Have you considered moving your accounting to the Cloud, but been held back by concerns – and a fear of the unknown? The read on and let us (hopefully) put your mind at rest.

Fear 1: Cloud accounting means I lose control

No – in fact, just the opposite. Cloud accounting gives you more control over your financial data, because it’s always available to you. It doesn’t matter where you are or what time it is; the Cloud doesn’t recognise 9 to 5. If you have an internet connection, then you can access and work with your data from any internet-enabled device. You can control your finances just as easily from your Smartphone in an airport lounge at 11 p.m. as you can from your desktop computer, in the office, on a Monday morning, and you can allow access to as few or as many people as you like.

Fear 2: There might be delays in accessing my data

This should never happen. Your company’s financial data is constantly updated in the Cloud, and multiple servers mean that your real time data will always be there for you to access, even if some of the servers that support it are damaged or lose power – making your data far more disaster proof than it is sitting on a single server in your office. Having said this, it’s always wise to check the track record of any Cloud service provider before signing up.

Fear 3: My data isn’t secure or private in the cloud

Cloud service and software providers know that security is vital to customers and that failing in this area will lose them custom, so the onus is on them to ensure that security and antivirus measures are robust. Access to your data is by login and your data is encrypted. While no data that’s held on a computer or server anywhere can ever be said to be 100% safe, breaches usually occur because of the failure to keep login details and passwords secure –and that’s usually down to the human component rather than hacking. Chances are that your data is far safer in the cloud than it is being transferred by attachment to emails and storage on USB drives.

Of course, as with any other service, the Cloud has great providers and providers that aren’t quite so good. Try to find testimonials and reviews, and read the small print carefully – concentrating on issues such as liability and reliability – before signing up.