A cost of living crisis, like the one we are experiencing in the UK, occurs when essential costs, such as utilities and food, rise faster than household incomes. Alongside supply issues and the energy crisis, both households and businesses are encountering tough economic times. Many organisations are having to contend with rising energy costs and consumers that are limiting spending and looking for cheaper alternatives. In addition, with national staff shortages and a saturated job market, businesses may find themselves spending more on wages. Whilst there is no single solution to getting through this cost of living crisis, our finance and accounting experts at Aqilla have compiled their top tips. From budgeting, and cash and expense management to powerful project costing capabilities, we discuss the latest insights on how digital, Cloud-based accounting solutions could help your organisation to successfully navigate the current cost of living crisis.
It is always important to review processes within your business to save your department and organisation both time and money. For example, Aqilla’s new open banking capabilities offer instant connections to 11,000+ financial institutions, saving finance departments valuable time when it comes to reconciling and organising accounts – time that can be allocated elsewhere, increasing productivity and allowing space for bigger-picture thinking and decision-making.
When budgets are tight and organisations are looking to cut costs wherever possible, it becomes vital that finance and accounting departments have an in-depth view of costs and expenses. With ERP solutions like Aqilla, Cloud-based accounting and business software can provide a full budgeting, forecasting and project-costing suite, allowing users to create, edit and manage costs through tailored workflows. Where complex, customised analysis of project costs and revenue are needed, including Associate Rates (by people and time types), designed-for-Cloud accounting software, such as Aqilla, offers real-time data that not only integrates with Excel but can easily be exported into customisable visualisations for effortless and effective reporting.
With remote and reliable access to an organisation’s accounting system, Cloud-based accounting makes working from home simple and hassle-free. Particularly for accounting solutions that are designed-for-Cloud or Cloud-native, software downtime is extremely minimal. For example, with over 99% availability since 2008, Aqilla users can work from anywhere with the knowledge they’ll always have instant access to their organisation’s finance and accounting system. Allowing for fully-remote working could help employees save on commuter costs, whilst also reducing an organisation’s energy costs associated with operating in an office, full-time.
Finally, through the very nature of designed-for-Cloud ERP solutions, accounting systems are scalable, adaptable and can be seamlessly integrated into a business’s existing processes. This level of optimisation capability often means that unlike larger, legacy brands of accounting solutions, smaller but powerful software, such as Aqilla, allows its customers to solely pay for what they use. For example, Aqilla offers a subscription-based, pay-as-you-go model, that is tiered based on an organisation’s exact needs. Not only does this eradicate unnecessary maintenance costs or support fees but it saves organisations money that they would otherwise spend on features or software capabilities that are not necessary for their specific operations.
To conclude, there are many ways in which organisations can harness Digital Finance and Cloud Accounting solutions to survive the cost of living crisis. Whether it’s reviewing and automating your processes to increase productivity, gaining full visibility of your organisation’s costs and expenses through real-time data, or saving money with remote working capabilities, no unnecessary software support fees and ‘pay-solely-for-what-you-use’ pricing models, designed-for-Cloud Accounting Software has it all.
If you want to learn more about how true Cloud-based Accounting Software and Aqilla could support your organisation, reach out to one of our friendly team members today via our telephone number: +44 (0)20 8798 0616 or complete our form below.
