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Remote accounting - as a business benefit

The introduction of a self-isolation regime, non-working days, self-isolation, and other restrictive measures in a pandemic prompted an even greater number of employers to transfer employees to remote work from home. Bookkeeping is an activity that can be carried out remotely. The main thing is to organize the work process properly and not to violate regulatory requirements.

Accounting is a procedure by which the organization and regulation of accounting of a company, organization or institution of any type is carried out. Since the work of accounting is directly related to the finances of the organization, experienced and trusted employees should deal with it. However, small and medium-sized enterprises today do not need their own accounting department. The same tasks, and at a lower cost, can be solved by remote accounting.


What is remote accounting? An outsourcer — a third-party organization specializing in this or a freelancer — that is, an accountant working remotely under a contract, can take on the company’s accounting and tax records. His task is to record all financial transactions of the customer and their documentation, preparation of reports, statements, preparation of payment documents, accounting of fixed assets, settlements with suppliers, sales accounting, etc., therefore, he must be well versed in the client’s business, understand what operations are worth for specific documents.

Benefits ...


Ideally, such a remote employee should provide a reduction in the tax burden on the business, offer the best option for documenting operations, avoid debts to buyers or contractors due to delays in paperwork, monitor the accrual and payment of taxes, salaries and bonuses to employees.

By hiring a remote specialist or an outsourcing company, the company can significantly save on bookkeeping. In addition, the outsourcer is interested in constantly improving the skills of their employees, they have extensive experience in communicating with regulatory authorities, and are always aware of legislative changes. An outsourcer also communicates with representatives of regulatory authorities. A specialist who conducts remote accounting, calculates the amount of taxes in advance and tells the company management how they are received, how to reduce them.

In addition, if bookkeeping is entrusted to an outsourcing company, the customer is not obliged to charge insurance premiums and provide accountants with other social guarantees, to deal with personnel training and advanced training. All this is undertaken by a specialized accounting company. The contract with her describes the entire list of services provided. And if you need professional advice, the remote company will provide a similar service for an additional fee.

... and risks


However, remote accounting is the higher risks: operational, personnel, reputational risks, information security risks, leakage of confidential information. It is also less able to effectively control the work of the involved specialists, a potential violation of the deadlines for reporting in the event of termination of the contract.

Therefore, despite the obvious benefits, an “accountant in the distance” is an option with certain inconveniences. An outsourcing company is a more reliable alternative for almost the same money. She can provide the most competent in a particular field employee. Some outsourcing companies provide such additional services as legal advice, personnel records, tax optimization, access to referral systems, check of counterparties.

The outsourcer can be entrusted with full accounting or part of the work, for example, reporting or payroll. It is most convenient to instruct the outsourcer to prepare and submit all the reports that the company has: reports to the IFTS (profit, VAT, personal income tax, PFR, FSS, MHIF, transport tax, land tax, property tax, excise taxes and others). The outsourcing company will take care of the creation of an electronic signature and use it in the preparation of reports and their transmission over the Internet.

The contract with the outsourcer, as a rule, prescribes the volume and schedule of work, criteria for assessing the quality of services, the size and mechanism of payment of remuneration, provisions regarding confidentiality of information, trade secrets and liability of the parties. It is necessary to prepare the necessary documents and agreements, determine the algorithm for the remote work of a financial specialist. The customer provides the outsourcer with access to primary documents and the accounting system. There are a number of accounting systems - 1C, the My Business web service, etc. The most common is 1C.

It is also necessary to determine the measure of responsibility of the outsourcer for their own mistakes. If an outsourcer insures his activities against accounting errors, then there is no fear that errors in accounting will entail fines.

Bookkeeping in the cloud


It should be decided on the most effective workflow scheme. It is often practiced sending an accountant scans of primary documents by e-mail. Software and databases can be stored on the company's server, and access to them is organized via the Internet, or they are hosted on the servers of the hosting provider or in the cloud. Accountants have already appreciated the benefits of cloud computing.


Typically, an outsourcing company provides customers with remote access to accounting to view data. And if necessary, you can pick up the database with the data. The accounting company will give you the prepared base, help you install it on your equipment.

Particular attention should be paid to the frequency of creating backup copies of the databases (usually the provider is responsible for this) and to the security of data transmission, because remotely now more often, for example, personal data is transferred, other information requiring protection against unauthorized access.

If the 1C program is located in the cloud, then you can work with it from your home PC or laptop. Renting a cloud 1C, you get round-the-clock access to it from anywhere in the world. And at a cost cloud 1C is quite affordable for any company.

Rent or hosting 1C


Regardless of who is engaged in accounting, state-owned specialists, a freelancer or an outsourcer, it is convenient to deploy 1C: Enterprise on a virtual server (VPS) in the data center of the hosting provider. Such a server can work both under Windows and under Linux. In this case, the cost of equipment and its maintenance will not be required. Increasingly, companies are considering renting a server as an alternative to buying it. 

Most system administrators and 1C developers use Microsoft Windows Server and MS SQL. Typically, this is a VPS with a KVM or Hyper-V virtualization hypervisor. For 1C you need from 2 GB of RAM and at least 40 GB on disk.

In Russia , VPS server rental services from 1C(1C: Bookkeeping, 1C: Managing our company, 1C: Enterprise, 1C: Integrated Automation, etc.) offers a number of hosters. In this case, you can work with 1C from any device and from anywhere in the world. You can transfer your databases to a virtual server or create them from scratch.

Advantages of 1C hosting:

  • Savings on capital costs, you do not need to purchase server hardware, you do not need to buy a license for 1C, Microsoft products.
  • 1C infobases on a virtual server are available around the clock, anytime, anywhere. 
  • Ease of use, since 1C on VPS operates on any devices with Internet access.
  • No need to spend time on updates and backups, usually the provider does it for you.
  • High reliability of the data center.

RUVDS, for example, has a wide network of reliable data centers (they are located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam, Yekaterinburg), and we work with the largest network and independent data centers with a high reliability rating of at least TIER III (SLA 99.998%). Our servers run on powerful and new equipment from a partner - Huawei.
In addition to enhanced protection and backup at the data center level, FSTEC certification, we entered into an insurance contract with the world's largest company, the AIG insurer, and now we can offer our clients - legal entities attractive conditions for individual insurance of their activities and data on the company's virtual servers. Such insurance gives customers confidence that in the event of an incident they will be able to receive damages. In addition, this minimizes the consequences of the crisis caused by data leakage, compensation in case of violation of the integrity of corporate information.

So, virtual 1C in the cloud according to the SaaS model (Software as a Service) will allow you to use the software as a monthly payment service, work with 1C in the cloud from anywhere. There is no need to purchase software, its maintenance and updating. Costs 1C in the cloud is much cheaper than buying IT infrastructure for 1C.

Therefore, the cloud solution is selected based on the criteria of practicality and cost of service. Customers receive a working licensed solution without having to contact specialists to update the 1C system. Saving time, money, as well as the ability to work with the application from different PCs can be decisive factors in choosing a product. By subscribing, customers can automate their core business, keep records, calculate salaries, and submit reports via the Internet.

As the test results show , 1C on VPS / \ VDS is an interesting solution that can relieve the headaches of many companies. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to the services “VPS-server with 1C preinstalled”. Of course - taking into account all the pros and cons of such a decision.

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