Early movers and shakers in the UK’s accountancy industry have been revelling in the benefits of cloud computing accounting software for years by this point. In fact, around 70% of accountants and accountancy firms have already migrated their work onto the cloud, and are enjoying cheaper, more effective and accelerated business growth as a result.
As cloud services continue to improve, business grows ever more global and laws regulating tax continue to evolve, cloud computing is no longer an optional extra for accountants… it is a must.
Small business owners are also taking note of the transformative power of cloud accounting. This means that in order for accountants and accounting firms to attract new customers, they too need to get with the times.
This article explores the definition, applications and benefits of cloud computing accounting software for both accountants and their clients.
What is cloud computing accounting software?
Let’s break down the term ‘cloud computing accounting software’ into its constituent parts: ‘cloud computing’ and ‘accounting software.’
Defining: cloud computing
Cloud computing takes traditional computing—in which your data, applications, processes and actions take place on a local computer connected to a local storage device—and moves all of this onto the internet.
Because the cloud exists entirely online, it can be accessed anywhere, anytime, unlike traditional computing which can only be accessed in the physical space it is based and at times where access is available (i.e., during office hours).
Defining: accounting software
Traditionally, accounting has been a labour-intensive practice requiring extensive physical bookkeeping, lots of paperwork and exceedingly complex calculations—not to mention the checking and double-checking involved with making sure client finances are in order, tax paid correctly, and all relevant financial regulations complied with.
In the early days of computing, however, accounting software came along to help make many of these traditional paper processes digital, so that accountants could speed up their work whilst keeping their records tidier and making calculations easier to complete.
Defining: cloud computing accounting software
Put together, the two concepts discussed above create a fully online version of accountancy, allowing accountants the freedom to work wherever, whenever, with just their laptop to hand.
Cloud computing also helps to automate many of the more menial accounting tasks, thus allowing accountants more time to work on the things that really drive value for their clients and firms.
Types of cloud accounting software available
There are enough cloud accounting solutions available in 2025 to allow accountants to move any and every aspect of their operations online.
We’re not here to promote any one particular company or brand, but it may help to make you aware of the top three most popular cloud accounting software providers in 2025.
- Xero Accounting: One of the world’s most popular cloud computing accounting software providers, used by both accountants and private businesses alike. Xero is well known for its extremely accessible user interface.
- Top tip: Working with an official Xero Gold Partner ensures you get the most as possible out of using the software for your cloud accounting.
- Sage Business Cloud Accounting: Another popular accounting software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider, Sage has been around longer than most of its competitors and offers a more nuanced, if less accessible set of accounting tools.
- QuickBooks: A solid halfway house, QuickBooks offers quality functionality and ease-of-use in equal measure.
Exploring the 10 key benefits of cloud computing accounting software in 2025
The majority of accountants are already using some form of cloud accounting software, but that’s not the only reason you, too, should be migrating your accountancy services onto the cloud. Below, we explore ten compelling benefits of cloud computing accounting software to both accountants and the businesses they work with. Let’s dive in.
Benefit 1) Accounting on the go for remote client-accountant collaboration
The most obvious benefit of cloud accounting, or any cloud computing for that matter, is that with everything stored and accessed online, accounting can be done anytime, anywhere, provided you’re connected to the internet. Part of this accessibility includes the centralisation of all your financial data and tools in one easily accessible online app.
Benefit to accountant: Accountants are able to work remotely and asynchronously (i.e., outside of traditional office hours), allowing greater flexibility in the service they provide to their clients, as well as a better work-life balance.
Benefit to client: Clients can access their accounts and finances whenever and wherever they need, without having to wait for their accountant to send reports. Communication between client and accountant is also optimized with cloud computing given both parties are equally informed and equally online. With all their data in one place, clients can access “a comprehensive and real-time view of an organization’s financial health.”
Benefit 2) Speedier, more efficient accounting
Cloud accounting software also speeds up accounting by automating many of the more time-consuming processes and making complex calculations for the accountant. This frees the accountant to work on more productive matters—for example, without having to manually input data into a spreadsheet, the accountant can spend more time analysing and acting on that data.
Benefit to accountant: Accountants are able to apply more of their expertise to their work than they would have been before, thanks to the automation of the more menial daily chores such as data entry and invoicing. Productivity is typically increased alongside job satisfaction, whilst client communication is made easier with data visualisation tools.
Benefit to client: Clients get to work with accountants whose time is devoted more and more to only the most productive and beneficial aspects of the job. Human error is also often reduced by automation meaning more accurate reporting, whilst services rendered by the accountant are completed more expeditiously than before.
Benefit 3) Safer accounting
94% of businesses which migrated their operations to the cloud reported an improvement in their cybersecurity—which, when working with clients’ sensitive financial information, is absolutely paramount to your effectiveness and reputation as an accountant.
Cloud computing accounting software stores sensitive data behind much stronger cybersecurity ‘walls’ than individual accountants or accountancy firms can afford or know how to set up.
Much of financial cloud computing even utilises blockchain technology (the same stuff behind cryptocurrency) to infallibly protect and record financial transactions, thus dramatically decreasing the opportunities for cyberattack or fraud.
Benefit to accountant: Operations are made more secure, protecting your and your clients’ data, and thus protecting you from potentially costly cybercrime, legal action, and reputational damage.
Benefit to client: Clients may rest more soundly knowing that no matter how sensitive their finances are, they are better protected by cloud accounting than by traditional measures.
Benefit 4) More cost-effective accounting
It can be prohibitively costly for small local accountancy firms—let alone freelance accountants—to license traditional accounting software, install cybersecurity measures, and pay for all of the other data storage and hardware solutions necessary to meet evolving client demands. Cloud computing accounting software operates as a subscription service with all of these aspects—cybersecurity, accounting applications, storage and more—rolled into one.
Benefit to accountant: The upfront costs of accounting are dramatically reduced, as are the human hours put into more menial tasks (now automated), thus also reducing labour costs.
Benefit to client: The client may find that cloud-based accountants are able to offer more budget-friendly accounting packages given their own costs are either lowered or more sustainably spread out across the accounting year.
Benefit 5) Scalable accounting for busy periods
Cloud computing is almost infinitely ‘scalable’, meaning that as your demand for cloud accounting services increases (such as toward the end of the tax year), your accounting software is more than capable of handling increased use and increased traffic—whether you’re a single freelance accountant or a global corporate accountancy firm with thousands of accountants all using the same software at the same time.
Benefit to accountant: Operational bottlenecks and slow load-times are a thing of the past.
Benefit to client: Clients don’t have to worry about app crashes or downtime even during the busiest accounting periods of the year.
Benefit 7) Complete international regulatory compliance
The local and international regulatory landscape for finance and accountancy is constantly evolving, not to mention the regulations surrounding information and data privacy, making compliance a major bone-in-the-throat for accountants. Cloud accounting software, however, is also constantly evolving and updating, with AI-powered tools to assess compliance and flag any potential instances of non-compliance.
Benefit to accountant: Accountants can focus on accounting, and leave the complex legalities on international tax and finance compliance to their cloud accounting software.
Benefit to client: Clients no longer need to worry as much about compliance, since there is an additional safety net in place in the form of cloud accounting.
Benefit 8) AI solutions can provide more accurate insights and predictions
And speaking of AI-powered tools… Many of the most popular cloud-based software providers are well ahead of the game when it comes to artificial intelligence, and so have already begun integrating some really useful AI solutions into their accountancy packages. One of the key benefits of AI in cloud accounting is the ability of AI to process vast sets of data far faster than humans or traditional software is capable of.
Benefit to accountant: Accountants can give their clients vastly more accurate insights into their accounts than previous, by augmenting their own microscopic expertise with AI’s capacity to identify trends on the macroscopic.
Benefit to client: AI tools can make fairly accurate predictions for the future of your finances by studying yours and your accountant’s data from a big picture perspective. With this information to hand, business owners both big and small can better plan ahead.
Benefit 9) Compliance with HMRC’s Making Tax Digital
As accountants and small business owners will already know, HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative is already well underway—bringing all forms of UK taxation fully online. And simply put, with HMRC going digital, so too should your accounting be brought into the 21st century with cloud computing accounting software.
Benefit to accountant: The transition from traditional forms of accounting to working with a fully digitised HMRC is streamlined by early adoption of cloud-based computing.
Benefit to client: By embracing cloud accounting and therefore moving all of your financial records and bookkeeping processes online, it will make the laborious annual process of filing your corporate tax return that much easier, once MTD is complete.
Benefit 10) Less paper means less emissions
Last but not least, it’s worth looking at one of the less loudly celebrated benefits to cloud computing for accountants: namely, a reduction in our carbon footprint. Cloud computing accountancy allows you to completely rid yourself of physical paper records, meaning less trees chopped down for you to do your work. Moreover, with a subscription to your chosen accounting software provider, your office likely no longer needs to invest in carbon-intensive hardware like localised servers.
Benefit to accountant: As the pressure to report on corporate sustainability and adhere to carbon neutral targets mounts globally, with acts like CSRD coming into force in the EU, accounting firms can become more eco-friendly by migrating to the cloud.
Benefit to client: Clients, too, can reduce their paper consumption and thus be more sustainable in their day-to-day.
Conclusion: Why accountants must use cloud computing and why small business owners should choose accountants on the cloud
Cloud computing is not just some new-age fad which you can decide to pass up. It is a revolutionary force changing the face of business, finance and accounting worldwide, and trends would suggest that those accountants who choose to ignore the Great Migration will be left in the dust.
Cloud accounting is endlessly beneficial to those who adopt it: helping to improve cybersecurity and compliance, streamline operations, reduce costs, boost productivity, enhance accountant-client communication, improve our understanding of future financial trends, and above all, to bring the accounting industry in line with the advances of 21st century technology.
For owners of SMEs, working with a ‘cloud accountant’ also gives you optimal, real-time access to your finances, AI-powered predictions, handy bookkeeping interfaces, and helps ensure that your accountant is able to put more of their expertise and experience into the things that really matter.