IT Solutions for Staffing Companies

IT Solutions for Staffing Companies

by | Jan 20, 2016 | Cloud, Outsourcing, Software, Technology

Challenges Staffing Companies Face

When your business grows, you should celebrate, not suffer. Tell that to the finance team that’s trying to make your entry level accounting software and reliance on Excel spreadsheets work in a much more complex environment. Your employees may also be relying on spreadsheets to manage central processes. You may be struggling with disparate operating systems that create multiple versions of information and from multiple locations. This can in turn prevent your employees from having real time visibility into data. Consequently, this also prevents you from having real time insight into your pipeline, cash flow and business trends. Your burgeoning back office may be requiring more and more human and financial resources which you would prefer to deploy elsewhere.

Cloud Based Solution

If these are some of the challenges you are experiencing, you may want to consider utilizing an integrated cloud based management system. As a result, you have access to consistent and centralized data for you business. Most noteworthy, this allows your employees to view and share the same data – wherever they may be located. By connecting your employees throughout your organization to a single source of information, you can dramatically increase efficiency, reduce errors and eliminate redundancies.

Related: 5 Top Benefits of Cloud Technology

Cloud based management tools cost 77% less than onsite IT systems

You should consider switching to a cloud based management system if you have the following needs:

  • Integrate and automate your accounting and financial management systems
  • Access to information by job order/applicant/industry/placement/division in real time
  • Alternative payroll reporting and multi-location reporting
  • Automated A/P with online approval and payment

If you’re interested in learning more about financial planning in the cloud, download your free copy of our eBook below!

3 Biggest Tech Trends For Small Businesses in 2015

3 Biggest Tech Trends For Small Businesses in 2015

by | Jul 29, 2015 | Cloud, Entrepreneurs, SaaS, Small Business, Software, Technology

Entrepreneurs are business savvy. They are passionate about success and understand what it takes to grow their companies. Keeping their business at status quo is not an option. Staying ahead of the competition often involves significant investment in technology tools to help manage daily business operations.

Inc.com recently wrote about a survey conducted by Palo Alto Software, where 500 small business owners were asked about their technology habits and plans for the future. The top 3 tech trends they found were:

1. They’re Spending More on Tech

According to the survey, 81 percent of respondents said they were planning on investing more in the coming year. Additionally, 48 percent said they would be willing to spend more than $5,000 in the next coming year on technology. It’s safe to say that technology is valuable for businesses and continues to be an investment many are willing to do.

2. They Operate in the Cloud

Small businesses favor the cloud as evident by the survey that found that 37 percent ran over half their business in the cloud. Moreover, 44 percent said they use more than two cloud-based tools for their business operations. The cloud is on the rise due to the many benefits it offers business owners such as real-time data, remote access and system integration.

3. They’re More Mobile Than Ever

Palo Alto Software found that 89 percent of small business owners use their smartphone to run their business. Furthermore, 63 percent said they are planning on increasing their usage of mobile devices in the next year.

Haven’t Embraced Technology Yet? Now is the Time to Reconsider

If you are a business owner that has not embraced technology, my advice is to reconsider. Start by examining your business processes. Think about how technology could free up time and resources. Look at all the non-value add things that you do every day.

What if you could automate the majority of those items?

Imagine if the time and those resources wasted on non-value added activities were focused on growing your organization. Cloud technologies have brought enterprise technology to small businesses. Solutions are affordable and scale as your business grows. In addition to cost savings, newer technologies bring a wealth of new information that enable you to better plan for growth. Instead of focusing on the costs, examine the opportunities that technology will bring your company.

How Do CFOs Keep Up with Technology Changes?

How Do CFOs Keep Up with Technology Changes?

by | Jul 2, 2015 | CFO, Big Data, Metrics, Technology

Changing Technology and Financial Pressure

Rapid change in technology has put a lot of pressure on finance and accounting teams. CFOs have increased responsibilities and their role is evolving. As a result, boardroom-level strategy is now as much of a focus as the balance sheet. Robert Half Management Resources recently released a survey with over 2,200 US companies of all sizes where they asked CFOs the following question:

“In general, what would you say is the single greatest pressure facing your accounting and finance function?”

Their responses were:

  • Keeping pace with changing technology
  • Meeting regulatory compliance mandates
  • Harnessing and managing big data
  • Finding and keeping skilled staff

Thus, based on the survey conducted by Robert Half, it seems that the greatest pressure CFOs are currently facing is changing technology. Leading financial managers should be able to look at a problem from many points of view and find a solution among disparate notions as a result. Therefore, gaining visibility into data and turning it into information is key. If data isn’t accurate, information and perceived solutions are flawed, or even worse, your solution only leads to further problems and you lose credibility.

7 Ways for CFOs To Keep Up with Technology

Paul McDonald (senior executive director for Robert Half), James C. Bourke (CPA/CITP/CFF, a partner in a large CPA firm) and Jeff Drew (Senior Editor at CGMA Magazine) have come up with seven tips that are especially relevant for CFOs to keep up with changes in technology.

  1. Hire financial staff with strong technology knowledge.
  2. Interact with in-house IT staff and outside consultants who are trusted technology experts.
  3. Attend conferences featuring sessions on current and emerging technologies.
  4. Set up RSS feeds with specific technologies as keywords.
  5. Join and become active in technology user groups.
  6. Collaborate with other CFOs at companies that use the same technologies.
  7. Meet with fellow CFOs or outsourced CFO firms to discuss technology issues.

How do you keep up with the pace of change in technology at your business? Do you employ any of the methods listed above?

Save Time and Capital With Managed Accounting

Save Time and Capital With Managed Accounting

by | Apr 20, 2015 | Accounting, Cloud, Financial Services, Forecasting, Quickbooks, Software, Technology

What is Managed Accounting?

Free up internal staff to focus on your core business while saving time, resources, and capital. Managed Accounting is simply shifting the functions and tasks of basic and critical business processes, traditionally managed inside your company, to an external provider, such as an accounting firm. By taking advantage of the power of secure cloud-based technologies, your business would receive a comprehensive range of managed business services for its clients, from A/P and A/R to controllership and virtual or fractional CFO services and we provide the ERP system to scale with it all.

Related: 5 Myths About Outsourced Accounting

Benefits of Managed Accounting

Besides saving your company precious time, resources, and money by utilizing managed accounting services, you’ll also be able to free up and redirect your internal staff and resources to supporting revenue-generating core business functions, including strategic planning.

In addition, when you partner with a third-party, you won’t have to worry about accounting software and hardware upgrades and maintenance, or security! And you won’t need dedicated IT staff to support an in-house ERP system. Cloud technology platforms are state-of-the-art and offer the highest levels of security in the industry. Your financial data and business information is always safe and secure. Most importantly your data is always accurate and in real-time.

Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Cloud Computing

With real-time access to your data, we can generate custom reports, forecasting, benchmarking, and real-time data analysis. Why settle for financial reports and analysis that are out of date the day they are printed? Now you can be sure you are always working with the latest up-to-date information at your fingertips, 24/7. Get a better picture of your business in real-time.

Top 6 Services SMBs Want from Their Current CPA Firm

Top 6 Services SMBs Want from Their Current CPA Firm

by | Sep 15, 2014 | Accounting, Services, Small Business, SMBs, Technology

According to recent survey published by The Sleeter Group the top 6 services desired by companies currently using a CPA are:
  1. Business Planning
  2. Business Strategy
  3. Create Dashboards to monitor business
  4. Business Analytics
  5. Represent me at Government Audits
  6. Tax planning
Compare that to the top 5 services received:
  1. Tax return preparation
  2. Tax planning
  3. Compile, review, audit business records
  4. Represent me at government audits
  5. Bookkeeping

Why are They Different?

There is a general misconception about the types of services CPA firms are able and willing to provide small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). Lots of SMBs don’t think about their CPA when making technology decisions. And lots of CPA firms focused on the SMB market do not have the expertise or knowledge to make qualified recommendations. Technology is rapidly advancing and enabling SMBs to have access to enterprise quality solutions to provide invaluable information about their company. Businesses who plan revenues, margins, and operating income regularly and compare actual results to these plans will do significantly better than those who do not. Without technology it is extremely time consuming and difficult to get access to the necessary information which leads to many SMBs flying by the seat of their pants.

CPA Firms Should Be Ahead of the Technology Curve

The top 4 desired services can be achieved by SMBs with technology. Large corporations are already using CPA accounting firms for accounting technology services. It makes sense for the SMB market to start to do the same.