Daily, many activities occur in an organization, including production, distribution, sales, and procurement. All of these processes generate invoices, memos, purchase orders, and different documents every day. Most of these documents go through the accounting department, creating a mountain of paper for bookkeeping. Most of these papers contain sensitive information; hence, it’s not possible to throw them out. Disposing of these requires special machines and shredders, and they don’t come cheap!
To steer an accounting department toward going paperless, companies must invest in paperless accounting software. Usually, someone from an accounting department needs about 3 minutes to get a file from a cabinet. But in a real-life situation, it’s never 3 minutes. Adding distractions along the way like going to the bathroom, staying to talk to a colleague, getting a drink of water and many other distractions make it a 20-minute task! The estimated 20 minutes does not include the time it takes to consider the effort it’s going to take if the file is misplaced or stored in a different storage unit.
Fortunately, with different accounting management programs and ERP solutions for corporate use, an accounting department can become paperless in no time, saving effort, time, and precious resources. Here, we will highlight five ways to help you keep the accounting department paperless.
Time Management and Document Handling
When your company’s accounting department is entirely paper-based, listing and storing each document needs a sophisticated and often confusing process. For example, every time a purchase order arrives in the accounting department, the accountant must place it in a separate section with the time and date it arrived, correctly logged. Logging the time, date, client name, and order details are useful in retrieving the document, but it takes a lot of time and effort. Moreover, the accountant or bookkeeper is bound to make a mistake and incorrectly file the document at some point.
On the other hand, if you invest in accounting software, the accountant won’t need to file every document manually. The software will automatically generate invoices, sales reports, and purchase orders for every item. The accounting software will save time and make the entire documentation process simple, convenient, and easy to retrieve.
Reduce Supply and Storage Cost
The accounting department’s documents rely on storage facilities, meaning that the department is cluttered with file cabinets and drawers overflowing with paper, printer supplies, and envelopes. The software will assist in making the accounting department go completely paperless. With no papers to store and record, the department won’t need large cabinets to store them. A paperless office in an accounting department will be cost-effective regarding spending money and space on storage units.
Make the Retrieval Process Easier
Having accounting software makes it easier for you to retrieve information about any specific file without the need to fish through thousands of files in a large cabinet. The software makes the accounting department entirely paperless by its streamlined operations. Each file has its code or a serial number that allows swift access to any file, anytime. Proper content management features of the software are useful in organizing all the files according to any category the company needs to transform the workspace into a paperless office.
Swift Response Time
When you have an efficient paperless office software to handle all business operations and content management, it makes it easy for managers and accountants to reduce their response time for queries from different departments. For example, suppose a customer calls to complain about a product defect in a new purchase, using the designated serial number. In that case, the accountant will retrieve all the necessary information.
Invoice Processing is Easier and Faster
As the accounting software for bookkeeping relies on using electronic invoice processing, it eliminates the need to make the accountant enter the data on the invoice manually. Using software makes the procedure of invoice generation and storage relatively easy. Some software has a scan feature that allows the accountant to scan any crucial invoices still on paper.
Conclusion
Going paperless in any business is not just cost-effective and straightforward. It also makes things simpler for accountants to record all the invoices with ease. It makes it easier for an accountant to manage all the files and invoices needed for effective bookkeeping, as they are electronically generated. Going paperless in an accounting department is a step towards having a greener and better environment.
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