DOWAGIAC — A lunch was served with a lesson on small business accounting in today’s digital age at the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce’s second Lunch and Learn event Tuesday.

Familiar business owners from all over Dowagiac took an hour out of their schedules to join Mandy Wallace, a staff accountant at Accounting Consultants PC, to learn more about switching from traditional paper accounting to a cloud-based accounting software. Wallace said when clients come into Accounting Consultants PC, she recommends a switch to a cloud-based software product. Wallace specifically recommended QuickBooks Online.

“When we look at our world today, things are changing and technology is really a driving force behind a lot of those changes,” Wallace said. “When we talk about the accounting and bookkeeping aspect of a business, gone are the days of ledger papers.”

Wallace said as small business owners face increases in the cost of doing business, they are also facing decreases in skilled labor. This could force business owners to try to “wear all the hats.”

“There are lots of ways small business owners can do things themselves,” Wallace said. “You just have to understand what your limitations are, not just from a skill set perspective, but your time and sanity. You can’t expect yourself to know everything.”

Wallace said incorporating cloud-based accounting software can make it easier to be in compliance with federal and state laws regarding sales tax, income tax, payroll tax, insurance coverage and audits.

“In my experience, somehow the finances of your business always tie into all those different things you have to meet the requirements of,” Wallace said.

Wallace shared how a client of hers, who was previously living in a world of paper, switched over to the cloud-based system. He saved time by not having to get out his daily slips at the end of each month and add up all the sales tax to fill out his return.

“Now that he is doing this electronically, he runs out a report at the end of the month, ties out his numbers, writes a check and fills out the form and sends it in,” Wallace said. “He has taken so much time off of his plate.”

She said the accounting software has a system of built in checks and balances. Therefore, small business owners can easily check to make sure their transactions are there.

“We have certainly had situations where if somebody is just doing shoebox bookkeeping, where they throw everything in that shoebox all year long, maybe some receipts get lost,” Wallace said.

Wallace said the cloud-based accounting software can be accessed anywhere at any time and also is disaster-resistant, meaning it has an automatic back up of data. Deleting things is also difficult for users.

“QuickBooks Online can literally be on your phone,” Wallace said. “It can be anywhere that you are.”

Wallace ended her presentation by telling the audience of business owners a conversion from traditional accounting practices to a cloud-based accounting software does not have to be painful. About three years ago, the Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce itself switched to QuickBooks Online.

“Multiple people can log in and look at things,” Wallace said. “If board members need to get in there and run reports, it’s all there and it’s easy to get to. It’s all been worth it.”