Not just our work lives, we probably have just as much of it at home. Moving your processes to a cloud-based system and using innovative software, such as a PDF to Excel converter allows you to save money by saving paper.
Paperless office
You probably want to know just how much you are going to save. If you have a PDF to Excel converter you could add all those invoices to a spreadsheet to figure it out. If you want to know right now, there are many free ROI paperless calculators online that can give you an idea of how much you will save by going paperless. Click here to go to one now and see how much you can save. Why throw more money in the recycling box?
Start now and make your small business a greener and paperless place to work.
Fleet Management With Excel: It's environmentally friendly Less printing means fewer trees cut down for pulp, and less energy used to make and transport paper. Faster communication Paper mail takes a day to arrive — if you're lucky.
Emailed documents arrive within seconds. At a time when businesses need to move swiftly, getting rid of paper can give you a helpful burst of speed. Find out what you print now Even in a business it can be difficult to keep track of who's printing what, and when. Consider using print audit software so you can track where all the print jobs are coming from.
Calculate potential cost savings Use quality accounting software to track all your print-related expenses. Include printers, ink or toner, paper, service contracts, storage and technical support. Deduct any revenues you receive from using paper, unless they would be matched by using digital documents instead. For example, printed newsletters might be replaced by emails, with no loss of sales revenue. There's no need to worry about different file formats. So discuss some key applications with the companies you work with — see if they're willing to use the cloud too.
Some useful cloud-based applications include: Don't forget training Work with your staff to ensure they can handle and process electronic documents, such as invoices. Scan any paperwork you receive from other people Document scanners are reasonably cheap and can store paperwork in PDF format. If there's too much to handle, get a secure scanning company to do the work.
Sign documents digitally Most countries now have laws that make electronically-signed contracts as legally valid as those signed with pen on paper. Use online banking Request paperless statements from banks and other financial institutions. If you're worried about missing anything, set up alerts in your accounting software to warn you in advance of when a bill is due.
Pay your bills and your suppliers online. Update your office With less space being taken up with document storage, you can make your office a better place to work. Consider buying larger monitors, or a dual-monitor setup, so your staff can view more than one document at a time. Phase out old technology Some companies still send and receive faxes.
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But even here you can reduce paper use. Fax software lets you send and receive faxes as electronic documents — meaning less paperwork and lower costs. Making the transition — fast or slow? Lighten the load Depending on how comfortable you are with technology, it may be difficult to change to a paperless office.
Small Business Profit Doesn’t Grow on Trees: Go Paperless
Here are a few tips to make the journey easier: Keep your documents secure Use encryption to keep your documents safe from prying eyes. Backup everything, regularly Electronic documents are easier to store than paper — and easier to delete. Make sure you have backups online, using services such as backblaze. Index everything Electronic documents are more useful if they are fully indexed, so you can easily search and find what you're looking for.
When scanning documents, make sure they are searchable by using OCR optical character recognition software. Scanning service companies can do this for you. Be realistic Going paperless is a goal, but it might be difficult or even impossible to eliminate all paper. If you're involved in real estate transactions, for example, there will still be a lot of paperwork involved. Take small steps Do whatever you can to reduce paper use. Going paperless isn't right for every business.
That being said, it is possible for every business to go paperless. In order to determine whether this strategy is a good fit, weigh the following advantages of transitioning to a paperless office. First off, going paperless saves time. When files are digitally stored in the cloud, your organization instantly becomes more flexible. Consider the following example:.
Let's say your business is located in New York City and you're meeting with a top client in Los Angeles. On Friday afternoon, you're discussing a project with the client and need to refer to a specific file that's back at the office. You call the office and suddenly remember that it's 7 p. You're out of luck! You'll have to wait until Monday morning to get the file, or ask one of your employees to head in on Saturday morning to help you out.
Paperless office - Wikipedia
Very inconvenient on both fronts. Now, if your office was paperless, all you'd have to do is log into your cloud account, search for the file, and show the client. The convenience of being a paperless operation can save a lot of trouble with regard to logistics and geography. One sheet of paper may not take up a ton of space, but tens of thousands of pages certainly do. Over the years, businesses can accrue boxes and boxes of files.
These files have to go somewhere; they ultimately end up overcrowding office space which isn't cheap. By going paperless, a firm can free up closets, boardrooms, and even entire offices. Digital files, on the other hand, take no physical space on your premises at all. They're stored remotely and accessible from anywhere, which means you no longer have to waste overhead on physical file storage. Storing documents in the cloud is safer than keeping sensitive files in an office.