Accounting practices have come a long way since the spreadsheet, yet some companies are still using the archaic Excel, or even worse, pen and paper, to manage their finances. According to recent GetData research, 36 percent of small businesses are yet to use an accounting app to balance the books, while 38 percent of businesses say they make spending mistakes at least once a month. Coincidence? Maybe.

But the cost of not using an accounting app can be more than just monetary: businesses who do use one save an average of three hours per week balancing their books.

Why? The current trend in cloud-based accounting apps has shifted towards automation, integration, and mobile functionality, taking a lot of the legwork out of the accounting process and making the software much more accessible for non-accountants.

Trends in this quarter’s GetApp ranking of the top 25 accounting apps, seen below, prove that there’s no better time than now for a business to look into adopting a cloud-based accounting solution. Keep reading to find out why.

They’re automated

Automation is probably one of the biggest transformative innovations when it comes to accounting software. Whether it’s billing & invoicing, accounts payable, or managing expenses, many transactions can be set up to automatically populate in an accounting app once they’ve been completed.

According to accounting expert Sholto Macphearson, “once online accounting software has been set up properly with auto-coding of recurring transactions, smaller businesses will have less need for monthly data entry.” This automation leaves less room for error, but it also eliminates time-consuming practices, and at least some type of automation is fairly standard in almost any cloud-based accounting app.

They’re integrated

Integration with other apps, as well as with outside vendors, further eliminates the need for data-entry, but it can also provide a healthy overview of a company’s finances from all angles. For example, an accounting app like Xero, can integrate with expense management app Nexonia, billing and invoicing app ChargeOver, and a service like PayPal to pull in financial data that gives an accurate picture of all the money coming in and out of a business.

Integration has also expanded to include bank feeds, which again, can pull in live financial data, and even with services like Apple Pay, where users will be able to see updates from Apple’s payment system integrated into their accounting app.

They’re on mobile

As remote working and jet-setting become commonplace for many business owners and employees, mobile apps continue to play a crucial role in the usability of cloud-based software. The more that an employee is out of the office, the more access points they’ll need to adjust their finances.

According to Macphearson, “at a minimum, business owners should be able to create and send an invoice to a client on the spot and record and photograph an expense receipt. Ideally, they should also be able to reconcile accounts on the go.”

Mobile apps are especially important when it comes to expense management, where a business will want to record every employee expense and have it sync directly into their accounting app without having to request it. An app like Xpenditure makes it as simple as taking a photo of the receipt and then extracting all the necessary data, eliminating, in the least, a stack of papers.

Most importantly, these apps are becoming useful for employees, not just business-owners. The Xero Me app, for example, lets employees check their payslips or request leave, giving employees an added level of convenience.

They’re full of features (and affordable)

Accounting apps are no longer limited to just straight-up accounting. Looking at GetApp’s ranking of the top accounting, billing and invoicing, and accounts payable apps, there’s a lot of overlap of apps which can multi-task to perform all of these functions.

While the idea of having lots of functions and features in one app has the potential to be overwhelming, it actually makes a lot of sense for an accounting app– you can consolidate accounts more quickly where there’s access to all areas of spending.

Luckily, having all of these features isn’t driving up costs. As Macphearson points out, as the cloud accounting market starts to get more competitive, prices are going down: “Sage One has entered the market at a very competitive $15 a month. It is difficult to see how more expensive programs will continue to justify the extra cost.”

They’re secure

Given the amount of financial and company data potentially accessible via an accounting app, security is a key consideration for many accounting app vendors. Data storage and data retention must be considered, along with access permissions and encryption methods.

Further measures like two-factor authentication, which requires a two-step sign-in process that usually includes a confirmation text or email, have yet to penetrate the world of accounting apps, but apps like FinancialForce Accounting are taking the lead, allowing for two-factor authentication when accessing accounting data from their app.

Room to expand

Accounting apps have started to embrace the trends of cloud-based software, and accountants are whole-heartedly seeing the benefits of switching to cloud accounting methods. With such a huge gap in the use of any accounting software, it’s time that businesses start seeing the same benefits of conducting their accounting practices inside the cloud.

For a full analysis of accounting app trends for 2015, check out our report, Accounting in the Cloud: Key trends for 2015.