With our economy stuck in second gear, South Australian small businesses need every advantage – such as embracing cloud accounting.
Adelaide entrepreneur Krystian Wielgosz and business partners Ricky Chau and Andrew Wang started wholesaler distribution business E-West Group in 2010 and say adopting cloud accounting software 12 months ago has given them more time to focus on growing their business.
The business provides food and drinks from countries such as Thailand, the US and Canada to restaurants, IGA, Foodland, convenience stores and restaurants throughout the state, where products such as veggie chips and coconut water are among the most sought-after.
Cloud software provides financial reporting in real-time, when account balances are always up-to-date and also removes the need for expensive maintenance and system administration costs.
“We weren’t happy with our previous desktop accounting solution, which required a bookkeeper and delivered delayed results,” Wielgosz said.
“Switching to cloud accounting has made everything run more efficiently, because the quality of our financial information is so good and up-to-date.
“It gives us the freedom to go out and make better day-to-day decisions about the running of our business.
“We can now approach banks and larger companies to partner with us and have more information at our fingertips. We’re able to more accurately forecast what the business will look like moving forward. Cash flow has improved and contacting debtors is a lot easier.”
Krystian Wielgosz and Ricky Chau from E-West
Perks managing director Mark Roderick said businesses who don’t convert to cloud accounting risk limiting their growth.
“Cloud accounting is the way of the future and in coming years will be the only way to operate. Businesses that don’t embrace it will be left behind,” Roderick said.
“It gives you the opportunity to see your financial performance in a new light and means no more manual data entry as data feeds from bank accounts and credit cards are automated and financial reports are system generated.”
The company today launches Perks Complete, which offers a range of packages to help clients transition to cloud accounting and integrate it into their business. The packages include payroll, debtors, creditors and bookkeeping and can be integrated with other systems like point of sale or billing systems as well as customising financial reporting.
About half of the company’s business clients, in fields ranging from mining, pharmacy, wine and professional services, have already taken up the offering.
“As advisers to more than 2500 business and personal clients, Perks has responded to the changing nature of business and the needs of our clients to have more timely business data that they can access from anywhere,” Roderick said.
Senior consultant Nick Grieve, who has spent 20 years working in the finance and IT industries, has been appointed as Perks’ specialist cloud accounting adviser. Nick and his colleagues work closely with clients to determine which software option, such as Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks, is best for them.
“Nick has outstanding information technology and accounting systems skills and is dedicated to driving Perks Complete. He will bring a cutting edge cloud accounting and finance systems solution to our clients,” Roderick said.
E-West Group hope to export South Australian products overseas in the future, as well as continue to bring a wider range of products to shoppers here.
“We started E-West Group to try and counter the lack of diversity of products on SA supermarket shelves,” Wielgosz said.
“All the different systems that you use in a cloud accounting solution, they ‘talk’ to each other and make life a lot easier. We log in on our mobile phones, even when we were away in Thailand, we were logged in and accessing information.”
To find out more about Perks Complete visit www.perkscomplete.com.au or call 8273 9300.
