Tracking Business Expenses in Cloud

One morning, you arrive at the office and receive your phone and electricity bills, you tend to pay it online and soon you get to know that your credit limit has expired. What will you do now? Since yoou are strapped for cash, you unwillingly go to your friends and borrow some money. Well, borrowing is not bad, but you feel some guilt about it. On a similar note Polonius, chief counselor to King Claudius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet said, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” Do you know why you have gone out and borrowed some money? I will tell you - it is because you could not track of your expenses well. You don’t know how you spend your money and where has all the money gone?  So, you need to track your spending pattern to know where you can save money in terms of tax returns. While setting up a business you might have spent on computers, data storage equipments, networking infrastructure, software packages with valid licenses and so on. Today, enterprises are looking into ways to cut down on spiralling costs in almost all spheres they are likely to be engaged in it. Particularly, every penny counts in a small business set-up. The old days of receipts and expense files are history: So, you can keep track of all your expenses by installing software solution on your PC or pick any cloud solution for it. However, if you are running a business that makes you travel frequently and you rarely sit still, it is advisable to select cloud applications. Naturally, the mobile business owner requires a mobile solution that helps you to track expenses without carrying around piles of receipts. In today’s business environment, creating and processing expense reports manually, has become a thing of the past. Additionally, today’s tech–savvy consumers do not want to do business with companies that look outdated. Here are few reasons why should you use cloud solutions to track your business expenses:

• Helps you to work more: Even if you are on the beach with your family, you can see what and where your office staff has made purchases. Yes, a cloud-based expense tracking solution enables business owners to stay connected no matter where they are.
• Eliminates human error: Manual invoicing and accounts entry may lead to human error and delay any reimbursement process. Sometimes, invoicing also needs the support of a third-party expense management company. Cloud-based expense management solutions can reduce data errors, paper-handling expenses, and payment errors.
• Customize an expense management solution for your business: You don’t need to pay for business applications that you do not require. The cloud-based solution offers various manuals that include purchase reports, payable invoices, expanse spread-sheets and more. The cloud- based solutions also enables you to scan and save receipts.  It means that you may save on storage cost- you may destroy hard-copy records.
• Money manager: The small-business merchants can also take advantage of a cloud- based money manager that can present expense report that includes the detailed information about where your money is going. The reports can be created by customers, projects departments.
• Expense reconciliation is easier and fast: The ‘life cycle’ of expense reconciliation and purchase order become shorter with a cloud-based expense solution as it verifies the revenues and/or expenses fast. It saves time because you don’t need to call auditors to audit paper-based reports.
• Cloud-based expense solution provides flexibility: When millions of smartphones are used in global workforce, cloud-based solutions may help on-the-go merchants to sell their products and services from fairs, trade shows, and markets. On the other hand, suppose if you are done with your expense report, you can directly send it for approval without coming back to the office.

With the significant advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) over the last half century, you can possibly see the reason why so many business ventures are now centered on the cloud as they offer the necessary levels of scalability to suit any kind of expanding business environment. There are many companies that are offering cloud-based expense management solutions. You need to be very careful while selecting one, as this would have sensitive data. Don’t hesitate to ask hard-hitting questions about security settings, employees who will have access to your information and more.  Always use different complex passwords for your PC, laptop, or smartphone and keep your device locked or password protected when not in use.  

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Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.   About the Guest Author: Mandira Srivastava is a fulltime freelance writer who specializes in technology, health and fitness, politics, and financial writing. Equipped with a degree of mass communication and having worked for both private and corporate clients, she has experienced meeting a wide range of writing requirements and styles.