Entrepreneur Forum

The year 2010 is leaving behind it the legacy of the global slowdown behind it and it would be wise to grasp some business essentials that may spur well for the small and medium business especially the accounting, finance and Tax professionals.

Booming financial markets: Going by the global trends the financial market has finally stabilized and in 2010 the fear factor of the financial catastrophe will finally be forgotten. Hence CPAs and accounting professionals can expect exponential business growth driven by the need for more financial regulations and prudence. The business for finance professional will increase also because of a perceptible and definite trend toward growth of small and medium business driven by first time entrepreneurs.

Cloud computing: Cloud computing is here to stay and 2010 will see major push by all IT biggies to share the market pie. Amazon already has the major edge in cloud computing services but now we can see bitter rivalry between Google and Microsoft for offering the cloud computing services. But for CPAs and Accounting Professionals it is the Third party Application Hosting that will matter most. With 24x7 IT support and assured backup and anytime anywhere access to the Accounting and Tax application this market is already picking up.

The applications that can be hosted are QuickBooks and Peachtree accounting software and Tax Software such as Lacerte, Proseries, Drake as well as ATX. Also using the various Add-ons for these applications is easier if the accounting professionals host them together with the Add-ons.

Using outsourced manpower: This is the direct fall out of cloud computing services. Application hosting enables multiuser access and hence there is growing trend towards using the optimal mix of in house and outsourced labor force for enhanced productivity and at the same time increasing ROI.

Web backups: Getting data protected online is an arduous task and the simplest alternative is to get remote multiple backup of data. This is essential as SANS report says thousands of malicious programs are used daily by the internet Pirates to steal financial data and use it in unauthorized manner. Application hosting may again be relevant here as most hosting service comes with multiple remote backup of data in highly insured data centers, much more secure than the local networks.

Web Presence: Increased web presence have become crucial for any business big or small and with increasing effectiveness of social media to deliver on the customer acquisition front their relevance cannot be understated. You can use it to build your brand, connect with likeminded people or use it for marketing but web2.0 is here to stay.

For more information you may visit Real Time Data Services which is a major QuickBooks Hosting service provider.