4 reasons to consider moving to the cloud

Recent years have seen cloud computing gaining acceptance and popularity at an ever increasing rate, but why exactly is this? What are the potential benefits of making the transition to a cloud based solution?

1) Greater security for your data

As any employer or payroll professional will understand, the information you hold on employees can be highly confidential and you can face significant consequences if this data is lost or falls into the wrong hands. Even with the best software in the world, there are multiple factors which are out of your hands which can affect your data such as theft, damage or hardware malfunctions.

Cloud services allow your data to be automatically backed up, meaning you no longer have to worry about IT problems or constantly carrying USB sticks around with you, offering a much more secure way of looking after your data than traditional methods.

2) Ensure your software is constantly up to date

As you may already know, payroll and tax legislation is constantly changing, and you are responsible for making sure you and your business remain compliant. With recent changes such as Real Time Information (RTI) and automatic enrolment, you don’t want to have to be constantly downloading updates or waiting for new CDs to be sent out for you to waste time installing on your system.

With cloud based software all of these updates happen automatically, without you ever having to lift a finger! This way you don’t need to worry about being caught out with software or legislation changes, just sit back and relax while the cloud takes care of everything.

3) Save yourself and your business money

There is a common belief that introducing new technologies or processes can be costly to your business, but this is not the case with the cloud. Many cloud solutions offer a “pay-as-you-go” style pricing structure. This means that you will only pay for what you use. If you have six employees, why should you have pay a fixed fee for anywhere up to ten employees? With cloud solutions, you no longer have to worry about wasting money with fixed price plans. The cost savings continue after you have moved to cloud too.

Maintaining, updating and storing your hardware and software can be costly, but with cloud solutions these costs are a thing of the past, giving you more money to spend on other parts of your business. A recent study conducted by the Manchester Business School found that 88% of UK businesses who moved to the cloud reported an increase in profits.

4) Increase productivity and efficiency in your business

Being able to access your software from anywhere at any time can greatly increase your productivity. Gone are the days when you could only work from your office, on the same PC, day-in, day-out. With cloud software you can work from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. This means if you are travelling to see a client or are away from your office, you can still get your work done on your laptop or tablet computer.

With cloud software you can also give access to multiple users, without having to pay for or install software on multiple machines. This means every member of your team can have access to the same software, further increasing your efficiency.

If you want to see how making the transition to cloud payroll could benefit you, why not try IRIS OpenPayroll for 60 days, completely free? IRIS OpenPayroll is our new cloud-based RTI payroll solution, allowing you to run your payroll from anywhere via a PC, Mac or tablet.

Try IRIS OpenPayroll today