Research conducted by Intuit Inc., the global leader in small business financial management solutions, reveals 98 per cent of Australian business owners, who say they are ‘not currently using cloud computing’, actually are – showing there is still a lack of understanding around the commonplace technology.

Nora Tucker, Product Manager for QuickBooks Online Australia, said, “Despite “the cloud” being a new buzz word in business and cloud computing being such a commonly discussed business topic, there’s a widespread lack of understanding about its benefits.”

“Using cloud technologies and cloud-based software, like Intuit’s QuickBooks Online,  can save small businesses time, money and stress by simplifying the menial tasks involved in running a business.”

The survey of 1,000 Australian small business owners asked respondents about their knowledge of cloud computing and its benefits and revealed that while 88 per cent of small business owners believe there are benefits to cloud computing, only 19 per cent said they were currently using it within their business.

Ms Tucker said, “We know from personal experience, that our customers discover after using QuickBooks Online, that the power of the cloud can give them greater business flexibility, reduce dull administration time and save them considerable amounts of money in business overheads and accountancy costs.

“We’re actively looking to share this customer knowledge and experience with the many other Australian businesses that are yet to see the full potential for their own businesses,” she said.

Considering Gen Y is often considered the most tech-savvy generation, the survey also surprisingly revealed that 35 per cent of Gen Y business owners pretend to know more about cloud computing than they actually do, showing that the business case for cloud-based technology is one that is needed across all business-owner demographics.

As more businesses discover that cloud computing enables small business owners to get back to focusing on the things that make their business great, it will continue to grow in popularity amongst the Australian business community.