What is an Accounting System?

An accounting system is a piece of software in which a company can manage their bookkeeping records, invoices, orders and other specific functions, to simplify, structure and improve the efficiency of work processes.
If you run a business that sells products or services and if your turnover has grown to a significant level, it may be a good idea to start using an accounting system. The system will help you structure the various elements often required for a company to record and manage their ledgers. This is essential and also gives you valuable insights into your business from a financial perspective. There are two primary areas of accounting systems on the market – client based systems and cloud based systems.

What is a Client Based Accounting System?

The largest client-based accounting systems in the Nordic countries, which Sharespine integrates with, are Visma Administration and Mamut Enterprise. These two systems are powerful and a great fit for mid-size companies with a turnover in the million SEK segment.
The difference in a client based accounting system is that the system is installed on your computer or server and that the saved data is stored locally. Features don’t vary significantly between a client based and cloud based accounting system, but the cloud based systems tend to include more automated services like invoice scanning.
When combined with Sharespine Client you can synchronize your client based accounting system with real time updates against your e-commerce system, ensuring that order management, stock, pricing and your product catalogue is always in sync – without ever having to think about whether the e-commerce system is cloud or client based.
With Sharespine Pay and Visma Administration you can automatically match payments against invoices that are registered in the accounting system and add them to the correct bookkeeping account, based on predetermined rules regarding payment methods, payment terms, etc.

What is a Cloud Based Accounting System?

A cloud based accounting system differs from a client based accounting system in that it stores data in the cloud (online). The interface is accessed through a web browser. This provides the user with more flexibility in how they work, and all that is needed to access the accounting system is a computer with an internet connection.
The biggest cloud based accounting systems on the Nordic market, and which Sharespine integrates with, are Fortnox, Specter, Visma eEkonomi, Visma.Net, Hogia Smart and Hogia Retail. These systems often feature more automated services like invoice scanning, compared to client based accounting systems. They also give you the ability to connect to services like Sharespine Cloud.
Sharespine Cloud integrates cloud based accounting systems with e-commerce systems and automates processes like order management, stock, prices and your product catalogue, ensuring that they are in constant sync with current data.