Ready to work smarter, not harder?

Technology might sound genuinely terrifying if you usually do things old-school or haven’t found the best way to integrate it to make your business life easier. If you’re wondering whether Illumin8’s team of accountants, bookkeepers and business advisors can also be your tech saviours and help you work smarter, rather than harder, we’ve come up with a list of As in answer to those frequent Qs to help you find out.

Talk of clouds might conjure images of angels, and while there are no literal heavenly beings involved in cloud accounting it may feel as though one has entered your life when you make the switch. Also called online accounting, it is a boon for SMBs because it will make your bookkeeping more efficient, streamline your financial administration, and provide you with a real-time view of your numbers. It’s similar to traditional double-entry bookkeeping, but all your data is stored in the cloud, meaning you have access to information about your accounts anywhere and at any time.

Access to real-time data is a huge advantage of cloud accounting, but there are many others. Of course, because it’s online, you’re always working with the latest version of the program. These cloud-based services also offer live bank feeds and have the ability to be integrated with third-party apps to eliminate unnecessary admin. Cloud accounting ecosystems allow you to automate bookkeeping, invoicing and reconciliation, and let you deal with your GST obligations in a simple, quick way because transactions are recorded as you go. They also make working remotely much easier, since your team and your bookkeeper and accountant can get access to key figures from anywhere as long as there’s access to the internet.

We’re platinum partners with Xero, an easy-to-use cloud accounting system that provides small businesses with real-time financial data that can be accessed anywhere, at any time and on any device. Plus, it’s used around the world and there are endless opportunities for integration, including programs like Dext and forecasting and reporting app Futrli. Xero is not just the platform we recommend, it’s the one on which we run our business here at Illumin8.

You can use cloud accounting and leverage other technology to streamline business processes and drive efficiency gains. Imagine not spending hours scanning receipts or punching out invoices and putting those processes on autopilot instead. We’re all about helping you work smarter, not harder.

We work with a bunch of incredible cloud-based accounting and business intelligence programs that hook into Xero. Think: cash flow management at your fingertips, revenue modelling and forecasting dashboards, and good old fashioned VLOOKUPS in spreadsheets when we need to bash out the numbers before plugging them into the tech. There’s a good chance we’re already working with platforms that integrate with your software. And if we’re not, our innovation and process lead will work with you to find a solution.

We love what we do, so our main criteria when deciding whether we’re a good fit and can help you with your business is that you love what you do, too. It makes for a happy and productive partnership. That said, most of our clients have businesses that fall into the following industries: ecommerce, hospitality, trades and construction, creatives, food and booze brands, and professional services.