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Talk of cloud computing and cloud technology can be annoying or confusing. Where is the cloud, and how do we know it isn’t as insubstantial as an actual cloud?

And with the cloud and anything related to business, this can lead to business owners worrying more about how reliable the cloud is. It is one thing for your email to exist in the cloud but switching to having your financial data processed and stored there can unsettle at first. But it doesn’t have to.

What Is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is all about on-demand delivery of computing and technology services. This can be anything from data storage through to software or apps, and even analytics. Although there is an element of cloud computing to popular email services such as Gmail, what most people would be familiar with is cloud storage including services such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud Drive.

Usually cloud computing means that no data is stored or processed on your own equipment, and you need to have an internet connection to access your data. You might hear about public and private clouds, but this has less to do with who has access to the data and more about who owns and manages the computing or technology resources and infrastructure.

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What Is Cloud-Based Accounting?

Cloud-based accounting is no different to other forms of cloud solutions. Instead of the accounting software being installed locally, it is offered as an online service that can only be accessed by authorised persons. Cloud-based accounting software and systems offer all the same features as traditional accounting software, with the fundamental difference being that transactions and reports are captured and processed online. In most instances you can tailor the package to your needs, getting access to core features by default, and adding on additional modules such as payroll, eCommerce, and asset management as required.

Benefits of Cloud-Based Accounting Software

Switching to cloud-based accounting software can unlock value and benefits for any sized operation:

  • The system can be accessed and updated from anywhere in the world. This is useful if you’re working from home and need to update crucial financial transactions. Or if you’re travelling overseas and want to check on your company’s current finances.
  • All data is always up-to-date, across all business units. No need for doing batch transaction updates periodically or waiting until the end of day before seeing any changes. And because everyone has access to the same up-to-date data, all business units can run more efficiently.
  • No onsite storing and managing of data. You choose where and with whom your data and application is located and the supplier of that service manages the data storage and admin management requirements, including hardware, security, and backups.
  • Real-time integration with your bank, reducing the need for manual recording of transactions from your bank statement.
  • The system can easily grow with your business. If your business experiences a period of rapid growth in transaction volume, or switches to multi-currency transactions or a multi-company setup, the system is scalable and adaptable to almost any scenario.

Tencia Comprehensive Security Features

The Tencia user experience is not limited by one simple action; it is an interconnected cycle, to ensure the return on experience generates shared and sustainable value.

A transparent layered security model provides the foundation for the Tencia user experience, with the aim of delivering a user experience which helps both employees and system administrators become more efficient and productive.

To ensure employees and administrators can focus on performing their business tasks, the following security elements have been incorporated within the Tencia application.

Role Classification

Tencia incorporates the concept of roles. In simple terms a role is used to group/segment individual users that have similar characteristics in full or part.

A role could therefore be based on a variety of characteristics for example, job function (customer order entry & processing) or position (senior management).

The benefits of a role based user experience include:

  • Ensures a consistent user experience for employees
  • Is intuitive based on the users role
  • Easy to apply changes to a number of users quickly via the role classification

Code Level Permissions

Incorporating another layer of security within the role is the facility to assign code level permissions on predefined system key codes, such as, debtor, creditor and stock codes. There is a comprehensive list of approximately 30 key codes where it is possible to allocate read, write, delete and view cost permissions.

A practical example of this would be where a company has geographic sales areas, with multiple sales people within each area.  By creating a role classification based on geographical sales area (NSW-Central) and applying permissions to return data equivalent to a specified key code, namely customer type, filters the data from the Tencia SQL database for the role by the nominated customer type key code.

To further filter the data another key code permission could be applied to the  sales code, to only permit access to customers with the nominated customer type that are linked to a specific sales code within the role. Once again filtering the data enables the sales person to only interact with a sub set of customers that meet the criteria of the key codes, customer type and sales code.

The benefits of applying code permissions include:

  • Limiting the type of data users can access, ensuring sensitive details are not easily accessible
  • Creating greater efficiencies for employees, by only displaying data that is relevant to their business tasks
  • Improved data integrity by restricting access and interaction with data through the application of read-only permission for selected roles

Role User Defaults

Within each role it is also possible to create user defaults in entry, masterfile, process and report programs, further enhancing the user experience.

A user default enables a pre-determined action or circumstance to be applied to fields within a program.

An example of this could be when a sales order is entered for role NSW-Central, where certain fields such as, sales code, price code and tax code could be by-passed.

Benefits of the user defaults that exist within Tencia include:

  • Streamlining data entry, by-passing certain fields
  • Minimise errors during data entry
  • More closely align the user experience with employees job function
  • Increase integrity of data

Security Levels

In addition to the above role security elements, security levels can also be applied to individual menu programs.  A security level of 1-9 can be assigned, with 9 representing the highest security level.  A user can then be allocated a security level which will determine which programs are displayed on their menu.

To add another layer and deepen the security experience, security can be applied to a field level within a program by applying view or alter permissions.

It is also possible to allocate a security level to certain process options within Tencia such as, the release of sales orders from an on-hold status.

The benefits of such a comprehensive, layered security model in broad terms ensures scalability and flexibility in applying security preferences to each individual business circumstance.

Register for an online demonstration of the Tencia accounting ERP solution to discover other benefits through use of a cloud-based accounting system.

Register Now

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