8 steps to migrate your practice to the cloud

Thinking about migrating your accounting practice to the cloud, but unsure where to begin?

Starting the cloud accounting process can seem daunting, but it offers many benefits for your practice, which is why so many are adopting cloud software.

The benefits of cloud accounting include:

• Increased efficiency, as there’s no need to re-key data, as it’s automatically saved, shared, and updated across systems making working and collaborating easier.
• Save time with instant access to data and documents from anywhere, for your whole team.
• A pay as you go model allows you to pay for what you need from the software, and receive automatic updates, ensuring you’re always using the most secure and up-to-date version with no need for on-premise installation.
• Empower your employees to work from anywhere, as cloud accounting offers instant access from anywhere.
• Data security may be a worry when switching to the cloud, but it’s far safer than sending documents back and forth over email or keeping physical copies, as cloud accounting software allows you to encrypt and store data with added security, ensuring compliance with GDPR requirements. For UK businesses, choosing software providers that adherence to Making Tax Digital mandates is also a benefit, ahead of the changes.
• One of the key benefits of cloud accounting is scalability, as your software access grows as your business needs do. No on-premise installation, just pay for what you need and grow your users.

Now you understand the benefits of cloud accounting, where do you begin with implementing it? We break it down into eight simple steps.

8 steps to migrate your accountancy practice to the cloud

1. Understand your business needs

Before implementing a new cloud strategy, you need to understand what it is you’re doing and why. This will involve evaluating your current practice strategy and tools, then identifying what’s working well and which areas need improving. From there you can reflect on what software fits your needs as your business grows and evolves. This preps you for finding the right software vendor.

2. Plan

Work with your software vendor to understand the optimal timings for migration and how this will work. For example, Wolters Kluwer publishes plans for our products in product roadmaps, and using these roadmaps will help you assess when the new cloud products will meet your needs. You can then consult your account manager for tailored system recommendations to align your migration plan with your practice goals.

3. Prepare your data

Any accountant will know that data is a key part of what you do, therefore you want your data to be prepped and primed to go into your new systems—clean data in, equals clean data out.

Clean and streamline your data, removing any outdated or irrelevant information, and use data validation tools to identify and fix errors. This will ensure only relevant and correct data is migrated into your new system—your current software provider should be able to provide support and services on this.

4. Assess your business readiness

Next, take a look at what software you’re already using, and whether you can easily move this to the cloud. Prepare your business to leverage cloud accounting efficiencies, as a big part of business readiness is ensuring your business can understand and capitalise on the time-saving and process improvements cloud-based accounting offers.

5. Understand your security considerations

Review and incorporate your firm’s unique security policies and practices and prioritise security requirement to prevent post-migration issues. Choosing a reputable and compliant software provider, such as Wolters Kluwer, will mean that many of your security and compliance checks are automated and integrated—such as our recent release, CCH iFirm AML + Biometrics KYC, which allows you to automate KYC checks in under 90 seconds.

6. Consider business continuity

Moving to the cloud will pay off in the long term, but in the short term you’ll need to consider how to minimise disruption as you migrate to new systems. Anticipate any disruptions and schedule migrations for low-impact periods. It’s also worth considering incremental migration to reduce workflow interruptions. At Wolters Kluwer, we provide various migration approaches to cater to different needs.

7. Train your employees

A key part of cloud migration is empowering your team to use the software and make the most of it. Develop a comprehensive training plan for your team and schedule training sessions to coincide with the migration timeline. This will ensure users understand new processes and software functionalities.

8. Test your new systems

Testing new systems is vital before deployment. Ensure the software integrates with your current software and that the new set up supports your workflow and daily operations. And remember, even once you’ve moved to the cloud, continual testing and training will be a part of making the most of your cloud accounting systems.

Following these steps will help ensure a smooth transition to cloud-based solutions, enhancing efficiency and meeting your practice’s evolving needs.

Interested in learning more about migrating to the cloud? Click here.