In the early 80s, there was a very successful advertising campaign for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups featuring a variety of plot lines in which peanut butter accidentally collided with chocolate. The punch line was, “You got peanut butter on my chocolate! You got chocolate on my peanut butter! ...Two great tastes that taste great together.”
Surprising things often go well together. Chicken and waffles. Sea salt and caramel. Bacon and … anything, really.
At first glance, cloud and accounting seem like strange bedfellows. Early on, cloud and SaaS were the Wild West of enterprise software. As for accounting, the conservative green lampshade image is not unjustified.
But the combination is quite potent when it comes to organizational transformation.
Cloud provides flexibility and agility. It allows your organization to scale at your pace, not that of your technology vendor. It drives process standardization and rationalization. It pushes adoption of best practices, especially in the security arena. It creates cost predictability.
Accounting drives processes that have utility far beyond the accounting department itself. They are the scorekeepers of your business. They worry about unexpected and unseen costs and risks; they worry about standardizing processes and connect them across departments; they worry about vendor lock-in and closed systems and customization costs.
Accenture reports that forward-looking finance departments embracing technology and the cloud are seeing genuine business results:
“Nearly one third of the CFOs surveyed by Accenture Strategy reported that digital finance investments are having an impact beyond their immediate purview, transforming the business at large … Technology alone is not the answer. True digital transformation occurs when the right support systems are in place, from the optimal talent mix to the appropriate operating model … Remove your cost and productivity lens. Think total investment value … Digital is not an overlay. It changes the way your business operates—and the way your teams must make decisions.”
Cloud delivers predictable costs, better security, deeper interoperability. Accounting wants predictable costs, better security, deeper interoperability. Two great tastes coming together, indeed.
Learn more by reading this case study: General Construction Company Improves Cash Flow with Accounting Workflow Management Software
