The Benefits of Businesses Going Paperless

The pressure to create more efficient, secure, and lean business organizations has pushed business leaders to make their organizations less dependent on paper. In fact, the goal for a lot of organizations is to become fully paperless, and there are convincing reasons for it. Here are a few of them, plus tips on how to begin the journey towards a paperless business.

Better Organization of Documents

The days of cabinets full of papers in physical files are long gone. Businesses today no longer must employ a battery of clerks to file, retrieve, and duplicate papers. Instead, paperless businesses have a system of classifying and serializing documents and storing them in well labeled folders. This reduces the number of staff required to manage all the paperwork in places such as government offices and law firms.

Cost Savings

Businesses that eliminate the need to print paper can indeed save thousands of dollars each year. US businesses spend over $120 billion each year on printing. You can lead your organization in efforts to eliminate paper by investing in e-signature technology for approvals and verification of important files.

If your business currently needs several staffers to handle paperwork, you could commit them to value-added tasks or simply reduce your workforce by eliminating paperwork.

It Creates Better Collaboration Opportunities

Embracing paperless operations will open collaboration opportunities for your staff members. People in different offices can discuss, consult, and advise colleagues. For this to work properly, your business has to invest in the right productivity technology. For instance, your business needs project tools that allow team members working on a project to have a channel of communication where they can send messages and share documents. Emails are not always suitable when a big team is involved.

Your staff may also need document merging tools to create single files from several that team members are working on. Find the right document organizing tools that could benefit your team’s productivity. It’s useful to combine PDFs online to have all the important files in one place.

Enhanced Security

Documents in electronic format are easier to secure than physical documents that can be lost, stolen, or accessed by unauthorized people. Today, the trend is to rely on cloud storage where implementation of limited access control is possible. When sharing documents, you can also require passwords before the other person opens a document. Cloud storage and backup providers are continually working to improve their security to keep up with developing cyber threats. In some sectors, it is a legal requirement to secure private data acquired in the service of clients. Paperless storage makes it easier to adhere to such laws.

Cleaner and Happier Workplace

Working in a cluttered work environment is less pleasant than a well-organized space. Going paperless will improve the mood of your staff and make them feel better about coming to work.

Further, the organization will be doing its bit in reducing the demand for paper, which is a major cause of deforestation. One employee can use up to 10,000 sheets of paper in one year. Not to mention, printing involves the use of ink and cartridges, which increase your organization’s carbon footprint.

Go Paperless and Make Things Easier

You can make rapid changes to your business processes with enough effort. If you're struggling or need additional help, resources are out there.

Consider joining your local chamber of commerce for more tips and advice.