The highest possible level of the cloud accounting system designed for small and growing businesses is for the firm’s record in assisting SMEs make the transition from traditional to cloud-based accounting software.

Xero Platinum status comes after the firm recently entered into partnership agreements with the main digital business banks, Tide and Revolut, providing real-time insight into a business’s financial figures, with live data hosted in the cloud, Xero gives business owners – and their accountants – access to their cash flows, transactions and account details from any location at any time with all bank transactions imported and coded automatically.

Andrew Cowling, Wylie & Bisset partner, said that digital technologies present an opportunity for SMEs to review their processes and systems to establish whether there are software or programs that can replace or simplify more manual processes.

He said: “Many digital technologies and apps are significantly slicker and easier to use than the old-fashioned manual ways of doing things, whether paper or spreadsheet. The adoption of digital technologies for various business admin functions enables processes and procedures to be undertaken far quicker and far more efficiently than previously and the knock-on effect is huge efficiencies for businesses and a lot less wasted time.

“Within the accountancy profession, the pace of change has accelerated significantly of late, partly driven by the Making Tax Digital initiative, while the adoption of cloud-based programmes like Xero, which has an open API (Application Programming Interface), enables business owners to add-on a whole host of other apps which can help streamline their bookkeeping function.”

Mr Cowling added that digital technologies present an opportunity for SMEs to review their processes and systems to establish whether there are software or programs that can replace or simplify more manual processes.