VDI for Accounting Firms: What to Know and Why It Matters

The accounting industry has long been known for its relentless work ethic. With the evolution of the global business landscape, companies now don’t look at accountants as just number crunchers but as advisors and strategists. Such a scenario demands modern solutions to accommodate the accountant’s hectic workload while maintaining productivity.

VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) is one such modern desktop solution. According to Gartner, 80% of organizations using VDI saw increased employee productivity. Forrester also estimates a 300% ROI over three years with VDI.

Let’s check out VDI and how it can transform modern-day accounting.  

What is VDI? 

In simple terms, VDI, or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, lets you access your entire office computer—including all your accounting software, files, and settings—from anywhere, using any device. Think of it like carrying your office desktop in your pocket, but fully secure and managed by IT experts. 

It helps accountants work remotely, collaborate easily with clients and team members, and ensures that everything stays backed up and protected. Plus, you don’t have to worry about software updates or data loss—everything runs from a secure cloud environment.

Technically speaking, VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) is a technology by which virtual desktop images are created on cloud infrastructure. These virtual desktops are like virtual machines (VMs) and have dedicated IT resources and operating systems. However, the main difference between virtual desktops and VMs is that these desktops resemble your office PC with an OS like Windows 11 instead of Windows Server. 

The virtual desktops, one created, can be delivered to remote devices through the internet. VDI simplifies desktop management and upgrades with a centralized portal. The desktop can be provisioned and deleted with a single click. Moreover, the resources can also be modified individually or batch-wise. 

Various third-party service providers offer hosted VDI services, also known as Desktop as a Service (DaaS). At subscription prices, you can opt for virtual desktops with your desired configuration.    

The VDI Advantage: Transforming the Accounting Workspace

1. Improved Work Flexibility 

Work flexibility has become a priority for most accounting professionals after the pandemic. Most CPAs want a better work-life balance to reduce mental stress. However, the critical accounting process does demand a hectic day at the office, working on conventional PCs.

With VDI, accountants can access a cloud desktop with all their data and applications from the comfort of their homes on any remote device. All you need to do is open the cloud portal through a web browser and log in with the right credentials. You can resume working from where you left off.

2. Scalability Automation

Growth is a part of every business journey. However, as your accounting business grows, the number of employees increases. Hence, you have to invest in more systems for them to work on. In a traditional IT setup, this leads to more investment and the challenges involved with constant upgrades, IT team deployment, issue resolution, and more. 

Moreover, the traditional desktop setup, like the tax season, cannot keep up with the periodic desktop requirements. VDI offers automated scalability in desktop deployment, specification upgrades, and user additions. You can provision or de-provision virtual desktops almost instantly on the management portal. 

Therefore, if you need to add more desktops for the tax season, the DaaS provider can do it easily. After the tax season, you can revert to the previous number of desktops. You can also change the specifications of each cloud desktop as per requirements. The providers charge you on a pay-as-you-use basis.    

2. Enhanced Client Collaboration

In the world of accounting, client interaction is vital to a business’s success. Clients share documents and data perennially through emails, which can lead to frequent miscommunication and time delays due to file duplication and long email threads. 

Hosted VDI offers accounting firms a centralized platform to collaborate effectively with clients. 

You can store a document on the cloud, which the client can access from their location. Moreover, clients can sign, review, or edit the documents easily without the need to send them through email. This optimizes the process efficiency and reduces errors. 

Another example is hosting QuickBooks on the cloud, allowing your team to access and work on the QuickBooks file in real time through a secure virtual desktop using a username and password.

3. Comprehensive Data Security

Data security will always be your top priority if you are in the accounting business. However, is your critical accounting data safe from the ever-evolving threat landscape? 

In a traditional IT setup, all desktops become susceptible to data threats or corruption if the local network is breached. Moreover, there is also a chance of the local PC, laptop, or server getting damaged, leading to data loss. 

When you opt for Desktop as a Service, the providers offer comprehensive data protection against most threats, be it ransomware, DDoS attacks, or social engineering. For instance, they implement multi-factor authentication and access controls to prevent unauthorized access. Moreover, they also deploy advanced security safeguards, like data encryption, firewalls, antivirus, and Intrusion Detection.    

4. Modern Infrastructure

When deploying on-premise desktop infrastructure, you must allocate a considerable budget to provide your employees with the latest desktops. 

However, in the case of hosted VDI, the providers host their cloud platform in Tier-5 data centers with 2N+1 redundancy. The virtual desktops are created on high-performance cloud servers with parallel processing capabilities. Creating such an infrastructure on-premises is not feasible for an accounting firm.         

5. Cost-efficiency

Running an accounting firm involves considerable budget allocation to the IT infrastructure. As every hardware has a lifecycle, you must invest in new desktops periodically or upgrade the old ones. Moreover, you must also pay for the salaries and upskilling of the in-house IT team.              

Opting for VDI relieves you from the on-premise capital and operational expenses. As virtual desktops are created on the provider’s cloud platform, you don’t need to invest in physical desktops. Consequently, there is no requirement for an extensive in-house IT team. Also, the hosted VDI provider offers flexible pricing plans on a pay-as-you-use basis, so you pay only for the resources you utilize, monthly or annually.

6. Reduced in-house IT Dependencies 

In a traditional desktop setup, accounting firms have to take care of everything, from deployment and maintenance to upgrades and support. This leads to added IT hassles and overutilization of the budget for IT management. 

With VDI, the in-house IT dependencies are reduced to a bare minimum. As the virtual desktops are created on the hosted VDI provider’s cloud, they manage the IT operations completely. Moreover, the best providers also offer 24/7/365 customer support to address any issue you might encounter while working on the virtual desktops.   

7. Ensured Compliance

As accounting firms deal with critical client data, they must comply with various stringent data regulations to maintain data confidentiality. However, regulations and industry standards like GDPR and WISP require continuous IT monitoring, stronger security controls, and strict compliance—challenges that are difficult to meet with legacy IT infrastructure.

By choosing hosted VDI services, you can ensure efficient compliance management. The providers have a dedicated compliance team that tracks all updates from the regulatory bodies. Moreover, their robust security infrastructure ensures you comply easily with all regulations. 

8. All-time Availability 

Accidents are a part of life. However, when business operations are concerned, any intentional or unintentional accident can cause disruption, leading to financial and reputational damage. In a traditional desktop setup, accidents can be frequent, be it accidental data deletion, fire, hardware failure, or data breach. 

The hosted VDI providers offer business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) for all virtual desktops. Their data centers are equipped with redundant hardware that allows 24/7 business continuity. Moreover, the entire VDI setup is replicated in different data centers located at diverse locations. So, in a natural disaster, you can continue working without downtime.      

9. Competitive Advantage 

Large firms can afford access to the latest technologies and infrastructure in the accounting industry. 

Cloud-based VDI levels the playing field, enabling small and large firms alike to leverage the latest technology with equal efficiency and flexibility.

As DaaS providers offer you access to best-in-class virtual desktop infrastructure on a subscription basis, small accounting firms can compete with the big players without spending too much of their budget. 

Step into New-Age Accounting with VDI

VDI offers accountants the flexibility of working from any location at any time, reducing mental stress. It also enables them to collaborate with clients on a secure platform. In addition, a VDI service provider can provide benefits like cost reduction, unparalleled scalability, business continuity, and more. 

It’s essential to choose a hosted VDI provider after thorough research and careful planning. Ace Cloud Hosting has been serving the CPA and accounting community for over 15 years, offering hosted VDI solutions with multi-layered security, 24/7/365 support, high-performance infrastructure, and flexible pricing. Start your 7-day free trial for VDI today!