Saturdays at CPA Success are usually spent reviewing online tools that can help increase our productivity. Keep in mind that we do not endorse any of these services. We simply offer them up for your consideration. Do your own homework and find the service that best meets your needs.

I’m more and more intrigued lately with the idea of “cloud computing,” and Google Docs seems to fall into that category.

So it was a pleasure to read Chris Jenkins’ recent blog post about the pros and cons of Google Docs. We’re sharing that post with you this week. Here’s Chris:

Working on a corporate network, it’s no surprise that I spend the majority of my time working within Microsoft products.

Recently, I was lured out of my Microsoft bubble and forced to pick up a shared file in Google Docs. Within minutes, I found myself thinking through ways Google Docs might enhance my day-to-day tasks within the enterprise and reduce my frustration with SharePoint. Sure enough, after only a couple of weeks, I’ve found myself counting on Google Docs for a growing number of tasks.

For those of you who have never used Google Docs, it’s like an online office suite. You can create, store and share various types of files, including documents, spreadsheets and presentations. To make it more convenient, you can synchronize your Google Docs with your local computer using Google Gears.

Some pros:

• A simple interface makes Google Docs a breeze to learn and use.
• No software to install or update.
• Browser-based applications make accessing your docs from any location a reality.
• Files can be shared easily and modified collaboratively, reducing the frustration of managing or merging document changes.

Some cons:

• Your files are hosted remotely and could be compromised.
• Incomplete advanced feature set compared to big desktop applications suites.

Overall, Google Docs is an excellent tool that covers the majority of most people’s needs. If you haven’t tried it, you should, as it has something for everyone.

For a quick video overview of Google Docs, click the video below.