Digging into Data As businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on up-to-date and accurate data, navigating through the maze of software and online options available is becoming a time-consuming job. B oth businesses and private individuals are seeing their finances increasingly managed via cloud based applications, so it is an inevitability that the agricultural industry will need to follow. Understanding what software is available and which versions are needed is becoming a painstaking task for many agricultural business owners according to Ryan Pearcy, Business Advisory Director at Scrutton Bland. There are currently thousands of cloud-based applications available, which is a lot for a business owner or financial director to have to wade through on their own! By using the services of a cloud software expert, you will save a huge amount of time and money and have the peace of mind in knowing that the system you have chosen is the best fit for your business and is compliant.
We listened to the feedback from our clients and the overwhelming message was that whilst many of them wanted to engage more with digital technology, they just didn’t have enough hours in the day. Our answer to this was to introduce a new type of advisory service. Our Systems Advisory Service helps clients work out which software packages they need based on data they need to gather and report on and any other software packages they need to interface with. The service works by an adviser sitting down with you to review the systems that you currently operate. From this the team can produce a data map, which shows you how your data currently flows between all the systems you use. This enables us to provide you with an independent evaluation of where your systems can be improved and to suggest the software and in particular any add-on apps that can help you do this. The second stage is the conversion process to install the new software and to assist businesses in transitioning their data to the cloud. We know from experience that it is the first three months after a new software system is in place that is the most crucial to ensuring that the business can operate with minimal distribution so we work alongside our clients to assist and advise them should they need support. We know from speaking to our clients that some agricultural business don’t think this kind of thing is relevant to them, but farming and agri business is actually at the forefront of technical development, particularly around finding ways to be more efficient and produce accurate reports. I’d suggest any operation with a turnover between £500k and £20 million should be looking for professional advice, although smaller businesses may well also benefit. If you are unsure where to start with your digital journey, or maybe are already managing your data in the cloud but would like to find our more about the apps available you can contact our advisory team on 0330 058 6559 or email hello@scruttonbland.co.uk to find out more.
The farming sector has had to adopt new ways of gathering and analysing data over the past few years, not just with regard to equipment but in crop and stock management too, and we know from working closely with our clients that many are seeing the benefits of using digital technology when managing their business accounts. The problem is however that so many farmers are just too busy, or not properly informed about the other tools which are available to them. One of the most common questions I hear from clients is ‘Where do I even start?’. With a range for software options available and all at different prices, getting it wrong can lead to costly mistakes. But, in reality the transition from the traditional paper based or desktop business processes can be easier than you’d think. Most of us are already using a wide range of apps and cloud-based software in our personal lives without even thinking twice about it, from online banking to social media we are all managing cloud-based data already. As I said, many agricultural businesses have already adopted accounting systems and are starting to see the benefits of having live data, accessible 24/7. From an accountant’s point of view, having access to live data can help us to better manage our clients finances and gives us a better oversight to be able to recommend future actions. For clients themselves, there are some very immediate benefits from being able to send invoices out and getting paid faster, through to being able to prepare accurate reports in order to support applications for lending. Where we see next big development will be is the add-on style apps which can integrate into packages such as Xero and which are tailored to specific sectors or business types. Most software now operates with an open application programming interface (API). This isn’t as scary as it sounds, in short, APIs allow software developers to write programmes which allow other pieces of software or apps to talk to each other. APIs have been in use for some time now in cloud accounting packages and so the logical next step is for software developers to start creating apps which are tailored for specific business sectors, but which will all feed back into one data source.
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