Awareness and Adoption of Cloud

Accounting Software:
An Empirical Research
Ritu Soni*, Rimpi Saluja** and Shilpa Vardia***

Internet has brought a drastic change in the business world. One of the latest
developments in Internet technology is cloud computing. This technology has also
brought significant changes in the field of accounting. There is a growing interest in the
utilization of cloud software in the field of accounting. The present study is an attempt
to analyze the factors behind the use of cloud software by different sectors in the Udaipur
city. The sample selected for the study consists of employees of banking sector, insurance
sector, retail sector and other small and medium enterprises in Udaipur. The views of
chartered accountants are also collected for a better understanding of the present
research. Chi-square test is applied to find the relation between the use of cloud
accounting software and size of enterprises and it is found that there is highly significant
difference in the adoption of cloud software with the size of the organization. The reasons
for non-adoption of cloud software in accounting are also analyzed. Factor analysis is
done to identify the factors for which cloud software is used in accounting by different
sectors. Factor analysis extracted three major components. One-way Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) is applied to test the significant difference of the extracted factors. The result
of one-way ANOVA suggests that there is no significant difference in the opinion of
respondents working in different sectors regarding various factors for adopting cloud
accounting software.

Introduction
Running a successful business usually means that you are focused on looking after your
customers, growing sales and improving profitability. It also means that you are on top of your
finances with accurate information so that you can make well-informed decisions, improve
profits and manage your cash flow. A decade ago, almost all sectors in India were doing
desktop-based accounting (e.g., Tally Accounting). Desktop-based accounting is limited to

* Visiting Faculty, Department of Accountancy and Statistics, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur,
Rajasthan, India. E-mail: ritusoni2710@gmail.com
** Visiting Faculty, Department of Accountancy and Statistics, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan,
India. E-mail: rimpiksaluja@gmail.com
***Assistant Professor, Department of Accountancy and Statistics, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur,
Rajasthan, India; and is the corresponding author. E-mail: shilpa.vardia@gmail.com

© 2018 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

36 The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, Vol. XVII, No. 2, 2018
that specified desktop only and the data cannot be easily accessed from any other device.
However, the present era is digitalized, so limiting yourself to only one system is not a
viable solution. Cloud computing has become a major topic of interest in the IT world
today. Cloud computing refers to transactions performed over the Internet. An example of
cloud computing is Google’s mail. The data in cloud is stored on many physical servers that
are hosted by third-party service providers. For this service, they charge fees from the users
and grant online access to them for managing and maintaining financial records. Thus, cloud
accounting or online accounting is where data is stored in a centralized computer and the data
can be accessed from any place at any time from any device through the Internet. And this is
the main reason that cloud-based accounting software has started becoming popular and its
demand is expected to grow massively.
Related literature shows that very less work has been done on awareness and adoption of
cloud accounting software in different sectors in India. The present study is an attempt to
examine the factors that are causing enterprises to move towards the adoption of cloud
accounting software.

Literature Review
Related literature is reviewed with the purpose to understand the concept of cloud computing.
The review provides an insight into the cloud-based software available for the purpose of
accounting and also about the awareness and adoption of cloud computing by the various
organizations in different countries.
Mahalakshmi (2017) explored the awareness among accounting professionals about cloud
accounting. In her paper, she conducted a survey among chartered accountants and postgraduate
teachers teaching accounting in Bengaluru city using purposive sampling. The sample chosen
for the study consisted of accounting professionals in different experience groups. Two
sample t-test was applied to the data collected from 30 chartered accountants and 30
postgraduate teachers teaching accounting, and it was found that there was no significant
difference in the level of awareness of cloud computing between chartered accountants and
postgraduate teachers teaching accounting in Bengaluru.
Nurhajati (2016) assessed the current impact of cloud computing technology on the audit
process. The firms in this study represented two of the four largest accounting firms in the
world. Audit in a cloud environment is a combination of information systems’ audit and
audit of Information Technology (audit of infrastructure IT). Understanding the process of
auditing in cloud computing environments is complicated because the technologies and
controls are housed outside the entity. Standard framework for audit control in cloud computing
is still in development. It was found that there were differences in the auditing framework
conducted by each audit firms.
Ghosh (2015) explored the possibility in the rise of cloud-based e-accounting practices
in India. He suggested that the organizations can design their own accounting software with
the help of cloud’s infrastructure and can also design mobile-based applications connected to

Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software: An Empirical Research 37

the cloud to maintain accounts. This helps the firms to be free from hardware or software
investment and also costs involved in software upgrades and maintenance.
Coles and Yeoh (2015) surveyed 212 participants spread globally across 17 countries,
representing IT security, IT, compliance and audit firms and also from other industries. The data
obtained was compared across America, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Europe-Middle-East-Africa
(EMEA) regions. The results of the study showed that 12% of companies in the America do not
consider cloud a priority as compared to 9% in EMEA and 7% in the APAC region. It was found
that security remained the top barrier to cloud adoption and other significant barriers were lack
of knowledge and experience on the part of IT and business managers.
Esther et al. (2014) took a random sample of 72 accountants in Ghana. The sample was
further divided into three categories: accountants working in organization using cloud computing,
accountants working in organization but not using cloud computing, and future accountants.
As per their findings, security of data may serve as a major drawback of cloud computing,
especially for the fact that financial information is confidential, however, cloud computing
can still be applied successfully for accounting purpose.
Tarm et al. (2014) explored the level of awareness of cloud computing among the Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Around two-thirds of the accounting practitioners
in both audit and commercial fields were not aware of cloud computing and lack of perceived
benefits and security was revealed as the most important drivers for non-adoption. The findings
of the study revealed that 30% of the respondents claimed to be familiar with cloud computing
and only 7% confirmed that they were very knowledgeable about it.
Awosan (2014) investigated the perception of employees in IT and telecommunication
companies and users of devices that support cloud computing. He identified the motivating
factors and current issues affecting the adoption of cloud computing in Nigeria. Quantitative
and qualitative research methodologies were used. Questionnaires were designed and distributed
using survey monkey website. A number of semi-structured interviews were conducted through
Skype with some employees and IT managers to produce a further, in-depth investigation. The
findings of the research reported that proper awareness by the cloud service providers on the
risk and benefits of cloud, availability of more cloud service providers and free trial of cloud
services to clients for a stipulated period will encourage adoption of cloud computing.
Mohlameane and Ruxwana (2014) investigated the awareness of cloud computing within
SMEs in South Africa. The study identified SMEs’ perceptions on cloud computing as an
alternate ICT solution. It was found that the lacking awareness and understanding of cloud
computing was the main cause of slow cloud computing adoption among these SMEs.
Bhatt (2013) analyzed the adoption of cloud computing by Indian SMEs using transaction
cost economics. As IT usage by Indian SMEs has not been widespread, they used the factors
and inhibitors of IT adoption by SMEs and compared them with the transaction costs related to
cloud computing for SMEs to identify the institutional factors required to ensure the success of
cloud adoption by SMEs. The elastic nature and pricing model of cloud computing are claimed
to be the reasons for SMEs to benefit from cloud adoption.
Ceslovas and Regina (2012) examined the advantages and dangers of this newest technology
within the business. They investigated the accounting systems for SMEs in Lithuania in cloud

38 The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, Vol. XVII, No. 2, 2018
computing. Analysis of accounting systems in Lithuania market showed that Lithuanian
companies prefer locally developed standalone accounting systems.
Sharma et al. (2010) suggested that the SMEs can utilize the resources as a service and pay
as per their usage. For the study, they interviewed IT people from 30 North Indian SMEs. They
analyzed per user annual cost as a parameter to compare the cost of using the traditional
Enterprise Resource Program (ERP) solution and the cloud computing modeled SaaS based ERP
systems. They also compared the difficulty level for adaptability of the traditional ERP systems
and the SaaS based ERP solution. The conclusions drawn by the study are: the average amount
saved by using the SaaS based ERP instead of the traditional ERP is about 37,000 per user per
year for the SMEs under consideration. Traditional ERP systems involve higher level of difficulty
in terms of adaptability than the cloud computing services.

Objective
Based on the above discussion, the paper aims to:
• Study the awareness of respondents of various enterprises about cloud accounting software.
• Find out the reasons for adopting and not adopting cloud accounting software by
the enterprises.
• Assess whether the size of the organization affects the adoption of cloud accounting
software.
• To explore the reasons for adopting cloud accounting software by different
enterprises.
Based on the objectives, the following hypotheses were framed:
H01: There is no significant difference between adoption of cloud accounting software
and size of enterprise.
H02: There is no significant difference in the opinion of respondents of different
enterprises regarding various factors for adopting cloud accounting software.

Data and Methodology

This study is descriptive in nature. It is based on primary data which was collected through
closed-ended structured questionnaire (see Appendix). The respondents for the present study
were employees of banking sector, insurance sector, retail sector and Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) from Udaipur, Rajasthan. A 5-point Likert scale (ranging from 5 being
strongly agree, to 1 being strongly disagree) was used to analyze the factors. Non-probability
purposive sampling technique was used for data collection. The hypotheses were tested with
help of various statistical techniques, viz., descriptive statistics, chi-square test, factor analysis
and one-way ANOVA test.

Data Collection
The data was collected from the employees working in different sectors. Initially, 210
questionnaires were sent to the employees of different sectors and finally 160 (76%) responses
were received. Table 1 shows the sample size of the research.

Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software: An Empirical Research 39

 Table 1: Data Collection
Type of Sector Initial Sample Final Sample %
Banking Sector 25 20 12.5
Insurance Sector 25 20 12.5
Retail Sector 60 40 25
SMEs 100 80 50
Total 210 160 100.00

Results and Discussion

Demographic Profile of Respondents
A brief demographic profile of the respondents is given in Table 2. It is observed that:
• Most of the employees among the selected respondents are male.
• Most of the respondents’ educational qualification is postgraduation and they belong
to the age group of 25-40 years.
• 40% of the respondents have an experience of 5-10 years in accounting field.
• Maximum respondents are from enterprises employing more than 250 people.
Table 2: Respondents’ Demographic Profile
Gender
Male Female

120 (75%) 40 (25%)

Qualification

Below Graduate Graduate PG CA/CS/MBA

4 (2.5%) 28 (17.5%) 92 (57.5%) 36 (22.5%)

Age (Years)

Less than 25 25-40 40-60

32 (20%) 112 (70%) 16 (10%)

Experience in Accounting Field (Years)

Less than 5 5-10 More than 10

36 (22.5%) 64 (40%) 60 (37.5%)

Size of the Organization That the Respondent Belongs to

1-10 Employees 10-50 Employees 50-250 Employees Over 250 Employees

20 (12.5%) 28 (17.5%) 48 (30%) 64 (40%)

40 The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, Vol. XVII, No. 2, 2018
Information About Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting
In this paper, an attempt has been made to find out the awareness of cloud accounting
software and its adoption by the companies in which the respondents are working. It is
observed from Table 3 that:
• Most respondents understand the ‘cloud computation’ phenomenon.
• 50% of the respondents’ companies use cloud accounting software.

Table 3: Information about Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting

S. No. Particular Yes No
Q1. Does the respondents understand the 140 (87.5%) 20 (12.5%)
‘Cloud Computation’ phenomenon?
Q2. Does the respondent’s company use cloud 80 (50%) 80 (50%)
software in accounting?

Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software by Sample Companies

The sample for this part of the study consists of companies which are adopting cloud accounting
software. The sample companies have been categorized according to the industry they
represent for further analysis. It is observed from Table 4 that all the banks and insurance
companies are using cloud software in accounting, whereas in retail sector 50% and in SMEs
25% companies are using cloud accounting software.

Table 4: Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software by Sample Companies

Name of
Banking Sector Insurance Sector Retail Sector SMEs Total
Industry
Adoption No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
(Yes/No)
Yes 20 100 20 100 20 50 20 25 80 50
No 0 0 0 0 20 50 60 75 80 50
Total 20 100 20 100 40 100 80 100 160 100

Preference Towards Type of Accounting System

Cloud accounting system serves the same function which is normally performed by computerized
accounting system, but in cloud accounting system, data is stored in a remote external server
and can be accessed through the Internet at any point of time from any location. Thus many
companies are moving from computerized accounting to cloud accounting. Table 5 shows the
preferences given by respondents towards the type of accounting system.
Though cloud accounting software is becoming popular day-by-day, people are more
comfortable using computerized accounting system; thus 47.5% respondents prefer to use
both computerized accounting and cloud accounting.

Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software: An Empirical Research 41

 Table 5: Preference Towards Type of Accounting System
What is Better N %
Computerized Accounting 40 25
Cloud Accounting 44 27.5
Both 76 47.5
Total 160 100.00

Time Since Cloud Accounting Software Is Adopted

Table 6 shows the time since the cloud accounting software is adopted by companies. It is
observed that about 80% of respondents working in different sectors are using cloud software
in accounting for 2 or more years, while the remaining 20% are new users of cloud software.

Table 6: Time Since Cloud Accounting Software Is Adopted by Companies

Time N %
0-6 Months 4 5
6-12 Months 4 5
1-2 Years 8 10
2 or More Years 64 80
Total 80 100.00

When Organizations will Migrate to Cloud-Based Packages

Table 7 shows the companies that are currently not using cloud software in accounting and
when they might migrate to cloud package due to its various benefits and increasing popularity.

Table 7: Time Frame for Organizations to Migrate to Cloud-Based Packages

(If Not Using Currently)
Time N %
Within 6 Months 24 30
Within 1-2 Years 28 35
Within 3-4 Years 12 15
No Idea 16 20
Total 80 100

Out of the total 160 respondents, 80 respondents are not using cloud software for accounting.
Out of the 80 respondents, 80% will migrate to cloud packages within a time frame of
6 months to 4 years, while the remaining 20% has no idea about it.

Cloud Accounting Software Analysis

Various accounting software are available in the market these days, which help in bookeeping,
preparation of financial statements and automatic backup of data.

42 The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, Vol. XVII, No. 2, 2018
 Table 8 shows the cloud software used by different sectors. System Application Programming
(SAP) software is commonly used by retail sector. It provides all the functions necessary for
modeling business processes in a retail company. FINACLE and ORACLE software are used by
banking sector. These software provide universal banking functionality to banks. Mostly CRM
Next software is used by insurance as well as banking sector. Important functions of CRM are
integration and segregation. ERP is usually preferred by medium and large enterprises which
can be customized as per their needs.
Table 8: Cloud Accounting Software Used by Different Respondents
Softwares Used CRM Next ORACLE FINACLE ERP SAP
No. of Respondents 16 12 4 28 20

Size of Enterprise and Use of Cloud Computing

Table 9 shows the results of testing hypothesis H01. Chi-square test is applied to find out the
relation between the use of cloud software with the size of enterprises. The findings reveal that
p-value of chi-square test is less than the p-value of significance at 5%. It, therefore, shows
highly significant difference in the use of cloud accounting software and the size of the enterprise.
The overall test of significance reveals that the p-value is less than 0.05. On the basis of the
above result, the null hypothesis H01 is rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted, which
implies that there is significant difference between adoption of cloud accounting software and
the size of enterprises.

Table 9: Size of Enterprise and Use of Cloud Computing

Size of Enterprise (on the Total %

Using Cloud Computing
Basis of Employees)
1-10 20 4 20

10-50 28 8 28.57

50-250 48 16 33.33

>250 64 52 81.25

Chi-Square 10.67

df 3

Result (p < 0.05)

Reasons for Not Adopting Cloud Software in Accounting

The reasons for not adopting cloud software in accounting are stated in Table 10. It is observed
that approximately 41% respondents are not even familiar with the availability of cloud software
for accounting in the market. Security of data is the major reason why respondents are not in
favor of using cloud softwares for accounting.

Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software: An Empirical Research 43

 Table 10: Reasons Given by Respondents for Not Adopting Cloud Computing

Reason % Final Rank

Security Concerns 75.71 I

See No Benefits 72.14 II

Not Worth the Cost 66.43 III

Do Not Need Cloud Computing 52.14 IV

Downtime 49.29 V

Not Enough Time to Investigate 43.57 VI

Not Familiar with What Is Available 40.71 VII

Reasons for Adopting Cloud Software in Accounting

Since cloud computing has become the current trend in the industry, the respondents were
asked to give their opinions why they are using cloud software. The respondents were given 20
items to rate their opinion on a 5-point Likert scale.
Table 11 indicates that the Cronbach’s alpha of 20 Likert scale statements is 0.925, indicating
high internal consistency among them.

Table 11: Reliability Statistics

Number of Items Cronbach’s Alpha

20 0.925

Exploratory Factor Analysis

The KMO and Bartlett’s test was conducted to test for suitability of data and the results are
presented in Table 12. The KMO measure of 0.578 which is nearly equal to 0.6 and is greater
than 0.5 indicates that the sample is adequate and factor analysis is useful. Bartlett’s test is
significant (p < 0.05) indicating that the variables are not unrelated and therefore suitable for
structure detection. Thus, KMO and Bartlett’s test results indicate suitability of data for structure
detection.

Table 12: KMO and Bartlett’s Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy 0.578
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity
Approx. Chi-Square 2663.074
df 190
Result ***

44 The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, Vol. XVII, No. 2, 2018
 Then factor analysis was applied to those 20 items to extract factors or characteristics. The
results are presented in Table 13. Factor analysis is applied using principal component method
using varimax rotation method. Total three components were extracted having Eigenvalue
above 1. Cumulatively 58.91% variance was explained by these three extracted factors. Items
falling in each factor along with factor loading are given in Table 14.

Table 13: Total Variance Explained

Initial Eigenvalues Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
Component
Cumulative
Total % of Variance Cumulative Total % of Variance
% %
1 7.90 39.51 39.51 4.42 22.11 22.11
2 2.15 10.77 50.28 3.75 18.76 40.87
3 1.73 8.63 58.91 3.61 18.03 58.91

Table 14: Factor and Factor Loading

Factor Loading
Factor
F1 F2 F3

Reduces Overall Cost 0.769

Secure and Reliable 0.735
Gain Access from Multiple Locators 0.713
Scalability 0.618
Confidentiality of Data 0.616
Advanced/Specialists Feature Available 0.542
More Informed Decision Making 0.539
It Requires No Update 0.513
Available of Services/or Data –0.438
Real-Time Insights 0.341
Privacy 0.818
Flexibility 0.672
Easy to Use 0.663
Save Time 0.660
Centralized Data 0.539
Don’t Need to Worry About Maintenance or Hardware System Upgrade 0.852
Lower Upfront Investment Required by Clients 0.728
No Need to Purchase Hardware or Accounting Software 0.725
No IT Headache 0.710
Independent Auditing and Testing 0.621

Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software: An Empirical Research 45

 Factors are named according to the properties they represent:
F1: Robustness
F2: Ease and Security
F3: Cost Saver

One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

ANOVA is applied to test whether people working in different industries have varied opinions
regarding the benefits of using cloud software. ANOVA is applied separately on the three extracted
factors.
The test results (Tables 15, 16 and 17) reveal that there is insignificant difference in the
opinion of respondents regarding robustness of cloud computing (F = 1.36, p > 0.05), ease
and security (F= 1.67, p > 0.05) and cost savers (F =1.16, p > 0.05). This shows that the
respondents of different sectors have the same line of thinking that cloud accounting is robust,
easy and secured, and is a cost saver. Hence it can be said there is no significant difference in
the opinion of respondents working in different sectors regarding various factors for adopting
cloud accounting software.

Table 15: Robustness

Sector N Mean SD F df Result
Banks 20 3.98 0.37 1.36 3,136 NS
Insurance Sector 20 4.28 0.56
Retail Sector 55 4.16 0.56
SMEs 45 3.75 0.62

Table 16: Ease and Security

Sector N Mean SD F df Result
Banks 20 3.92 0.50 1.67 3,136 NS
Insurance Sector 20 4.52 0.67
Retail Sector 55 4.38 0.68
SMEs 45 3.94 0.57

Table 17: Cost Saver

Sector N Mean SD F df Result
Banks 20 3.36 0.26 1.16 3,136 NS
Insurance Sector 20 4.08 0.63
Retail Sector 55 3.82 0.71
SMEs 45 3.50 0.91

46 The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, Vol. XVII, No. 2, 2018
Conclusion
The present study attempted to examine the factors responsible for adoption and non-adoption
of cloud accounting software by various sectors. For further analysis, the organizations were
divided into four sectors: banking, insurance, retail and SMEs. The study attempted to study
the relation of size of the organization with adoption of cloud accounting software. The
chi-square test results reveal that most of the organizations with 250 or more employees are
using cloud software in accounting. Factor analysis was also done to find out the motivating
factors for adoption of cloud software. Further, results of ANOVA show that there is no
significant difference in the opinion of respondents working in different sectors regarding
various factors for adoption of cloud accounting software. The study further analyzed the
factors responsible for cloud software not being adopted by many organizations. The main
reason for not adopting cloud software is threat to security of data and it is a costly affair. On
the basis of the above results it could be concluded that though adoption of cloud accounting
software is beneficial in many ways, in India awareness and adoption of cloud accounting
software is still in its nascent stage and only few organizations have adequate knowledge
and experience in the domain.

References
1. Awosan R (2014), ”Factor Analysis of the Adoption of Cloud Computing In Nigeria”,
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2. Bhatt J M (2013), ”Adoption of Cloud Computing by SMEs in India: A Study of the

Institutional Factors”, Proceedings of the Nineteenth Americas Conference on Information
Systems, Chicago.

3. Ceslovas C and Regina M (2012), “Cloud-Computing Based Accounting for Small to

Medium Sized Business”, Inzinerine Ekonomika-Engineering Economics, Vol. 23,
No. 1, pp. 14-21.

4. Coles C and Yeoh J (2015), “Cloud Adoption Practices & Priorities Survey Report”,
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5. Esther E, Omane K B, Timothy A and Michael E K (2014), “Accounting in the Cloud:

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Social Sciences, GB14 Chennai.

6. Ghosh A (2015), “Adoption of Cloud Based E-Accounting in India”, AGU International

Journal of Management Studies and Research, Vol. 1, July-December.

7. Mahalakshmi A (2017), “Awareness of Cloud Accounting Among Accounting Professionals

in Bangalore City”, International Journal of Business and Administration Review, Vol. 1,
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Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software: An Empirical Research 47

 8. Mohlameane M and Ruxwana N (2014), “The Awareness of Cloud Computing: A Case
Study of South African SMEs”, International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance,
Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 6-11.

9. Nurhajati Y (2016), “The Impact of Cloud Computing Technology on the Audit Process
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10. Sharma M, Mehra A, Jola H and K A (2010), “Scope of Cloud Computing for SMEs in
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48 The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, Vol. XVII, No. 2, 2018
 Appendix
Questionnaire

A. Demographic Profile
Name and Sector of Organization:_______________________________
1. Gender: Male Female
2. Age (Years): Less than 25 25 to 40 40 to 60 Above 60
3. Level of Education: Diploma Degree Master CA CS Any Other
4. Years of experience in accounting and auditing field:
Less than 5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years
5. What is the size of the enterprise you represent:
1-9 Employees
10-50 Employees
50-250 Employees
Over 250 Employees
B. Information about Cloud Accounting
1. Do you understand the ‘Cloud Computation’ phenomenon? Yes No
2. Does your company use cloud software in accounting? Yes No
3. What is better: Traditional Accounting Cloud Accounting and or both
4. If yes, when did your organization start adopting cloud based packages?
0-6 Months
6-12 Months
1-2 Years
2 Years or More
5. If no, how fast will your organization migrate to cloud based packages?
Within 6 Months
Within 1-2 Years
Within 2-3 Years
Within 3-4 Years
6. Cloud accounting software used by your organization_________
7. Provide ranks for the reasons cited by accountants why their organization has not
adopted cloud accounting:
Don’t need cloud computing
Security concerns
Not enough time to investigate

Awareness and Adoption of Cloud Accounting Software: An Empirical Research 49

 Appendix (Cont.)
Not familiar with what is available
Downtime
Not worth the cost
See no benefits
8. What are your main concerns in your approach to cloud accounting?

S. No. Answer Options Strongly Neutral Strongly

Agree Disagree
Agree Disagree

1. Easy to use
2. Availability of services/or
data
3. Confidentiality of data
4. Reduces overall cost
5. Advanced/specialists feature
available
6. Gaining access from
multiple locators
7. Don’t need to worry about
maintenance or hardware
system upgrade
8. No need to purchase
hardware or accounting
software
9. Scalability
10. It requires no update
11. Independent auditing and
testing
12. Lower upfront investment
required by clients
13. Flexibility
14. Centralized data
15. More informed decision
making
16. Saves time
17. Privacy
18. Real-time insights
19. Secure and reliable
20. No IT headache

Reference # 09J-2018-04-03-01

50 The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, Vol. XVII, No. 2, 2018
Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction
prohibited without permission.