A SaaS business in today’s highly competitive marketplace provides unique services, increases customer loyalty, and improves productivity with the automation of key business processes. Tech-savvy CFOs and controllers at fast-growing software companies are pushing to automate complex financial processes and subscription billing, as well as gain in-depth insight to improve performance and support fast growth. As SaaS companies begin to outgrow QuickBooks, many have made the switch to a cloud accounting software in order to stay competitive.
After all, dynamic SaaS businesses require of-the-moment metrics to support making faster decisions with key, real-time metrics, gaining actionable insights from trends and details viewable by key business drivers, eliminating manual effort and the risk of inaccuracies through automation and capturing unique outcomes by tailoring SaaS metrics to specific business processes.
The advent of cloud ERP innovations provided, particularly to SaaS companies, a flexible, cost-effective alternative to traditional on-premise ERP systems. What does cloud accounting mean for growing SaaS companies? While many companies struggle gain such insights, SaaS companies face more challenges, not least of which is operating with metrics reports pulled from disparate applications, with aggregated data living on multiple spreadsheets – all at the mercy of human error. For many software companies, the move to deploy cloud accounting in an innovative cloud ERP solution is a response to the driving requirement to leverage better reporting capabilities and a greater depth of accounting efficiency.
SaaS businesses can benefit from cloud accounting in a few ways!
Deep SaaS Metrics: Fast growth depends on fast decisions using with the right information at the right time. That’s a struggle in almost any industry. If you are a SaaS company, you’ll need both financial and operational insights – 24/7.
Quote-to-Cash Streamlining: Streamlined quote-to-cash processes with cloud accounting’s ability to connect sales and finance for full views of customer sales cycles and reporting.
Easy Organizational Management: Simplified management of multiple entities with global consolidation, currency conversion and eliminations – a modern finance solution for automating revenue recognition throughout the subscription lifecycle across the entire organization.
Complex Customer Contracts and Revenue Accounting: Automated subscription management and complex revenue accounting, with deep insights into financial and operational outcomes. Templates and schedules automatically allocating revenue and amortizing expenses, even as subscriptions and contracts change. Dual treatment of contracts according to both ASC 605 and ASC 606, providing immediate visibility into how the new revenue recognition guideline changes affect financials.
Growing Beyond QuickBooks: SaaS organizations outgrowing QuickBooks can expect high ROI when switching to cloud accounting. They do not have to worry about system availability and security—that comes guaranteed. Plus, it’s instantly easier to connect with other cloud-based best-in-class business systems, like Salesforce, so they can share data between systems without human data entry or errors. With an advanced cloud accounting system, SaaS companies can boost accounting and related business management processes through built-in visual process flows that allow for ease of use, and flexible personalization – establishing a strong business management foundation with powerful core accounting and financial modules that streamline everyday chores into simple tasks.
The SaaS business model translates into more accounting complexity, faster closing cycles, and increased reporting requirements. CompuData can help you stay on top of SaaS finance challenges by automating complex financial tasks, delivering rock-solid financials and operational metrics to position your business for growth – venture financing, IPO and beyond.
