Cloud Accounting & Business Systems

Practical systems that make financial information easier to use

Cloud accounting software can improve access to financial information, but software alone does not create a reliable accounting system. The real value comes from sensible workflows, clear responsibilities and records that are kept accurately enough to support decisions and compliance.

Compact Accounting helps businesses establish or improve accounting workflows, with an emphasis on fit-for-purpose systems rather than technology for its own sake

More than a software subscription

A cloud accounting file sits in the middle of several business processes. Sales, purchases, bank transactions, payroll, document collection, GST and reporting all flow through it. If those processes are unclear, the software can produce information quickly without producing information that is reliable.

Good setup asks practical questions:

  • Who issues invoices and follows up outstanding amounts?
  • Who enters or approves bills?
  • How are receipts and source documents collected?
  • Who completes bank reconciliations, and how often?
  • How are payroll changes authorised and checked?
  • Which reports does the owner actually need?
  • What should the bookkeeper, business owner and accountant each be responsible for?

The answers help determine the right workflow, level of automation and support.

Areas where Compact Accounting may assist

Depending on the business and the engagement, support may include:

  • setting up a new accounting file;
  • reviewing the chart of accounts and reporting structure;
  • conversion or migration support;
  • bank feeds and reconciliation workflows;
  • bookkeeping and document-collection processes;
  • payroll setup or accounting support;
  • GST and activity statement reporting workflows;
  • management reports and practical reporting routines;
  • reviewing integrations that affect the accounting records;
  • cleaning up poorly maintained or inconsistent files;
  • improving the workflow between the owner, bookkeeper and accountant; and
  • identifying simple automation opportunities that reduce repeated manual handling.

Compact Accounting works with commonly used platforms such as Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks where they are appropriate to the engagement. The choice of platform should be based on the business’s needs, existing systems, internal capability and reporting requirements – not on novelty.

Cleaning up an existing file

Sometimes the software is functioning, but the information inside it is not dependable. Bank reconciliations may be incomplete, old transactions may remain unreconciled, GST codes may have been used inconsistently, payroll balances may not agree or personal and business transactions may have been mixed together.

A cleanup engagement begins by defining the period and the problems to be addressed. Some files can be corrected through a focused review. Others require substantial reconstruction or assistance from the business’s bookkeeper, payroll provider or software support team. The likely effort should be discussed before broad changes are made.

Timely information, proportionate reporting

The objective is not to create more reports. It is to make the important information available at a useful time.

For a small business, that might mean a reliable monthly profit and loss statement, a short cash-flow view, aged receivables, upcoming tax obligations and a small number of operating measures. The reporting should reflect how the owner runs the business and should be simple enough to continue after the initial setup.

Automation can assist with routine collection and processing, but it does not remove the need for review. Unusual transactions, poor source information and incorrect assumptions can still flow through an automated system. The final process should make review easier, not less visible.

Service Boundaries

Compact Accounting provides accounting-system and workflow assistance within the agreed scope. The practice is not an IT consultancy, software developer or managed technology provider. Cybersecurity, network design, custom software development, complex integration work and vendor-specific technical support may need to be handled by the software provider or an appropriately qualified technology specialist.

Payroll support is also scoped carefully. Employment law, awards, workplace relations and legal interpretation may require advice from a payroll, human resources or legal professional.

Improve the way the records flow

If your accounting file is difficult to rely on, your reporting arrives too late or the workflow between the business and its advisers has become unnecessarily complicated, contact Compact Accounting with a brief outline of the current system and the problem you want to solve.

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