The Advantages of Electronic Document Management System – Chron
Even in the 21st century, a small business may be able to keep most of its records on paper. Given the growing amount of data hacked from major companies, paper might even seem more secure. There are genuine advantages to turning files into digital data, though. With sensible precautions, you can minimize the potential downsides.
If you don’t want to devote space to file cabinets, electronic storage offers a good alternative. Your laptop or desktop computer can record your business transactions, send and store invoices, and keep your financial records without taking up any added space. It can do your bookkeeping for you, adding up expenses and income.
Storing digital documents somewhere multiple staffers can access them boosts efficiency. For example employees assigned to the same project can reference, write or edit documents together without having to be in the same room, or even while working from home. If you don’t want to devote substantial money or staff to an IT department, cloud computing is an option. Rather than use your own data servers, you pay companies to store your documents on remote servers accessible online.
You can save all the space you currently devote to paper files by scanning your existing paper records into the new system. If your business has been open long enough to accumulate a couple of file cabinets of paperwork, this will be a challenge. Either your staff will have to devote time to scanning paper in, or you pay someone else to do it. If you outsource the job, you or an employee will still have to double-check that the new new electronic documents have been filed properly.
It may be simplest to take it slow, converting files you know are important for upcoming projects or meetings rather than rushing to convert everything. After you digitize the papers, you can shred most of them.
Ask your attorney if you’re legally required to keep some documents in hard copy. Most states, for example, require paper copies of wills and mortgages.
Before you switch to an electronic system, figure out how you’ll keep the data secure. Even if you’re storing it in the cloud, your service provider may expect you to put in most of the effort on your data security.
Two-thirds of data breaches are caused by human failure. If your people are well trained, that in itself reduces the drawbacks of electronic data storage.
It’s also important to back up your data. Whether you have duplicate copies in the cloud or on a server, it’s essential you keep copies in case your main storage system gets wiped out, is physically destroyed or crashes.
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Writer Bio
Fraser Sherman has written about every aspect of business: how to start one, how to keep one in the black, the best business structure, the details of financial statements. He's also run a couple of small businesses of his own. He lives in Durham NC with his awesome wife and two wonderful dogs.
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