Working from home has become more popular in recent years than ever before. People are looking for flexible ways to work that match their lifestyle, and technology has evolved to meet this demand. I recently surveyed some colleagues who shared their favourite advantages to working from home.
Zero travel time
When you work from home after being used to commuting to the office, you’re suddenly left with extra time on your hands. Kirsten Forrester, CEO of Accounting for Good, says, her “travel time is spent working. I don’t have to make myself look nice or spend time travelling when I work from home.”
More flexibility
Nicole Lynch, Director of Streamline Management, enjoys being able to sit in the sun and work even though working from home can get a “bit lonely”. She also says, “Working from home gives the opportunity to start earlier or later or take a break for something else in the middle of the day”.
For Sarah Stein, Founder and Senior Bookkeeper at Miss Efficiency, being there for her kids is the biggest benefit of working from home. “The flexibility of working my business at home and round family is really important to me”.
Better control over work tasks
Working from home relieves some of the pressure that can be experienced when working at the office. Sharon Pocock, MD and Chief Innovator at Kinder Pocock, says, “I feel I should be doing client work [and/or] chargeable work when I’m in the office”. Working from home one day a week allows her to work on her business rather than in her business by focusing on “strategy, planning and marketing”.
Nicole Lynch adds, “Cloud apps mean we don’t need a server, and we can login anywhere. [They] give us the option to work wherever we want – to meet work and family commitments within the 24 hours we have each day.”
Easier scalability
Gary Green, Chartered Accountant at Key Business Consultants, LLP, likes that working from home helps him “scale the business without incurring more costs”. He can work from home and still “write off the costs against the business”.
Cloud accounting apps make it easy to work from home and take on more clients without incurring additional fees.
Whatever your reasons for working from home, cloud technology makes it easy to get your work done and enjoy a more balanced lifestyle.
Heather Smith produces a bi-weekly Accounting Apps newsletter. Learn more and subscribe on her website.