Many small businesses still bill from a desktop program on one computer, a spreadsheet or a printed bill book. It works until the owner is away from the shop, the computer fails, or the GST return is due and the numbers don’t match.
Cloud billing software is hosted by the provider and used through a browser or a phone app. There is nothing to install on your own computer and no software to maintain. Here is what that changes in day-to-day work.
Your numbers, wherever you are
With cloud billing, sales, purchases, stock, expenses, receivables and payables are available on any device you sign in from. An owner can check the day’s sales from home, and an accountant can prepare a report without visiting the office. If staff cannot come in for a few days, billing and compliance work carries on.
Access is still controlled. You decide who can sign in and what each person can see or change. A salesperson can raise invoices without seeing the profit and loss account, and a second branch can bill from its own location on the same system.
Less time on repetitive billing
Billing is full of tasks that repeat every day or every month. Cloud software takes care of most of them:
- Recurring invoices for customers you bill the same amount every month
- Quotations and proforma invoices for customers who need them before a sale
- Payment reminders by SMS to customers with dues
- Invoices shared by email or WhatsApp straight from the system
- Several bills printed at once, in full-page or half-page format
The system does the calculations, so tax totals, discounts and balances stay consistent from one invoice to the next, and reconciling transactions takes less time.
GST compliance from the same records
When every invoice is raised in one system, the GST reports come from that same data instead of being rebuilt at month end.
- GST tax invoices, bills of supply for businesses under the composition scheme, and reverse charge (RCM) invoices
- GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3B reports, with GSTR-1 data downloadable as JSON for filing
- E-way bills for movements of goods that need them
- E-invoices for businesses covered by e-invoicing
Whether e-invoicing and e-way bills apply to you depends on your turnover, the value of the goods and the kind of supply, and the government revises these rules from time to time. Check with your accountant which ones apply, then make sure your billing software supports them.
Backups you don’t have to think about
With desktop software, your billing history lives on one hard disk. If that computer is stolen, damaged or replaced, the data can go with it unless someone has kept backups. Cloud software stores your data with the provider, so it doesn’t depend on one machine in your office. Ask any provider how often data is backed up and how you can export it.
Stock and purchases in the same place
Billing is only half the picture. A cloud billing system that also records purchases and stock gives you a live view of what you have and what you owe:
- Stock updated as you buy and sell, with inventory reports
- Purchase entries and supplier records
- Customer records with outstanding balances
- Delivery challans and job work for goods sent out before billing
- Financial reports drawn from the same data
Working with your accountant
Moving billing to the cloud doesn’t mean your accountant has to change their software. Look for export in Tally or Busy format and to Excel, so your accountant can keep working the way they do today.
What to check before you switch
- Internet access: cloud software needs a connection, so make sure yours is reliable
- Plan features: e-invoice, e-way bill and accounting exports may only come with higher plans, so compare plans against what you actually need
- Users and locations: check how many people and branches each plan allows
- Data export: make sure you can take your data out in a usable format
- Mobile app: check what you can do from the phone, not just what you can view
- Trial: run a week of real invoices through a free trial before you pay
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