In this episode of our blog, we are going to go over how to keep those digital documents digital.

Most companies that you talk to have already done or are in the process of digitizing all their files. Some may have them saved in their local files, some in a form of cloud-based storage, and others have moved those files to their CRM. 

Let’s go over some of the departments that may not be keeping those day forward files digital and may still be creating paper-based docs that tend to get lost or misfiled.

Accounting – Accounting can be either AP or AR, so this will go over several documents that they have that may still be paper based.

• Invoices – Companies still rely on printed invoices to send to their clients. Because of the reliance on the Postal Service, it takes longer now to get to the client meaning it takes longer for your company to get paid. This is the same on your end as it now takes longer to pay those invoices and does not allow you to take advantage of early pay discounts. It also means that those invoices could be lost or mis-filed leading to late charges and possibly affecting those relationships with clients or vendors.

• Expenses – Using paper receipts to capture expenses for the company. This leads to missed charges, late repayment of those expenses, or no reimbursement at all if you cannot recreate the receipt.

• Delivery Forms – Because there are so many ways to get goods to clients, relying on paper delivery forms can create issues. You cannot charge a client for your goods without proof of delivery, and you would not want to be charged for something delivered if it cannot be proven it was delivered and signed for.

HR – HR still heavily relies on paper forms to capture information that they need for the employee profile and file. Repetitive filling out of forms, missing information, and requesting forms for equipment that is needed for the position.

Sales – Sales has multiple documents that are important to the company, yet still rely on paper-based processes to move through companies.

• Sales Packets – These are the lifeblood for any organization with sales teams. Most of the documents are still paper based. Even though companies may be using digital signature capture to get docs signed, they are still internally processing it using paper-based workflows.

• Customer Documents – These are previous deals, correspondence, proposals, and more. Typically, these documents are kept either paper-based or digital. The real challenge is whether paper-based or digital, trying to find the right document can be a challenge. With CRM’s, you cannot use keyword searching to locate documents. This can be a challenge if you are looking for specific documents that you may not have all the information on, or if it was mistakenly put in the wrong place.

In keeping with the theme of keeping docs digital, next blog will go over some ideas and best practices in order to digitize current workflows within your organization.

Contact us today to learn more about document digitization!

Author: Tom Hubler, Technical Solutions Consultant at Boring