Seeking a paperless office? Be sure you have the right technology in place.

Doing business with less paper is often easier said than done. Even though a completely paperless office may seem unrealistic, technology allows you to greatly reduce the amount of paper your company uses on a daily basis. But with careful planning and using available technology, the paperless office can be a reality. Be sure to consider the following when moving toward a paperless office:

• Review documents electronically on your computer, laptop, smartphone or tablet. The more you use the screen, the easier you’ll find it to review and edit material without printing it off and using a pen. These tools also enable you to work wherever you are and are just as portable as paper.
• Use a scanner. Make electronic versions of documents so that you can centralize your existing hard copy documents into a virtual filing cabinet. It’s a great way to manage business records.
• Keep files in an online storage system. Once hard copy files are scanned into an electronic format, emails and electronic documents can be saved into the same location for easy retrieval using key words and phrases or unique searchable fields. Creating an electronic document management solution for your business allows you to assign an authorized user a unique user name and password for the system, keeping you in control of the information.

Having organized records is a critical aspect of running a successful business. With a good system in place, you can create business efficiencies including processing information and having access to important information for key business decisions.

Photo by Sean MacEntee