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Written by Mike » Updated on: August 08th, 2024
Intuit’s QuickBooks is the preferred accounting solution for businesses worldwide. It offers various desktop solutions - Accountant, Pro, Premier, and Enterprise, with advanced features catering to diverse industry types and sizes.
However, being desktop software, QuickBooks Desktop has some limitations, such as remote access, security issues, and multi-user access. To overcome these limitations, businesses look to cloud computing as a solution. Cloud computing offers an advanced platform to QuickBooks users, enhancing their efficiency.
Although Intuit also offers a cloud-based solution in QuickBooks Online, users who prefer the desktop version opt for QuickBooks cloud hosting. QuickBooks hosting is a service in which the cloud service providers install your QuickBooks Desktop on their cloud servers. However, before deciding to migrate to the cloud, there are some steps you should follow.
Let’s look at some steps to plan your cloud migration. But before that, here are the reasons you must migrate QuickBooks to the cloud now.
Before migrating QuickBooks Desktop to the cloud, let us check out the perks of cloud migration.
QuickBooks on the cloud enables the users to access the software from any remote location at any time. They can use personal devices with an internet connection, such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets to access QuickBooks. It enhances the business efficiency and flexibility.
By migrating QuickBooks to the cloud, you can access the software and data from any operating system, such as Windows, macOS, Android, or Linux. It does not matter which operating system QuickBooks is installed on the cloud server.
Data security is a concern for businesses as it contains confidential client information. With QuickBooks cloud migration, all the data gets stored in remote cloud servers. Therefore, any security lapses in your local IT infrastructure do not affect your data. For instance, even if your password is compromised or your PC is damaged, your data is still secure.
With QB cloud migration, multiple users can work on the cloud in real time, irrespective of their location. Any user with authorized access can log in to the cloud and view, edit, delete, or move data based on their user permissions.
As the business grows, you need additional IT resources to accommodate the growth. Cloud computing enables users to scale their accounting process automatically without making any changes to the in-house IT infrastructure.
Migrating QuickBooks to the cloud reduces your capital and operational expenses. Firstly, it eliminates the need to purchase high-end IT equipment for your office. Consequently, it reduces the associated operational expenses, such as power bills, IT maintenance, etc.
With QB cloud migration, all the IT tasks, such as IT maintenance, upgrade, and monitoring, are taken care of by the cloud service provider. They also offer round-the-clock support to take care of the day-to-day IT issues.
Cloud service providers offer 24/7 availability by implementing a business continuity and disaster recovery plan. This ensures you can continue working, even during a natural disaster or accident.
Desktop to the cloud gives you access to advanced features. However, the migration process must be handled very carefully to ensure a smooth transition of your business process. Here are the steps to migrate QuickBooks Desktop to the cloud.
QuickBooks Desktop is an accounting solution used by various industries, such as retail, manufacturing, or contractors. Before migrating to the cloud, it is vital to analyze your business process thoroughly. You should evaluate your current uptime, employee base, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and security issues, among other factors. Only after analysis, can you set the right expectations from the cloud service provider. It also helps you pick the right cloud provider.
Every organization uses different versions of QuickBooks Desktop, be it QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Enterprise. Also, the data storage and number of users vary from organization to organization. To ensure a smooth QuickBooks migration to the cloud, you must evaluate your current IT infrastructure. It helps you forecast your future IT requirements and choose the best pricing plan for your process. Moreover, it enables you to analyze whether you want additional services from the cloud provider. Depending on the current IT setup, you can also decide on a hybrid or multi-cloud strategy.
The next vital step for QuickBooks cloud migration is choosing the best cloud hosting provider for your business. There is a plethora of cloud service providers offering best-in-class services. However, you need to select the one right for your business. Here are some factors that will help you analyze the cloud service provider.
The cloud service providers offer multiple pricing plans, depending on:
Once you have finalized the cloud service provider, go through the pricing plans they offer and choose the one that suits your business the most. You can also ask the provider if they can customize the pricing plans per your requirements.
The QB data comprises confidential and vital information on the company file. If lost or corrupted, it can lead to critical repercussions. Hence, it is always recommended to take a backup of your QB data on local storage before migrating your QuickBooks Desktop to the cloud. Therefore, even if data is corrupted or lost during migration, you can restore it later.
Once the cloud migration is completed, you must test the data for discrepancies or errors. Go through the records and match them against your local storage backup.
The final step for successfully migrating QuickBooks to the cloud is training users to work on the cloud. You can conduct regular sessions on live demos, remote access, and data security protocols, among others.
The features of QuickBooks when combined with advanced cloud infrastructure provide businesses with a one-stop solution for their business process. However, to ensure a smooth cloud migration, you must follow the steps mentioned above.
A competent cloud hosting provider helps you migrate to the cloud without hassles. ACE is an Intuit-authorized QuickBooks hosting provider that offers industry-specific cloud solutions on an advanced infrastructure, ensuring an SLA-guaranteed 99.99% uptime, multi-level security, and 24/7/365 customer support.
Enroll for a 7-day free trial of our services to get the QB cloud experience.
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