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The Paperless Office – Delusion or Reality?

Going paperless has been on the agenda of many businesses for some years but actually achieving this goal hasn’t been that easy, especially for some sectors (accountancy being one!) But with new technology and legal requirements emerging constantly, are we closer to reaching the vision of a paperless office?

 

Apart from the obvious cost savings in paper, printers, ink, postage, filing cabinets, etc., going paperless has many advantages for your employees and your business partners, giving you more flexibility to run your business from anywhere and get what you need whenever you need it.

 

Safety and security

Your company’s data is more secure in a paperless office. It is easier to back up your work and share documents collaboratively with colleagues and clients. There are many types of cloud-based document management systems available and security is their number one priority.

 

Paper documents that are shared and filed have a tendency to go missing or sit hidden on someone’s desk, whereas one digital master document can be shared without the need to make multiple copies and decipher someone’s illegible edits. Version control is greatly improved too, all changes are saved constantly and it’s easy to refer back to previous versions online.

 

A secure document management system is also ideal for mobile and remote workers as they can scan important documents like contracts and agreements to keep them safe centrally rather than storing them until they visit the office in person. In addition, access to confidential documents can be more easily restricted.

 

GDPR compliant

There are still many businesses that aren’t GDPR compliant and the EU is already taking action against them. Automating your systems is a good way to ensure your business complies with GDPR. A document management system will help you to review your existing storage processes, develop new document management procedures and establish an audit trail for your documentation.

 

Tidy office, tidy mind

Piles of paper around your office increases a feeling of lack of control over your business so reducing the amount of paper can help with your efficiency and productivity. Digital files are easy to organise and locate. A less cluttered office also improves the overall sense of wellbeing.

 

An online system empowers employees as they spend less time physically searching for paper documents (not to mention printing and filing them) and gives them time to complete more tasks more efficiently.

 

Disaster recovery

If the worst were to happen and your office is destroyed by fire or a flood, your paper documents wouldn’t survive and recovering from that could take years. With a digital document management system, your company’s work can be accessed via a laptop from anywhere, getting you back up and running in no time.

 

Cloud accounting

At CRM, we recognised the benefits of cloud accounting to support our clients years ago. We have expertise in all the major accounting software systems such as Sage, Xero, Iris and FreeAgent, so we can advise which would best suit your business and work with you to get the best from it.

 

Implemented correctly, a paperless office gives your business more control over its documents, better data security, version control and instant backups, not to mention the reduced environmental impact that you’ll be making. Going paperless can seem like a daunting task and can’t happen overnight – try putting a couple of paperless practices into place and work from there.

 

If you need any advice about your paperless strategy, accounting software or your business in general, CRM would love to hear from you on 01865 379272.

 

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