Remote finance success: find the right systems and processes

If your SaaS company relies on a remote workforce, QuickBooks or similar options may give you more headaches than advantages in the long run. Finding the path to remote finance success can be a dubious venture–there’s a lot to consider and more than a handful of potential pitfalls. 

SaaS CFOs often realize it’s in their firm’s best interest to embrace a remote workforce. But even if you feel sure it’s the right move, it still needs to be handled with care and nuance–particularly where the finance team was concerned. This article will show you how to manage the transition in a pain-free way.

How to align core finance process to remote work

Sticking to a few best practices is essential for finance leaders who are helping their teams transition to a remote workforce. 

Automation is a necessity, not a luxury

When SaaS companies go remote, automation often makes the difference between a smooth pivot and a nightmarishly complex experience. You need to eliminate obstacles to making an effective switch, not compile them with clunky manual finance processes. 

Regulatory upkeep must be more dialed-in than ever

Whether you use QuickBooks remote access or something else, remote work requires companies to strictly observe all relevant regulations. This includes setting up potentially complicated approvals workflows that QuickBooks is not equipped to handle. 

Currency and billing flexibility are essential

Companies that leverage a remote workforce often become more receptive to hiring overseas talent and expanding into international markets. This requires the ability to transact in local currencies.

Let’s take a closer look at why QuickBooks remote access isn’t ideal. 

Why QuickBooks isn’t ideal for your remote workforce

QuickBooks presents challenges for SaaS finance teams regardless of whether they’re in the office or not. But QuickBooks remote access comes with at least 2 additional problems: 

1: The QuickBooks Remote Access tool requires paying a separate fee beyond the baseline subscription. 

2: Beyond that, Quickbooks: Pro for Mac does not offer remote access functionality. Given the popularity of Mac computers, this could quickly become an annoying and potentially costly inconvenience. 

There are a few more issues to consider, though.

QuickBooks Remote Access Issues

For a remote workforce, QuickBooks has been known to present complications around remote access reliability. Keep in mind that any tech-induced business downtime will result in very real dollars and cents losses to your company. 

In addition to the Mac issues, QuickBooks remote access has an anecdotal reputation for being glitchy on computers with VPNs. As with Macs, these are another widespread piece of technology, a fact which might present problems. 

Looking for a remote connector for QuickBooks?

If you’re considering a remote connector for QuickBooks, there’s a better way forward–a way that will simultaneously maximize the speed of your transition to remote work while shielding the process from errors. 

Best practices for remote finance teams

Optimizing your team’s shift to remote work can be difficult if you’re simultaneously struggling with QuickBooks remote access problems. 

Adopting fully automated accounting software is one of the best choices you can make in order to ensure the best remote experience for you and your team. In particular, look for software that:

• Leverages a single source of truth (SSOT) to centralize data 

• Surpasses the automation capabilities of QuickBooks remote access

• Organizes finance leaders’ data and metrics in single-screen role-based dashboards.

• Offers automated assistance with ASC 606, revenue recognition, and accounting regulations

QuickBooks remote access might have limited utility for smaller early-stage companies. But you should be looking for more than the bare minimum. 

Remote access success with Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct uses cloud-based automation to ensure the perfect experience for your remote workforce. With Intacct, you won’t have to worry about downtime, regulatory headaches, approval problems, and so many other issues that traditionally accompany remote work for finance teams. 

Remote work has been a major shift in the SaaS industry. But it’s hardly the only reason to graduate from QuickBooks – our E-book on 10 Reasons SaaS companies shouldn’t use QuickBooks goes even deeper.