Cloud2Me, a leader in hosted desktop services for accountants, conducted a survey at three major accounting conventions in early 2024—FAB (Festival of Accountants and Bookkeepers), DAS (The Digital Accounting Show), and Accountex London. They questioned hundreds of accounting professionals about their reasons for going cloud-based and any potential roadblocks.
Several patterns and insights on the current state of cloud usage in the accounting industry were discovered by the survey:
Remote working reigns supreme
A quarter of accountants (25%) said that their main motivation for implementing cloud technology was having the ability to work remotely. This pattern emphasises the significance of flexibility and the rising need for a work-life balance.
Security takes a front seat
Improving security was a close second, with 20% of all respondents citing this as one of their motivations for more cloud adoption. The consensus was that cloud providers were likely to have rigorous data security systems built in as standard. Physically removing the data by getting rid of on-premise servers (10%) and having data backed up off-site (10%) were also often mentioned in the same breath as data security.
The importance of cloud technology
A huge 87% of accountants rated cloud technology as important or extremely important to their company’s operations. These results show the role cloud solutions continue to play in modern accounting practices, from improving efficiency to enabling innovative service offerings. Perhaps more interestingly were the 13% of respondents who were either neutral or negative towards cloud adoption, which would suggest a small, but significant number of practices still do not view it as important at all.
Potential Obstacles in Cloud Transition
Despite the clear benefits, the survey revealed several challenges that could stop accountants from fully embracing cloud technology:
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- Downtime fears: 21% of accountants expressed concerns about potential downtime during the transition to the cloud.
- Not enough time: A lack of time and headspace to implement cloud continues to be a major blocker for 17% of respondents
- IT experience: Lack of internal IT expertise was a significant obstacle for 14% of respondents, suggesting a gap in the necessary skills for managing cloud environments.
- Subscription cost uncertainty: Cloud subscription costs remain a concern, with 14% of accountants uncertain about the financial implications of cloud services.
“Cloud technology continues to be front of mind for 87% of all accountancy practices we surveyed. What we found most interesting was that while there were a few clear front-runners for continued cloud adoption (remote working and security concerns), there were still a significant number of other, smaller, factors (scalability, reduced costs, less downtime etc) cited.
This would suggest the motivations for going digital continue to be wide-ranging and complex. The other interesting statistic was the 13% of respondents for whom cloud adoption wasn’t a priority, and would suggest there are still lots of practices who need to navigate the digital transformation journey.” said Jack Twomey, providing insights on the survey results and how they align with Cloud2Me’s main takeaways from the accounting convention season.
You can also view more information by visiting the top five takeaways from the 2024 accounting season blog post.
About Cloud2Me
Cloud2Me has been a trusted provider of hosted desktop services to accountancy practices since 2013. Known for their commitment to security, reliability, and customer support, Cloud2Me continues to empower businesses with its innovative cloud solutions.
