Retailers constantly face challenges such as shifts in consumer spending, staff costs and the need to stay ahead of industry trends.
If you don’t have time to spare for your accounting tasks, the right cloud accounting solution could make your life easier and save you a lot of stress. But what exactly are the advantages?
Benefits of cloud accounting for retailers
Save time
Forget about painstakingly inputting all your sales data into an Excel spreadsheet. One major appeal of cloud accounting is how much time it can save busy business owners with its automation features.
From pulling all your business transactions from your bank account in real-time to automated payroll and invoicing, cloud accounting takes on previously time-consuming tasks for you so you can focus on running your store.
Cashflow management
With the cost of doing business on the rise and many customers cutting back on spending, times are tough for many retailers, making it vital to carefully manage cashflow.
Cashflow management tools allow businesses to monitor how much money flows in and out of their accounts, making it easier to anticipate potential cash shortfalls and take action.
Scalability
If you’re in the market for a new cloud accounting solution, you’re frankly spoilt for choice. What’s more, cloud accounting platforms have many subscription packages and add-ons available, making it easier for businesses to scale their operations up or down.
As your retail business grows, you can quickly adjust your accounting needs by adding more users, storage or features.
Stay compliant
Meeting your store’s tax obligations and staying in line with reporting standards is much easier with cloud accounting on your side. Many major cloud accounting platforms automatically update to comply with changing regulatory requirements, reducing the burden on businesses.
Invoicing
Automated invoicing features can help you stay on top of your bills and chase up late-paying customers.
Tackle staffing challenges
Retailers often face a wide range of staffing challenges, from ensuring that they hire enough temporary workers over busy periods to budgeting for soaring recruitment costs.
By simplifying tasks such as payroll management and making it easier to track seasonal spending patterns, cloud accounting empowers business owners to better manage staffing levels and costs. Many platforms also allow you to easily track your team’s time and record expenses.
Improved customer service
As experienced accountants for retailers, we know that delivering good customer service is about much more than just greeting shoppers and promptly attending to their needs. If you want your customers to have a great shopping experience, you also need to put in the hard yards behind the scenes.
Using cloud accounting tools to track sales data can also help you identify bestselling products so that you can maintain the right stock levels. eCommerce retailers can also integrate cloud-based POS systems into their software for smoother checkouts and an improved customer experience for shoppers.
What’s more, you may be able to link your cloud accounting software with your existing CRM systems, giving you a comprehensive overview of customer behaviour and shopping trends.
Make better business decisions
Cloud accounting paves the way for more data-driven decision-making. With real-time financial information and in-depth reports at your fingertips, you’ll have the insight needed to make informed and strategic decisions about your retail business’s future.
Improved collaboration
Being able to collaborate with your staff and suppliers is essential, and cloud software excels at this by allowing you to work together seamlessly. This is possible because multiple users can access the software at the any given time and update information concurrently.
This way of working enhances communication between departments, accountants, and other stakeholders, creating a more agile and responsive financial ecosystem for your retail store.
Taking the next step
We hope that this article has helped you understand the benefits cloud accounting software can offer your retail business. The next step is to find a software solution that suits you. However, that can be hard to do – but we are here to help.
Simply get in touch and tell us about your business. We’ll investigate your needs and recommend the best cloud-based accounting software so that you can start your cloud accounting journey on the right foot.
Talk to us about the right cloud accounting solution for your retail business.
