A server for accounting software instead of an office PC

Accounting in most small companies is arranged the same way. The program sits on the chief accountant’s computer, the database lives in a folder on that same disk, and everyone else either connects to that computer or emails their figures across.

The arrangement works for years, until something happens. Usually it is nothing dramatic: somebody falls ill, a computer will not boot, a quarter has to be closed from home.

A note on terms first. This article is about a Windows server for accounting programs, not about a server for a website. That is different infrastructure with different requirements, and a website is not normally installed on it. The question of servers for websites is covered separately in our article on your own server or regular hosting.

The programs differ by country, for example QuickBooks Desktop, Sage or a local equivalent. The scenario is identical in every case: a file-based database that several people need at once. The exception is cloud accounting, which runs on the provider’s servers, so you need no server of your own.

How accounting is usually set up in a small company

The picture is fairly typical, whichever program is used.

• The program on one computer. Installed locally, the database in a folder on the disk.
• The reporting software beside it. Along with the signing keys on a token plugged into that same computer.
• A second accountant connects remotely. Through a remote-access tool to that same computer.
• Backups are made by hand. Or not at all, or onto the same disk.
• Updates are installed by whoever can. Sometimes the accountant, sometimes a technician you know, once a quarter.

This is not a bad arrangement. It is simply designed for one person and for nothing going wrong.

What breaks when the database sits on one computer

Access from one place only

The main inconvenience is not felt daily but at specific moments. The computer is switched off and a document has to be posted. The accountant is on holiday and the computer is locked. The head office is closed and the period has to be closed today.

There are always workarounds, and all of them are bad. The computer is left running around the clock, the password is written on a sticky note, remote access is given to anyone who asks. Each such step lowers security a little, and a year later the situation looks considerably worse than it did at the start.

You do not really have backups

An archive sitting next to the database is not insurance. The disk fails and everything goes at once, original and backup together.

The second typical mistake is a copy on a flash drive that stays plugged into the same computer or sits in a drawer next to it. It protects you against a disk failure but not against theft or fire, and ransomware will encrypt a plugged-in drive along with the database.

The third situation is the quietest. Backups are made regularly, the files are there, and nobody has ever tried to restore a database from them. That comes to light at the worst possible moment.

Working at the same time gets in the way

When two or more people work with the database, the local arrangement starts to drag. One runs a large posting and the other’s program freezes. Somebody forgot to close the program and an update will not install.

For two people that is tolerable. For four and up the time you lose is noticeable every month and turns into overtime during reporting periods.

What happens during reporting season

Peak days show the difference best. During a reporting period the load can be several times higher, because everyone works at once, documents are posted in batches, the reporting software sends filings and receives confirmations.

With the local setup, the accountant’s computer becomes the bottleneck for everyone at once, the program freezes on large postings, and while one person compiles a report the rest wait. If that computer restarts for an update at that moment, the day stops.

On a dedicated server, peak load is spread across sessions, and it is sized for several users from the start. Updates are not installed on those days, and the time for them is agreed in advance.

What a dedicated server gives you

Several accountants working at once

Here the database lives apart from the workstations. Each person connects to their own session and works as though the program were installed locally, while the data is shared.

• No queue for a computer. Two, five or ten people work simultaneously.
• No discrepancies in the data. Everyone sees the same thing, with no files emailed around.
• Updates are installed once. Centrally, rather than on every workstation separately.
• Speed does not depend on a work laptop. The calculations run centrally.
• Signing keys live in one place. Instead of traveling around the office on tokens.

Working from home and from another city

The second reason companies come to us is access from outside the office. Here it is built in from the start.

The difference lies in how access is organized. When people connect remotely to somebody’s workstation, security rests on one person’s password and on that computer being switched on. When they connect centrally, everyone has their own account, rights are granted by role, and login can be restricted by address or by time of day.

Your own hardware or renting from a provider

There are two options and both work.

For most small companies, renting is the less stressful option. There is no purchase, no question of what to do with aging hardware in five years, and no dependence on whether a particular room has power.

Your own hardware is justified when there is a requirement to keep data physically on your premises, or when the company already has a server room and somebody who looks after it.

Licenses and updates

This is the first question people ask, and the answer is simpler than it seems.

• Licenses for the accounting programs stay yours. Software keys are usually bound to the hardware, so moving to the server needs a recovery procedure. The detail depends on the product, so check your own paperwork.
• The operating system needs its own license. Either rented with the server or bought separately.
• Server access licensing. The two RDP sessions a Windows Server allows are meant for administration, not for staff work. Real multi-user access needs the session host role plus access licenses per user or per device, and a rented server is licensed through the provider’s own scheme.
• Program updates are installed centrally. Once, instead of going from workstation to workstation.
• System updates are planned. With a reboot outside working hours rather than in the middle of the day.

The last point is worth agreeing in writing. A reboot means a short break in work, and for an accounting department the difference between seven in the morning and two in the afternoon on a filing day is very real.

We look after servers like these as part of server administration, the same way we look after website servers.

Data and access security

An accounting database holds staff personal data, counterparty details and the company’s financial history. The requirements are higher than for a website.

• A named account for each accountant. Never one shared login for the department.
• Rights by role. Not everybody needs full access to every section.
• A connection log. It shows who logged in and when.
• Backups off the server. In separate storage, not a neighboring folder.
• Updates without delay. Unpatched vulnerabilities are one of the ways ransomware gets in, and updating is the only thing that closes them.

Signing keys carry a different risk. When they sit on a token plugged into the accountant’s computer, anyone who reaches that computer can sign a document. Moving to a dedicated server does not solve that by itself, but it makes it possible to separate access: people log in under their own accounts, and the right to sign is tied to a specific person.

Ransomware is the main practical risk for an accounting department. It walks every reachable disk and network folder, encrypts the databases and demands payment. The only reliable defense is a copy it cannot reach, which means separate storage with restricted access.

How long the move takes

Moving accounting onto a dedicated server happens in several steps.

• Preparing the server. System, access, licenses, connection settings.
• Moving the database. Copying, integrity check, one accountant working on it as a trial.
• Connecting staff. An account each, rights, and a check that everything opens.
• Running in parallel. A week on the new setup while the old computer stays untouched as a fallback.
• Retiring the old arrangement. Only after a full monthly cycle has passed.

How long it takes depends on the project, and we put exact deadlines into the contract after reviewing your current setup. Most of the time usually goes on people getting used to a new way of connecting.

The moment for the move is chosen between reporting periods. Moving a database three days before a filing deadline is a bad idea even when everything is technically ready.

What it costs monthly

The spending comes in three parts, and the last two are usually forgotten.

The first is the server itself: rent from a provider or depreciation of your own hardware, plus the operating system license. That figure is fixed and known in advance.

The second is maintenance. System updates, backup verification, availability monitoring, response to failures, helping users with connections. With us that starts at $400/mo as part of server administration, and it is what makes the difference between a server that runs for years and one that turns into a source of problems within a year.

A third line arises irregularly and rarely makes it into the budget: one-off work. Moving a database to new hardware, connecting a new employee, dealing with the aftermath of a failure, helping through a major version upgrade of the accounting program. Over a year that adds up to several hours, and it is worth allowing for from the start.

Comparing this with your current arrangement is straightforward. Count how many hours a month go on waiting for a computer, emailing files, reconciling discrepancies and calling in a technician you know. Multiply by the cost of an accountant’s hour. Sometimes it turns out the current arrangement costs no less than a server; those costs are simply not written down anywhere.

Who does not need this

In some situations moving gains you nothing.

• One accountant working from the office. The local arrangement is simpler and cheaper; proper backups are enough.
• Accounting already runs in a cloud service. If the program works through a browser, it does not need a server of its own.
• A small company with minimal paperwork. The volume does not justify separate hardware.
• There is nobody to run it. An unmaintained server is worse than a workstation, because there is more on it that can break.

In all these cases except the cloud one, it is wiser to spend the money on proper backups and an uninterruptible power supply, and come back to the question when the team grows.

There is also a middle option. If there are still only two people in accounting and both work in the office, sometimes it is enough to move the database onto a separate computer on the local network. That does not work for remote access, because opening a database in a shared folder over the internet is slow and risky. Working from home needs a server that runs both the programs and the database, with people connecting to it remotely. The same logic of choosing between a ready-made solution and your own is worked through in our article on off-the-shelf CRM versus a custom system.

Conclusions

A dedicated server for accounting software solves three things: several people working at once, access outside the office and data security. It does not make accounting faster by itself and it does not replace an accountant; it removes the dependence on one computer and one person.

The moment when the move becomes justified is usually visible without any analysis. It is a third or fourth person joining the accounting team, a switch to working outside the office on a regular basis, or the first time the database is unavailable on a day you need it.

If you recognize your situation, do not rush to buy hardware. Write to us saying how many people work with the accounts at the same time, which programs you use and what is getting in the way right now: no access from home, slow when several people work, no confidence in the backups. We will look and tell you whether you need a dedicated server or whether sorting out backups and access on the current computer is enough. If you do need one, we will size it for the number of users and take it on for monthly maintenance.