Strategic Cloud-Based Bookkeeping = People + Technology: Digitizing plus so much more
People, process and technology – the tried-and-true business mantra of operational excellence (although I add structure to this as well) has helped many complicated organizations transform to become a better version of themselves. Now in the world of virtual we see a surge of business technology solutions moving to the front of the list, but for many organizations, particularly SMEs with limited resources, the people, process and structure features are often neglected, or worse, assumed non-essential.
Expertise, Processes and Solid Team Structures
In the movement towards cloud-based bookkeeping, many organizations have been lulled into thinking that an online accounting system has completed their journey to becoming truly digitized. In speaking with BSG’s cloud bookkeeping technology experts the reality of establishing a highly successful digitized bookkeeping function simply can’t overlook the other key elements: expertise, processes and solid team structures.
Solutions Driven by Experts + Technology
Digitizing the bookkeeping part of finance certainly begins with technology that contemplates all of the workflows that go into and out of the online accounting systems. Understanding how each business operates, the controls needed, the unique conditions of inflows and outflows of cash are critical in designing the complete app stack needed to integrate with the accounting systems to ensure the technology is designed around the business.
But the technology only does half the job, and this is where the expertise and knowledge of tech-savvy bookkeepers drive the system, using judgement and critical thinking to make adjustments, reconciliations, identify and correct anomalies, and to create meaningful reports that support strong business monitoring and decisions.
Going further, expert plus technology (mind + machine) is still required in the process and structure to ensure that the whole system works together in an efficient way and that critical workflow steps and time-sensitive activities are not missed.
Strong processes are automated in technologies, but should also be automated in the human activities. Structures that create backup, support a team of minds and eyes on the bookkeeping system creates the resiliency, redundancy and business confidence needed in a core business system.
For example, in BSG’s value priced cloud-based bookkeeping, each client is taken through a digitization process designed around their business. Then an expert bookkeeper, skilled in cloud technologies for finance is available along with a bookkeeping team to run the bookkeeping function. Automated and manual processes ensure this critical function runs efficiently and correctly in fixed timelines.
In Conclusion
The opportunities and advantages of leveraging business systems technologies are tremendous and are priced within reach for SMEs. However, to introduce a truly cloud-based and virtualized core business function, complementing the technology with the expert, brings the best of the machine plus the mind to create high functioning business operations.
Check out our infographic created by BSG’s tech-savvy finance experts on the journey of digitizing bookkeeping and how the model of People + Technology has transformed SMEs.
