In technology’s ever-changing landscape, investing in the latest advancement of the software tools offered to your industry is essential. Training and software are the keys to unlocking the doors to superior customer service. Let’s look at seven reasons why you need to invest in professional development as an accounting professional.

 1. Staying Up to Date on Software
Knowledge of the most effective software and industry-leading products is vital to your business. Access to the latest software developments, in combination with proper training, gives a sense of confidence to your team. This increased confidence will reflect professionalism and knowledge to not only existing clients but potential new clients, as well. 
 
Utilizing the latest technology advancements with your team creates a unified company that can concentrate on the needs of its clients. There is no question that advancing the skills, software and efficiencies of financial professionals leads to greater client results and satisfaction.
 
2. Improving Job Performance and Efficiency
It has been proven that employees who are offered learning opportunities increase their confidence and job performance. Employees will feel invested and perform at much higher levels and greater capacities. Professionals who receive ongoing training are more confident in their roles and will encourage a positive company environment. Companies that have employees that exude professional passion will undoubtedly thrive with respect and success.
 
3. Receiving Specialized Training for Your Industry
Investing in the latest training with CSB Creative Business Solutions results in overall company success. How do we know? Because ability leads to stability. This saying is true for every aspect of your company. Financial professionals participating in this training become adept at streamlining processes efficiently and accurately, automatically increasing productivity. 
 
We are sure you want your employees to not just be better at their jobs but to be leaders in the industry, and we can help them achieve that.
 
4. Customer/Client Satisfaction
The goal when starting a business isn’t to be mediocre. Businesses are created because people are passionate enough to make a difference in their industry. Business owners trust accounting professionals to have knowledge above their own and the training that will keep their company on the competitive edge. They also trust accounting professionals to have the latest advancements and experience to help them achieve their success goals. CSB Creative Business Solutions allows accountants to be worthy of that trust.

5. Maintaining Employee Confidence
Investing in and empowering your employees with knowledge raises morale and contributes to a like-minded, cohesive team.
 
Making employees “aware that you care” can make all the difference in the functionality of your company. Clients and employees want to feel valued. Providing the latest developments and the keys to use them ensures that they know you are willing to invest in their successes too. 
 
You can have peace of mind that you are investing in so much more than just the advancement of technology.
 
6. Retaining Valuable Employees
Thousands of hours and dollars are wasted by companies who are training and retraining new employees. Unless you provide the proper knowledge, tools, and confidence in your existing employees, you risk this type of needless waste. 
 
Training and arming employees with the latest knowledge helps them develop into well-rounded experts ready to dedicate themselves fully to your company. These individuals tend to complete tasks more efficiently and maintain their positions longer. 
 
Seasoned and respected employees contribute to the longevity of your company and help establish the trust that your clients have for you.  
 
7. Offering the Competitive Edge
Technology is ever advancing. There is a genuine danger of falling behind due to utilizing out-of-date or unstable processes that can result in crucial mistakes. This opportunity gives financial professionals the advantage of streamlining their accounting or bookkeeping business to function in the most organized way possible.
 
Professional Development Training for Accountants in Canada
You can invest in your accounting professionals by signing them up for Microsoft 365 training. Not only can Microsoft 365 expertise help your accounting professionals serve clients more efficiently, but it will also help your business run smoothly. Start streamlining your business and services by contacting us today. 

Information management is one of your most significant responsibilities when running a business. Keeping track of all that information is a massive undertaking, and it’s easy to get disorganized if you aren’t careful. That’s where Microsoft 365 Business comes in. As a cloud-based program, Microsoft 365 makes your systems easily accessible from the same place, no matter how you access them.
 
1. Learn How to Streamline Business Processes
Without a program that can integrate your tools into the cloud, your business processes can quickly become complex and convoluted. Everything you do is time-consuming and confusing, and simple mistakes can lead to significant losses.
 
When you’re being trained on new software, it can be hard to remember the information you’re learning–especially when the interface is complicated or elaborate. With Microsoft 365 Business, everything from customer service to ERP is located in one accessible and straightforward user interface. Searching for and accessing files is simple, and you’ll have the ability to manage and share documents with ease.
 
2. Boost Your Overall Professional Development
Learning is a lifelong process, particularly when you’re running a business. With constant technological advancements and improvements, there’s no shortage of new information at your fingertips. You could be taking advantage of these opportunities wherever you see them.
 
With Microsoft 365 Business training, you’ll gain a trove of valuable information on business applications. With this new knowledge, you’ll be able to apply real-world skills to your business management. Employing the practices you learn during training can significantly boost your professional development and improve your business processes, resulting in a more efficient and effective system.
 
3. Manage Information with Efficiency Using Cloud Tools
Microsoft 365 Business is a cloud-based tool that streamlines information management, allowing you to track everything about your business. It enables you to monitor cash flow, track expenses, create reports to analyze performance, and more. With everything accessible in one place, it’s easier than ever to manage and visualize your business’s information.
 
Communicating and collaborating can be tedious without a cohesive program, as discussing and sharing certain information is often difficult. Not only is this aggravating for you and your team, but it can also majorly affect your productivity. Team communication is more effective than ever once you complete Microsoft 365 Business training. In the training program, efficient communication and sharing of information are prioritized, and there are extensive collaborative tools ranging from calendar sharing to routine task automation.
 
4. Increase Project Management Skills
How organized is your method of managing current projects? Chances are, these methods and processes are a bit chaotic. When every aspect of your business is stored in a different location, keeping everything coordinated is an inconvenience at best and a significant disruption at worst. 
 
During Microsoft 365 Business training, you’ll learn valuable project management skills. Say goodbye to chaotic and complex systems, and hello to a streamlined user interface that can grant you cohesive business processes.
 
5. Improve Business Financials
How much time do businesses waste trying to access information, collaborate with their team, or perform simple tasks? Every business has experienced blunders like this that waste both time and money.
 
With Microsoft 365 Business, the streamlined and efficient interface allows you to switch between tasks seamlessly, access essential documents, and communicate with team members. It’s incredible how much time you can save and how much additional profit you can generate simply by integrating a more effective system.
 
Training and Development for Accountants in Canada
CBS’s team of experts is here to help your business maximize its efficiency and provide high-quality service to clients. Contact us today to learn about our Microsoft 365 Business training and start streamlining your business!

In an era where remote work is getting increasingly more normal, and a large variety of workplaces are being integrated into the hybrid workforce, ensuring that your computer’s personal and professional data is fully protected is an essential part of your job.
 
Before our CSB team discusses what to do if your computer system is breached, you will want to determine that your computer is a clean PC that has not already been hacked. There are inexpensive applications that will scan and clean your computer to be sure there is no malware already infecting it. Additionally, if you are loading a virus protection application, it will perform a scan of your system and clean up any problem software, get rid of junk files, and remove leftover temporary web browsing files. 

How to Know a Breach Has Occurred on your Computer After taking precautions like buying proper anti-virus software, you find that you are experiencing a breach. What should you do? First, you need to know that you’ve genuinely been hacked.
 
The following is a short  list of events that may indicate a breach has happened on your device: 

• Your passwords to your computer suddenly stop working.
• Your virus protection software that you have installed has been deleted or disabled from your computer.
• When browsing, you start seeing many unusual browser pop-ups, URLs you enter are redirected to different webpages that seem sketchy, or your Home URL is automatically changed to one from another website.
• You are suddenly missing files that could be important.
• You experience constant or regular crashes because the system has become unstable.
• Your computer is running extremely slow, even though you have a lot of memory and disk space.
• You get locked out of your computer altogether because it says your password is invalid.

 
Responding to the Breach on your Computer After a breach on your computer has occurred, the best defence against it is shutting down the computer in question or alerting your company’s IT provider. Many experienced hackers know that most individuals do not back up their systems regularly, so the malware may execute as soon as it downloads onto the computer. Alternatively, the malware may not run for several weeks or months after it downloads, so it will be on all backups to help stop a simple recovery by reloading. In that scenario, the malware executes again after you’ve restored everything. We recommend consulting an IT professional in most cases.
 
Conversely, if your computer or device is not dead or infected with ransomware and still runs well, the first thing you may want to do is change all your passwords on all accounts and alert your management staff. We recommend picking a different and strong password for each account, user, and application. Using a password management tool will be very effective in assisting in creating and storing your new strong passwords. Also, it is always a great idea to turn on two-factor authentication. These steps will stop the hacker from reentering your system or network using the old password.
 
At CSB Creative Business Solutions, we have a team of professionals ready to help your business save money and overall time, allowing you to spend time on what matters: giving your focus to your clients.
 
Our Microsoft 365 Business for Accountants and Bookkeepers community gives you a powerhouse of resources to increase your business’s efficiency and effectiveness. Learn necessary industry skills not typically taught, like best practices and practical ways to systematize processes and elevate your business using Microsoft 365 Business.
 
Contact us today at learn@cbs-training.ca to learn about our courses and how we can help you streamline your bookkeeping or accounting practice with Microsoft 365 Business.

Technology in 2022 is changing how both large and small businesses handle accounting.
 
The latest advancements in data analytics, automation, and cloud computing software for large-scale companies to single-person entrepreneurship are finally making accounting more manageable.
 
It has even reached the point where accounting firms don’t automatically need everyone to be busily working in the office. Instead, they can simply download Microsoft 365 Business, QuickBooks, or any number of cloud-based programs to streamline their office operations and work virtually from anywhere.
 
To appreciate the scope of how technology is changing accounting, check out these 5 examples.

1.  Big Data Is Informing More Profitable Accounting Strategies 

The name of the game in accounting, marketing, and every level of business is big data. Big data, processed by artificial intelligence-powered (AI) programs, is the all-important factor that helps companies in 2022 make crucial decisions, from budget restructuring to client relationships to ad placement.
 
Strategizing is possible because big data provides analytics on all types of information. It analyzes past trends in thousands of categories, including accounting, and predicts future ones. It highlights the superfluities in your budget and offers insight into where your money could be put to better, more cost-efficient use. It can even tell you which clients may provide bigger profits to your business.
 
Big data analytics are the key to knowing where and when to grow parts of your client’s business from an accounting perspective. That’s why most accounting software comes equipped with analytics technology to inform more profitable accounting strategies.

2.  Automation Is Taking Over Tedious Accounting Processes

There is no doubt that traditional accounting is fraught with tedious processes. These processes waste valuable time and energy.
 
Automation is taking care of that problem. Accounting software and Microsoft 365 Business in 2022 can automate simple, time-consuming, and monotonous tasks that eat away at speed and efficiency.
 
Some examples of tasks that you can delegate to automation software include: 

• generating financial statements and reports
• calculating complex transactions
• filling in ledgers
• scheduling office and team tasks

 
Keep in mind that in addition to only having to click a few buttons to start these automated processes, once they start, they typically take only seconds to produce the desired results. This speed and ease of generation saves the accountant or business owner hundreds of hours of work and makes it easier for them to succeed financially.

3.  Cloud-Based Software Is Streamlining Accounting Work

In 2022, the best and easiest to use accounting software will be cloud-based.
 
Cloud technology revolutionizes and streamlines how businesses can conduct their accounting work. Not only are all the tools you need located in one program or suite of programs accessible from any authorized device, but you don’t have to worry about backing your data up to a hard drive. It saves instantly to the cloud, where you can easily access it anywhere through a secure internet connection.
 
Another benefit of cloud technology software is its flexibility, particularly for business owners and entrepreneurs who work remotely or from various locations around the world. Even in trying times, such as a global pandemic where working in public is not a safe option, you can still operate the financial end of your business as long as you’re using a program like Microsoft 365 Business that is connected to a cloud service.
 
4.  Cloud Computing Power Is Shaving Hours Off Accounting Data Research

Technology has significantly changed how fast and easily accounting research occurs. Where once researching data took hours of poring over reams of paperwork stored in file drawers, it now takes just a few seconds and a couple of mouse clicks.
 
In 2022, accounting and financial data will be stored in computer databases such as Microsoft Excel, many of which are cloud-based for easy access from any location. Cloud computing power can handle immense amounts of information and pull out specific data points in a matter of seconds, making it a convenient resource for businesses when they need to perform in-depth accounting research.
 
5.  Cloud Computing Power Is Speeding Up Accounting For Less Cost Than A Back-Office Infrastructure

Cloud computing software is fast because it is on-demand, runs on multiple servers, and has unlimited storage space. These factors make using cloud-based accounting programs a speedier alternative for businesses than buying or building an entire back-office infrastructure.
 
Cloud-based accounting software is also more cost-efficient because businesses only need to pay for the modules they use. The cost difference between using a cloud server vs maintaining a back-office infrastructure is stunning: the former costs an average of $400 a year, while the latter can cost up to $15,000 monthly.
 
This cost differential is an easy decision from a purely financial perspective: cloud-based software like Microsoft 365 Business is the superior alternative.
 
Conclusion

Accounting is all about finding the best ways to reduce costs and maximize profits. Therefore, it is only fitting that the 5 technological advancements we discussed above enable businesses to perform accounting for reduced costs and maximum profits.
 
Overall, it’s clear that automation and cloud computing software, in particular, are driving accounting productivity in 2022. Using tools such as Microsoft 365 Business and other such cloud-based programs, businesses from large to small scales can harness the power of big data, automation, data research, and cloud processing to streamline their accounting services. Want to learn how to automate your business and adopt cloud-based Microsoft 365 Business. Join our community today!

Like many accounting and bookkeeping professionals, Microsoft 365 Business has become a staple in both home and office for workers worldwide. To put it simply, Microsoft gives finance professionals the ability to do their work more efficiently. From the ability to access your data from anywhere, which is a significant advantage for hybrid workplaces, to the integrations that Microsoft cloud computing makes possible, those companies and professionals adopting the Cloud have gained a significant competitive edge. Additionally, Microsoft 365 Business offers a significant upgrade from standard Office 365, helping you achieve efficiencies in multiple areas that span not only overall office and individual workflows but also device management. 

Today, the team at CSB will be looking at three ways to improve efficiency in your organizational efforts by using Microsoft 365 Business. Enough with the small talk, let’s dive in!

1. Microsoft 365 Business Offers Cloud-Based Services

Do you ever get frustrated with not being able to complete work from home? In a digital era that relies on employees to be adaptable, Microsoft 365 Business is a unique cloud-based service. This means removing your reliance on local office servers and devices when using Microsoft 365 Business. All your data is conveniently stored securely in the Microsoft cloud and can be accessed from any device and any location with an internet connection. Did we hear you say “tax season from the beach?”
 
The cloud-based advantage that Microsoft provides not only makes your business more resilient in the case of a natural disaster or other types of local outage but also gives remote workers the same opportunities as office dwellers. Remote workers can access their “virtual office” from any location, at any time and can stay as connected with coworkers as if they’re in the next cubicle.

2. Use your Tools… Like Microsoft Planner!

Do you feel like you could use a little bit of organizational help? Microsoft planner is an application included in Microsoft 365 Business, and it works wonders! With Microsoft Planner, you and your team can collaborate to create plans, assign tasks, chat about tasks, and see charts of your team’s progress. You can also use Planner from within Microsoft Teams and Microsoft SharePoint. It is an excellent resource for helping your team stay organized and on the right track!

3. Have you heard of Microsoft Power Automate?

Okay, Microsoft superstars, have you ever heard about everyone's little secret… Power Automate! Power Automate is a Microsoft 365 Business service that helps you create automated workflows between your favourite apps and services to synchronize files, get notifications, collect data, and more. 
 
Here are a few examples of what you can do with Power Automate.

• Automate business processes
• Send automatic reminders for past due tasks
• Move business data between systems on a schedule
• Connect to more than 500 data sources or any publicly available API
• You can even automate tasks like computing data in Excel on your local computer.

Just think about the glorious time you and your business have saved once you automate repetitive manual tasks simply by recording mouse clicks, keystrokes, and copying paste steps from your desktop! Power Automate is all about automation, and we love using this application. 

Are you looking for a more in-depth crash course in all things Microsoft 365 for Business? Join our community HERE, or do you want a deep dive? Check out our 12-week intensive Microsoft 365 Business Course For Accounting Professionals. We would love to have you!