In the past nine months, COVID-19 has affected our lives in more ways than any expert, skeptic, or regular joe could ever imagine. It has brought about the best in some and the worst in others, impacting everything from the way we spend time with our friends to the way we make a living.

In these strange times, companies—both big and small—have been forced to reconsider the way they work. Many have revisited the drawing board and had an honest conversation about what procedures are necessary and what aren’t, bringing their team in to provide insight.

If you’ve been forced to scale operations back because of the difficulties imposed by the virus, then you’re probably trying to help your firm and employees adopt a remote work system. Countless companies have had no choice but to adapt and move work from the office to the safety of their own homes. And chances are that you’re one of the people impacted by this change.

Thankfully, the arrival of cloud-based accounting practice software provides crucial opportunities to work even more productively from the safety of our homes.

What is cloud-based software?

Now, if you haven’t had the opportunity to use cloud-based software in your operations yet or are still just beginning to adopt it, there’s no better time to brush up on the basics.

Cloud-based software is a type of technology that helps users connect to remote servers so that they can perform tasks and access data from any point in the world. Also referred to as a SaaS (software-as-a-service), this tool involves using the internet to access a piece of hardware, making it easy to draw information from a central source without a physical connection.

Such examples of cloud-based software that are commonly used today are Google Drive, Slack, Zoom, and Netflix.

In the accounting and finance industry, cloud software plays a bigger role than ever because of how much physical documentation most firms have. Since it is now impractical to travel all the time for a few sheets of paper, the need for an alternative grew increasingly apparent. Fortunately, the right cloud-based solutions will allow your firm to work productively (or even better than pre-COVID-19) to service your clients and fulfill tasks and responsibilities with ease!

Read: Can accountants work from home? Here’s How!

Making Home Your “Office Away From the Office”

Although both the internet and cloud-based software enables accounting work from home easier, it can be difficult to feel productive because working on your own couch or dining table is different from being in the office. Fortunately, there are a few tips and tricks that you can use to get in the right mood to manage your staff, scale your firm, and hit your deadlines while steering clear of pandemic-induced closure:

Tip #1: Dress the part

If you’re someone that heavily relies on your outfit to get in the right mood to match an occasion, then it’s safe to say that you’re going to be nowhere as productive working in your sweatpants. Instead of making things difficult for yourself as you jump into your daily tasks, you can have some semblance of normal and jump into the work mindset by getting dressed for the office in the morning—even if you’re just going to your dining room table!

Tip #2: Integrate a cloud-based accounting practice management solution 

Seeing that not everyone is in the office, it can be quite difficult to keep an eye on what your employees are doing. This can lead to a few erring heads that may be taking your accounting practice’s productivity downhill. Fortunately, a good cloud-based accounting practice management solution such as that provided by Financial Cents makes it a whole lot easier to keep your team on track.

Conclusion

In the time of COVID-19, it goes without saying that it can be quite difficult to remain productive even if we have cloud-based technology to help. With our two tips mentioned above, however, you can help manage and steer your accounting practice in the right direction.
When it comes to running an accounting firm, there’s no doubt that the bulk of the work lies in keeping every employee in line for productivity, which is where we can help you out.

We provide accounting practice management software in the United States for firms that can best benefit from tools like accounting workflow templates that will work wonders in their systems. Get in touch with us today and visit our website to learn more about how your accounting firm can succeed with our product!

Learn about the best accounting practice management software.