Going paperless is not just a way to protect the environment and show that your company is eco-friendly, but it is also a great way to save costs. With technology taking over our lives, a paperless system is an effective way to make running a business so much smoother, faster, and easier to handle. However, the transition isn’t always easy as you might not know where to start.
If you’re thinking of digitizing your systems, here’s how to implement a paperless system:
Implement paperless document storage
Forget about cabinets and storage rooms full of hundreds or thousands of boxes filled with documents. In order to implement a paperless document storage in your office, insightful guides suggest substituting storage rooms with a digital management storage system such as The Cloud. This will not only help you get more organized and find documents a whole lot easier, but it will also save so much time, space and paper in the process. You’ll be able to securely back up and store important documents, as well as easily share files with employees by granting them shared access to your cloud without having to print, fax or post any paperwork.
Use scanners at work
Having a scanning system will allow you to digitize any paperwork you already have and forward it to your employees or have it stored on the cloud system you use instead of having to print it hundreds or thousands of times. In order to avoid losing important documents you already had in your storage systems, you can also use scanners and convert them to a PDF format and upload them to your existing cloud. That way, you won’t lose old documents while implementing the new paperless system.
Use E-signatures
Another way to limit the use of papers is to use e-signatures for documents that need approval or authorization. This will prevent your business from having to print documents every time they need to be signed or authorized by a manager. Using software that allows e-signatures to be implemented can have a huge impact on the amount of paper being used in the office as one of the most paper related uses in a company stem from contracts and agreements.
This means that whether it’s an HR letter, travel authorization, signing contracts or even getting sick leaves, you no longer have to print, sign by hand and fax it over. Instead, just apply your e-signature online and send it off via email. This format will benefit the company as it limits the use of paper as well as the printing and faxing, reducing a whole lot of costs in the process of implementing a paperless system.
Switch to paperless meetings
When preparing for a meeting, with a paperless system you no longer have to print handouts for every member attending. Instead, you can resort to different methods of information sharing technology such as using a slideshow presentation on a projector for everyone to see, uploading documents on to the cloud or emailing files for everyone to see via their laptops, phones or tablets. This will allow you to save a whole lot of paper, which is actually quite useless in the first place. When taking notes, you can also recommend that employees take notes on their digital devices to avoid wasting paper, too.
Switch to digital receipts
Digitizing your company’s receipts is another effective way to implement a paperless system. If your business is in the habit of creating receipts for their customers, instead of printing documents or handing out paper receipts, you can set up your invoices to become digital. Not only will you cut costs on materials such as paper and ink, but you’ll also be able to keep better track of your invoices and organize each customer’s transactions separately in different folders by uploading them to the cloud. This will allow you to access it quite easily whenever you need to review your relationship with a customer or even when collecting data for your frequent reports. It will also give a good impression as you’ll come off as a company that cares about the environment and implements a sustainable, eco-friendly method to protect it.
Going paperless is not only quite easy to make the transition but will also have a huge impact on the smoothness of how operations are run as well as the easiness of accessibility to shared documents. All you need to do is implement a documenting system for storing important files and it will be easily accessible amongst employees to share documents. Along with these other tips, you’ll be able to save a whole lot of useless paper being used and in turn save the environment, too.