Australian SME Business News and Accounting Articles

While so many companies today have adopted the use of cloud computing, they are forgetting an essential thing to do—creating back-ups. Data that are sent to the clouds have to be adequately backed up.

This is according to Andrea Simmons, a writer for the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.

Just recently, Amazon Web Services had a huge outage after its European cloud services were knocked out by a lightning strike in Dublin, Ireland last August. As a result, Springpad, one of its products, was out of use for two days.

There has been a recent advice for those companies that intend to adopt the cloud computing technology, an online accounting software. By doing so, businesses will be doing their share for the environment.

It has been found that using this new technology is a guaranteed way to slash carbon emissions. This is according to the new research of the Carbon Disclosure Projects as reported by the IBTimes.

The report, entitled Cloud Computing: The IT Solution for the 21st Century, has stated that there can be a cutback of 85.7 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide output in the US alone.

After receiving criticisms against her government, Prime Minister Julia Gillard vows to bring new flexibility into the tax system.

Just last night, Julia Gillard made more changes to business tax rules in response to calls for the reduction in company tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent.

Although Gillard did not give specific details as to the changes, she wants delegates during next month’s two-day forum in Canberra to discuss options for a tax system that would better support businesses.

According to Gillard during the Australia Industry Group dinner in Canberra, the aims of the changes include "removing distortions, lifting barriers, delivering flexibility ... (and) encouraging enterprise."

Problem on accounting and budget processes hits Newcastle Knights’ Ausgrid Stadium.

According to a Newcastle local tabloid newspaper, the Newcastle Herald, Ausgrid Stadium, formally known as Newcastle International Sports Centre --- a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and the home ground of the Newcastle Knights (National Rugby League) and the Newcastle United Jets (A-League) teams and owned by the New South Wales government and administered by the Hunter International Sports Centre Trust --- has been having significant problems during a scheme.

The said problems is said to relate primarily to a series of errors that has been made in the accounting and budget processes --- which is said to have been resolved with an engagement of a specialist technology, particularly a software for accounting.

A new Sand Hill Group survey reveals that over the next 12 months, it would be cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) that will be driving the largest amount of spending in the software industry.

There were more than 100 software company CEO’s and CFO’s who were interviewed for the Software CEO/CFO Outlook 2011study. They are expecting that their companies will grow by at least 20 per cent in 2011. Accordingly, hiring is also expected to increase.

After the economic recession in 2008 and 2009, the accounting software for businesses industry still continues to pull itself out of the meltdown. But there is a vibrating positivity as the survey respondents are seeing that more than three quarters of them are already back to pre-recession growth levels in 2011.

Cloud computing has become a trend for many large scale businesses. It is a accounting software that allows predefined users to access their data anytime, anywhere. The best part about it is that since it is online, there is no need for the business owner to be physically where the data source is. However, it has been advised that small and medium scale business should also engage in cloud computing.

"If you look at the market research that's being published now, I think in particular, the ready-made cloud applications that we call SaaS (software as a service) are certainly becoming a big element of choice for small businesses to quickly and cost effectively fulfill computing needs that they find emerging," said Phil Wainwright, Vice Chairman of Eurocloud.

Accounting is very important to every business. And in today’s economic instability that is brought about by the global economic crisis, adopting the use of accounting software for businesses is deemed very advantageous.

According to Terry Forsey, a software sales and marketing coach, the software for accounting will make other services redundant. For one, the services of an external accountant will no longer be needed as often as before. Besides that, a professional bookkeeper will also be less needed when the software is used.

"If you're dealing with a company who pays your invoices on 30 days from date of receipt, you can email them, which means you can get your invoices out an awful lot quicker,” added Forsey. However, it is advised that the employees to operate the software should have to undergo rigid training.

Businesses should have accounting software. There are so many reasons out there for businesses to have accounting software in order to improve their performance. Terry Forsey, Software Sales and Marketing Coach and owner of Forsey Consulting, elaborates about the benefits of such solution.

There has been a mention of 6 top reasons. The first of which is that it gives the ability to complete bookkeeping tasks much quicker and more accurately.

This will help improve customer service as questions from clients are being responded to much more quickly, according to Forsey.