnout concept these days. Would I trust my PC World with my books, just becasue I bought my software from them?

I think you are maybe watching too many movies.

If HMRC were to seek a court order to obtain access to your data it would only be after a period of asking you to provide it voluntary, which you refused to do. If you have nothing to hide i do not understand why you would not co operate with such a request. They could just as easily request the backup of you desktop software.

If that is truly your worry you will need to pack up shop and return to employment as when MTD finally happens HMRC will effectively have a plug into your to access data at individual transaction level.

If you are worried by big brother watching do you use email, mobile phones and internet banking?

 

[IanC6571]

Thanks for your view Glen Martin, but I did my time as a Police Officer and even local councils have been show to use Regulatory Powers Actinappropriately

 

[SteveJG]

At the moment i don't see many advantages for me personally, I'm a tradesman and do my invoicing on the laptop at home, some emailed some posted. Ive done alot of playing around with my current tenplate to get it looking just right and i belive that image does play alot in business. To be honest most people who know me say im very fussy, which i am and for the cost of accountancy packages i think i have the right to be

 

[Glenn Martin]

For me the real benefits of the cloud accounting come from add ons which beef up the core package. Things like bank feeds save a huge amount of time, they are available now in sage line 50 but not sure in Quickbooks but they make a massive difference also extras like easy/card payment options, receipt bank, chaser etc can reduce the time spent on your accounts to allow more time to run your business or enjoy yourself. I have never heard anyone have an issue with the quality of the invoice as it allows you to edit it enough to look ok and professional.

If your a tradesman I would imagine people call you because of the job you do and not the quality of your invoice.

I use Xero for my own stuff and yet to have a client pay me quicker because my invoice looked pretty.

I am now desperate to see this invoice you issue.

 

[Energise Accounting]

unfortunately with making tax digital most people will have to use some sort of cloud based software soon.

 

[Gareth ACA Accountant]

Go with a reputable company! Xero, QuickBooks, Freeagent etc
You can always take backups

 

[Prosperity]

I feel your pain relief the invoice..
I run a tyre fitting garage. Currently the invoices/sales receipts are hand written from a template book.
By law the receipt must include:
the tyre size, fuel rating, grip rating, sound level etc.
I also include customer name address vehicle reg make and model mileage. And then a disclaimer about checking tightness of wheel nuts
As my customers pay there and then I want to print it off as a cash invoice or card and mark paid immediately. The problem is the templates don't allow for all these pre filled boxes. And having used 3 or 4 on a trial basis and then speaking to them their best "fix" was to include in the comments box. No thanks... so OP I feel your frustration

 

[Pish_Pash]

Cloud accounting is simply the latest wheeze to sell you crippled software on a (bloated) subscription basis. Worse still,all the third party vendors supplying 'extras' for your selected package have all latched on to the subscription wheeze & charge you monthly too - expect to have your wallet violated for less functionality, but hey' it's 'the cloud' so we're rocking in 2016 - right?

 

[Scalloway]

Cloud accounting providers are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of Making Tax Digital which will mean that all but the smallest sole traders will have to use their services.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-tax-digital

 

[SteveJG]

Just an update, i have been trying out xero in which you can download the templates and alter them to how you like. Just need some time to have a play

 

[ffox]

Design your own invoice template, or have one designed for you using standard software, and just post the detail into the account sales ledger.

 

[johndon68]

Design your own invoice template, or have one designed for you using standard software, and just post the detail into the account sales ledger.

But then you'd have to enter everything twice, once on to the template (in whichever software that is) and then again in to your accounts program...

John

 

[johndon68]

Cloud accounting providers are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of Making Tax Digital which will mean that all but the smallest sole traders will have to use their services.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-tax-digital

I assume that the desktop software vendors will be doing the same as all their customers will be forced in to upgrades as well.

John

 

[ffox]

But then you'd have to enter everything twice, once on to the template (in whichever software that is) and then again in to your accounts program...

If branding, look and image are so important it's worth the extra few minutes each day. If not then stay with the template.

 

[johndon68]

If branding, look and image are so important it's worth the extra few minutes each day. If not then stay with the template.

I guess it depends on how many invoices a day you are raising.

Going back to the OP, I'm amazed that Quickbooks has such poor options for printing invoices. Even the much maligned Sage, with all it's faults, gives you pretty much total control over your invoice layouts...

John

 

[ffox]

I guess it depends on how many invoices a day you are raising.

The OP said

I'm a tradesman and do my invoicing on the laptop at home,

So I wouldn't think it would be many. If it were most accounts suites allow for bulk import from CSV file.

The OP's biggest concern is centred around disaster recovery. I would keep a copy, CSV format would do, of all current year transactions, plus a text, Word Processor or PDF version of each year completed accounts. Any accountant would be capable of recovery from that.
It's also worth spending some time before purchase of accounting software investigating the bulk import utilities. It should be possible to recreate previous years accounts simply by bulk import of transactions and setting the appropriate taxation rates etc. This applies to on-line software as well as client based packages.

 

[Ian Sutherland]

I work for a company providing hosted desktops and many of our customers use it to run normal desktop accounting packages on the server and access it by remote desktop, so all the features of cloud but with a desktop application. I hope you don't think I'm spamming here as I think this would be a good option for you and people are not generally aware that it is an option, just PM me if you want further info

 

[justintime]

Cloud accounting providers are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of Making Tax Digital which will mean that all but the smallest sole traders will have to use their services.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-tax-digital

Nothings certain yet, and although I haven't read the consulting documents myself yet (I have that pleasure next week whilst taking a "break") it has been pointed out to me that you should be able to use desktop software providing it can connect to the HMRC API. From what I can gather, VT software will provide that facility once they know the requirements.

 

[Nord20]

If disaster recovery is your main concern, can I ask why you are looking at moving away from Quickbooks Desktop?

It's what I use (I evaluated Quickbooks Online and it just isn't up to the task), but rather than backing up to a NAS (if your house catches fire, your NAS won't save your data), I store my Quickbooks files in a dropbox folder, so there is an off-site copy I can get my hands on if it really came to it.

It's also helpful having the previous versions available in dropbox, should I do something stupid in Quickbooks and need to revert.