Going paperless: the benefits to businesses

The rapid advance of technology has given businesses an efficient and cost-effective alternative to paper. Environmentally friendlier and easier to search through that files full of paper, it”s easy to see why businesses are opting for the paperless route. In fact, research estimates that companies are spending around $8 billion each year to manage their use of paper.

Together with Maplewave, who offer electronic signature software, we look into the benefits of going paperless in your office.

Has going paperless already begun?

Switching to paperless is a big decision, as many businesses have been built on paperwork. 3% of businesses have already made the switch, however, and are seeing incredible results.

Image Source: Pixabay

Going paperless can seem like an imposing implementation to start with, given it has only recently become a viable option. However, 16% of businesses are actively looking at different methods that will help them remove paper from their procedures entirely.

Shaking up established operations can seem problematic to businesses who view their old processes as source of stability. In contrast, these businesses actually increased their paper consumption by around 20%. This is due to three key factors; a lack of confidence in digital solutions, the need for regulations and quite simply, humans being content with paper. However, studies have found that 33% of businesses are almost paperless.

Paperless technology is supported by encouraging research results. One study suggests that in the first six months of going paperless, 28% of businesses gained a full return on investment. A further 59% achieved a full ROI in less than 12 months and 84% within an 18-month period.

The financial benefits of paperless technology speaks for itself. Not only will this offer a return on investment, but it will also allow companies to focus on other areas of their business and not have to think about any administrative tasks that occur when handling paper. Your consumer acquisition costs can decrease dramatically, too.

Points to consider for going paperless

Every business has a chance to ditch paper. Technology can be used for a range of requirements, including offering employees their payslips online or even allowing customers to sign for their products on a tablet. All these methods help reduce the amount of paper present in an office.

Focusing on paperless technology that offers contract signing, businesses can see costs reduced by 60-85%. This enables greater savings and reduced budgets on administration expenses.

Going paperless actually helps your business remain compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A paperless office allows you to run higher security requirements for your data. Although this is set to strengthen and unify consumer data in Europe, it will also apply to non-EU businesses that are trading with EU consumers. If you have important paper documents lying around, it’s a good idea to use a local scanning service to digitise them. Once your documents have been scanned, the paper documents can be destroyed or stored securely to comply with GDPR.

Also, document authenticity can be more easily identified with paperless technology, storing the location and time of signatures. Businesses are able to complete viable audits to conduct regular contract searches, reducing the risk of fraudulent activities.

Paperless technology benefits not only your business, but your clients too. The beauty of a paperless contract is that it ensures that all fields that are required are filled out by the consumer and can easily be sent to the customer through email. Should it be misplaced, it can easily be resent from an administrative interface. If any issues were to occur, contracts can simply be retrieved and shown as evidence.

A paper-based office will eventually face storage issues, whereas a paperless office can store its documents digitally. If you’re looking to adopt more advanced features for your paperless installations, biometrics can be utilised to create an easier flow of signing, which can again enhance the customer experience and increase satisfaction.

Businesses that switch to paperless are already reaping the benefits. 87% of senior decision-makers are ensuring that digital transformation is at the top of their priorities this year — are you?

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperless_office
https://www.maplewave.com/platform/product-features/paperless-transactions
https://www.docusign.com/en-gb/blog/5-reasons-paperless-puts-money-in-your-pocket
https://www.gonitro.com/library