June 22nd, 2010 by Kim Andersen
In the early 1980’s the world was introduced to a new term— the paperless office. The appearance of electronic calculation, transmission and storage devices was meant to bring to an end the mountains of paper that all offices, small or large, generated. The idea was that all of the documents that had to be printed and stored could now just be faxed, scanned or e-mailed.
The paperless office struck a chord with many office managers all over the world because they viewed it as a huge cost cutting exercise for their companies—less paper and filing meant lower office expenses.
Did this ideal become a reality? The answer is both yes and no.
From sending invoices to writing checks, technology is in place to give businesses multiple opportunities to go paperless. The problem is that most businesses are afraid to put this technology to work. The thought of not having hard copies of a document causes anxiety for most business professionals. Instead, we implement the technology to go paperless and then print out “just-in-case” copies for safe keeping.
The main reason that the paperless office has not made a larger impact, to a certain extent, is us. Humans like to be able to hold things. We don’t trust what we can’t physically see. So even though we have all the necessary technology to make a paperless office a reality – we will continue to be buried under a pile of paper until we take those first steps of trust.
However, there is hope! Some businesses that have started with the basics of going paperless are finding that taking small steps toward this goal gives them the ability to see a true reduction of printing and filing costs which in turn allows them to gain the trust they need to continue on their paperless journey.
The main goal of going paperless is not having to print every piece of paper that comes to you via e-mail or that is generated within your system. Knowing that your document is safely stored in your system, and that you have an organized approach to filing that document so you can find it when you need it is a great place to start.
The best part it, if you are exploring your options for going paperless you don’t have to look very far. Sage MAS 90 and 200 already have paperless technology built within their system. We have helped many companies move closer to a paperless office, all of whom realized a reduction in costs and stress, not to mention a far more organized and cost efficient office.
