A Construction Customer’s Perspective to Accounting in the Cloud

Modernized accounting systems can help grow your business and give you insights for making major business decisions. While most modern day systems were adapted years after creation to be put into the cloud, Intacct has been a native cloud solution from the very first line of code written. This unique distinction puts Intacct in a strategic position in the marketplace of these modern accounting systems.

Since the cloud knows no boundaries, any software that is native cloud will be able to scale and grow with any organization. Intacct originally emerged in the 90’s, remained in the cloud, and has made great advancements since being bought by Sage in 2017. With a fresh user interface and sophisticated visibility for real-time decision making, it is designed for CFOs and professional finance teams looking for a powerful solution. Intacct is the best in breed when it comes to easy integration to a number of other solutions. With an open API and marketplace with over 200 advanced integrations, and growing, the possibilities are endless.

One of the greatest advancements Sage Intacct has made is in the Construction and Real Estate (CRE) space. Sage Intacct has been developing CRE modules to accommodate the general migration of Sage legacy clients, like Sage 300 CRE and Sage 100 Contractor. It is the inevitable life cycle of software that will cause these legacy products to eventually be retired, but the future is bright with the advancements of CRE in the Intacct system. Cloud technology is revolutionizing and gaining momentum in the accounting, finance and construction industries. Did you know that Sage Intacct alone signed more Intacct contracts this last year than in their 25 year history? That says something about what’s happening in the world and in the industry.

Cloud technology has emerged as the solution to numerous business challenges for many industries, including CRE. There has been a shift happening for years in industries such as smart phone technology and online banking, just to name a few. COVID has obviously accelerated the timeline of shifting to the cloud, but the technology is nothing new. Many construction companies are already using cloud technology for project management, operational management, even making electronic deposits for the paper checks they are still receiving.

How can Sage Intacct help your construction company?  

Custom Reporting, Dashboards and Continuous Consolidations

Custom reporting refers to customizable, real-time dashboards personalized for user, department and entity within your company. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a dashboard or report ran by the project manager? Instead of your financial team running daily, weekly, or monthly reports and having to do manual consolidations of all sorts of information, Intacct provides the convenience and flexibility of real time, easy to use dashboards and continuous consolidations.

Streamlined Processes Across All Projects

Have you struggled with reporting efficiently across the entire company, especially for multi-entity companies that have to book intercompany transactions? Are you able to automate administrative tasks like auto-posting expenses and payments directly from connected accounts? Streamlined processes across all projects allow you to create transactions in a way that meets your requirements, provides insight and complies with regulations. With Sage Intacct’s user defined roles, you can share access with your team for easy collaboration. Just another way Sage Intacct can grow with your organization!

Planning and Budgeting

How do you know when it is the right time to make big purchases within your organization? How do you know if you have enough cash flow to make payroll? These questions can be answered accurately and efficiently with up-to-date data in real time within Sage Intacct. With a true cloud based accounting system, you are able to plan and budget for the future. Sage Intacct allows for easy consolidations and no more spreadsheets!

Maintain Security and Privacy

When choosing any kind of software, it’s important to be sure it’s secure and private. This is no laughing matter with Sage Intacct. Their infrastructure runs on world-class data centers that are monitored 24/7/365 and provide full data recovery within 24 hours in the event of a major disaster. Application security is also very important when it comes to controlling what users can and cannot see and preventing outside attacks. It is good to know that you can trust Sage Intacct with your precious data, as it is designed to prevent unauthorized programs, systems, and users from gaining access or control of system processes, resources and data.

Features developed to protect your business within Sage Intacct include:

• SSAE 18 SOC 1 Type II audited twice per year
• SOC 2 Type II audited
• PCI DSS Level 1 certified
• Hardened networks and firewalls
• Real-time activity log tracking
• Automated security scanning and third-party white hat penetration testing
• Virus resistance reinforced through software architecture
• Oracle database secured with advanced security
• Minimum 128-bit encryption for all data transmission

Cultivate a Reliable Technology Environment

Reliability is as important as cybersecurity and a vital consideration when evaluating cloud service providers. Businesses should look for an uptime commitment of at least 99%. In addition, determine if the vendor can handle the steady capacity required for day-to-day activities and extra power with higher internal usage. Cloud service providers should offer redundancy to ensure business continuity, with data and applications replicated to multiple sites and procedures to restore apps and data in the event of ransomware or another attack. With an uptime commitment of 99.8%, extra capacity to keep server traffic low, and full nightly backups, Intacct is committed to reliability.

One of the most important decisions you will make during your cloud software journey will be choosing the right partner to help you along the way. Some would say this decision is even more important than the software product you choose. True cloud based software solutions like Sage Intacct are not “do-it-yourself” platforms. Having a knowledgeable team to implement Sage Intacct is an important component to success on modern accounting platforms.

Got questions? Connect with an experienced Aprio advisor today. 
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