CPA Practice Advisor - 20

ADVERTORIAL

Q: How has cloud technology impacted
the accounting industry and the services
accountants deliver to their clients?

Cloud
Computing
2020

Cloud technology has enabled accountants to
better serve their clients' ever evolving needs,
at any time and from anywhere. Never has that
been more important than now. Since the onset
of COVID-19, accounting professionals have
taken on expanded roles to help guide and
advise their small business clients through this
difficult time. And cloud technology has been
instrumental in helping them successfully deliver
on their expanded roles for their clients.
Cloud technology helps accountants be more
efficient, giving them more time to assist and
advise. It also helps accountants scale their
impact, enabling them to identify trends based
on client data so they can provide rich, strategic
guidance that can make a significant difference
in the ultimate financial health of a small
business.

Q: How have new technologies like
automation and AI merged with cloud
computing to help accountants and
bookkeepers with small business
customers?

AMY MURPHY

Group Marketing Manager, Intuit
Amy Murphy leads the Expert Segment
marketing team within Intuit's Small
Business Self-Employed Group. She
is focused on helping accounting
professionals understand the power
of the QuickBooks Online platform,
including QuickBooks Online
Accountant, so they can grow their
practices and scale their impact to help
their small business clients succeed.

20

OCTOBER 2020 ■

This year, more than ever, we've seen how
important it is to be efficient with our time. In
2020, accountants have had to work around the
clock to adjust to new legislation and deadlines,
knowing their clients are counting on them to
have accurate, up-to-date information.
Cloud computing enables robust AI, machine
learning and automation capabilities so
accounting professionals not only can
streamline workflows but also help their small
business clients succeed. With our integrated
QuickBooks Online platform equipped
with AI and automation capabilities across
payroll, accounting and QuickBooks Capital,
QuickBooks was able to help more than 37,000
small businesses apply for the Payroll Protection
Program, resulting in more than $1.2 billion in
loans provided.
Other examples of how QuickBooks is
harnessing the power of AI and automation to
help accountants get more done faster in their
day-to-day tasks so they can scale their impact
include:
* Month-end review: a new feature in
QuickBooks Online Accountant that helps
accounting firms close client books with more
accuracy and in less time by automatically
identifying common issues and hard-to-find
anomalies.
* Statement auto-import: a new feature
that automatically delivers bank statement

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

information needed to get client books done.
Currently, QuickBooks supports more than
1,500 banks, with more banks added all the
time to deliver this invaluable automation
option for accountants and their clients.
* Automating accounts payable processes:
key integrations with Melio, a free, billpay capability embedded directly inside
QuickBooks Online; and Bill.com, which
automatically syncs with QuickBooks and
provides advanced bill payment and workflow
automation capabilities directly in QuickBooks
Online Advanced, provide the flexibility and
automation needed to manage bill payments.

Q: How can technology help accountants
best guide their clients and position
them for success, particularly during this
challenging time?

Accountants have rapidly evolved into business
advisors for their clients as they've stepped in
to forecast cash flow, find ways to pay for critical
expenses, and provide guidance around even
more non-accounting business needs. As a
result, we've expanded upon our already robust
offerings that help accounting professionals
advise their clients, particularly during this time
when small businesses need it most. Recent
examples include:
* The Performance Center, accessible through
the Reports tab in QuickBooks Online
Accountant, allows accountants to provide
even more personalized insights to their
clients. The Performance Center calculates key
ratios, provides metrics, and visualizes clients'
financial performance, automatically and right
inside QuickBooks.
* Industry benchmarks, in the Performance
Center, helps accountants quickly benchmark
client performance against similar companies
using the power of aggregated, anonymized
QuickBooks data.
* QuickBooks Online Advanced Custom Fields
are now supported in more reports, and soon
will have a brand-new management UI to
easily derive more insights to guide clients.
* The Cash Flow Planner within QuickBooks
Cash uses machine learning to provide a 90day projection of a small business's cash flow,
which helps accountants and their business
clients plan money in and money out scenarios
appropriately.

Q. Where can accounting professionals
get more information on how they can
better serve their clients using the latest
technology?

Visit https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accountants/
for more information.
http://www.Bill.com https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accountants/ http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
CPA Practice Advisor

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CPA Practice Advisor
