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4 Reasons You Should Be Using A Digital Document Management Software
In a business environment, paper piles so quickly it can be difficult to keep track of. When it comes to invoicing, payments, and expense management, for example, the amount of paperwork that can accumulate is astounding. For this reason, many businesses are looking for creative alternatives to traditional paper documentation.
The move toward a paperless office involves digitizing a variety of processes. As you digitize your company’s processes, you’ll cut back on storage costs, processing costs, and paper costs. You’ll improve how “green” your company is while also giving yourself better control over your business processes.
You might be wondering, though, if going digital is really worth it. Why should you make the effort to change your process by taking your documents digital? Or, to put it another way, are the promised improvements going to make enough of a difference to justify the time and effort put into going digital?
We think the answer is yes. Using a digital document management software will give you the sort of return on investment that you company is looking for. To help illustrate that point, let’s look at four ways that implementing digital document management software can help improve your business.
1) Save the Environment
One of the most important things to consider with your company’s paper reduction is the effect on the environment. According to the University of Illinois, the United States consumes 30 percent of the world’s paper even though it only has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. Recycling helps, but since any paper use still increases harmful greenhouse gases, it isn’t a comprehensive solution.
Using paperless processes is better for the environment. The less paper you use, the more you reduce the use of critical resources including trees, water, and energy. Every step your business takes to reduce paper use is a step in the right direction for protecting the environment.
2) Save Money
From a business standpoint, reducing paper use makes economical sense. According to a study by the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, the cost of using paper in the office can actually be up to 31 times the purchasing cost of the paper itself. Even if it seems like you’re not spending much on paper now, there are numerous hidden costs to consider, including shipping, storage, copying, printing, disposal, recycling, and postage.
Studies have proven again and again that cutting back on paper is good for a company’s bottom line. For example, Citigroup found that if each employee conserved just one sheet of paper per week by using double-sided copying, the business could save $700,000 per year. Think of how much your business could save if you implement even more aggressive paper-saving practices.
3) Save Time
Using electronic documents and forms can lead to improved efficiency in the workplace. By cutting out paper processing, many companies have found that locating documents is faster and easier. Plus it speeds up your other processes that used to rely on paper, making processes such as accounts payable, purchasing, and expense reimbursement much more efficient as well.
Meanwhile, digital document management simplifies things for employees since filing, storage, and retrieval of documents can occur within seconds. You’ll even reduce time that was once spent waiting by the copier for documents to print out.
4) Save your Data
Security is a big concern when you’re storing digital data. If your company works with highly sensitive data, you might want to maintain your digital files on in-house servers and personally oversee security. For most companies, though, any reputable data storage company will be able to provide good cybersecurity. In fact, they can often provide better – and less expensive – security than you could in-house because they specialize in protecting electronic data.
In many ways, digital data storage makes your data more secure. You won’t have to worry about paper being destroyed by fire or water damage. And since digital data takes up so much less space, you can easily make backups to keep important files safe.
Next Steps
The first step toward going paperless with digital documents and automation is to pick out a software supplier. You’ll need to find a s supplier that can handle your scanning needs and uses optical character recognition and image indexing to capture the most usable data possible. You’ll also want to partner with a supplier that offers reliable data security, can implement your new process without delays or setbacks, and is easily customized to your company’s needs. NextProcess can do all that, and more.
If you’re wondering where to start with electronic documentation, consider automating your accounts payable processes. Easy-to-use software like NextProcess can eliminate the extensive paper use associated with expense management, invoicing, contracts, leases, payments, and many other types of documents. From there, you can branch out to automating other processes including purchasing, travel and expense reimbursement, and capital expense management. Our software seamlessly integrates with your existing processes, and also provides even more advantages when you use our different modules together.
Ready to see how much digitization can help your business? Contact NextProcess today to set up a free software demo.
