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Certain industries use more paper than others. In cases where paper documentation is the norm, phasing it out might be a lengthy process. Today we have the technology to create a paperless environment. But to make that leap, you need to understand the benefits so that you can communicate them to your board, shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders.
It’s also portable, so you can travel with it and plug it into multiple devices. It’s separate from your computer, so if you get hit with a virus, your files will not be affected. By the end of this post, you’ll know precisely how to go from stacks of paperwork to paperless within a few days. There are a number of document content management companies that can help with every level of the process, from training to employee access and security. For those worried about cyber security, it’s true that you need to follow data security best practices.
Buy a paper shredder
If you need to provide receipts to customers as part of your business model, switching to digital receipts is an excellent option. It allows your company and your customers an easy way to save all records without wasting paper. Change is a scary proposition because you need to make sure that the return on your investment pays off.
What you might not know is that nearly 75 percent of security threats are caused by insider threats. That includes both employee negligence and malicious intent. Your data is actually much safer in a storage system that has security features like user logs and limited access. The task of building a paperless office system may look overwhelming but, in the long run, it saves time. It also improves the work environment overall because it eliminates some of the stress caused by lack of organization and lost documents.
February: Determine Your Process
On the surface, storing files on your computer makes perfect sense. You probably already have data on there for things like music, resumes, photos, and assignments. You can easily continue this trend and create additional folders for the rest of your documents. There are many tools to help you preserve paper documents digitally. In cases where you need to digitize paper documents, some can be recycled immediately. Any document with sensitive or confidential information should be destroyed so that the information is no longer accessible.
But just because you have the paper original, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice to have a scanned version backed up somewhere in the cloud or on an external hard drive. The thing we love about Scanner Pro is the ability to effortlessly scan documents of differently shaped and sized documents by taking a photo. The software auto-detects the size of the document before shooting. You can also quickly name your documents and have it automatically upload to your cloud storage system. The main benefit of cloud storage is that you can access it from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection and access to the apps. Cloud storage apps are readily available on smartphones as well as tablets, which includes iOS and Android.
Step 3 – How to scan your documents using your smartphone
Modern offices have the means to use far less paper. What’s surprising is that statistically, we’re using far more paper. Not only is our consumption higher as a society, but a lot of it is purely wasteful. We’re taking things nice and slow, so before we rush headlong into purchasing bunch of expensive technology, we must first sketch out a process. Charney recommends creating a folder by tax year but beyond that using whatever system works for you so that you can easily retrieve documents as needed. Smartphones allow for scanning-on-the go functionality.
That happened and we noticed that the paper address books were suddenly important, and having paper copies, since the computers no longer had power. Anyway, we live in FL, and it’s good to have many copies of everything, one in the computer, and one in the house, etc. I’ve tried to scale down the photos, not needed two copies, if one is scanned in. Make piles of ‘important’ and ‘flyers and other useless junk’ so you don’t need to bring the rubbish with you. If it’s worth it, then scan it, then chuck it .
Receipts
Luckily I made the executive decision to skip transition and just dive right in. We help people note down, shape and share their ideas with the world’s best-loved digital paper. If you believe Wordfence should be allowing you access to this site, please let them know using the steps below so they can investigate why this is happening.
If I could get Windows Backup to work I wouldn’t have a problem, but the fixes I have found online don’t help. But do you really need to backup every hour? I was figuring every week would be good enough, especially as I back up Quicken separately. As to maintaining the system, we have an inbox where all incoming paper goes, and we scan once a week – or as often as one of us feels motivated. You may be asking yourself how a post on going paperless fits on a travel blog. How you set up your files is entirely up to you, and what I’m about to show you is what works best for me.
Other employees will embrace options to completely digitize their note taking, using apps on their phones or other devices. Going paperless at the office is like any lifestyle change you face — break it down into different tasks and set a schedule to hit those benchmarks. You also don’t have to eliminate all of the paper from your office. Streamlining some processes and cutting down on your paper dependence is a clear step in the right direction that will save money and increase efficiency. Another way you can back up your computer’s hard drive is by paying for monthly software that runs in the background and saves your files in a separate location. Wirecutter recommends Backblaze, which is easy to set up, starts running immediately on both Mac and Windows, and performed pretty well in speed tests.
However, when dealing with bank statements, tax papers, identification and other essential documents, it’s crucial that you take the time to shred your paper before recycling. Smaller companies might opt for thumb drives or removable hard drives to store their backups. Remember to move that storage tool to a different location. Having a saved backup next to your computer won’t do much good if the office burns down in a fire. One of the biggest advantages of going paperless is the fact that paperless document management is more efficient.
More and more, paperless documents will become the norm for your business. Paperless documents offer a lot of convenience and are far easier to organize than paper. For example, if you collect information through Jotform, you can view your submissions in several different formats and quickly access analytics and reports. Trying to accomplish that level of analysis with paper documentation would mean many hours of intensive staff labor. Environmental issues should be a concern for all of us, but switching to a paperless office can also help you stay competitive.
I do organize my files in Evernote a bit, but I don’t use that system nearly as much as the search feature. Please let me know if you have any more questions. If you have a great deal of documentation to transfer or if you receive a lot of paper from outside companies, you may want to rent or buy a good scanner. Today there are even apps that allow individual employees to scan paper documents when needed and save them to the appropriate place. There is a major payoff, however, in committing to a paperless environment. You’ll spend less on paper and printing supplies.
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