in: Company News
Today’s businesses are constantly looking for ways to improve their operation and processes in order to achieve maximum efficiency. By transitioning to a paperless system, businesses can save time, reduce costs, and improve their operational efficiency. Contrary to popular belief, going paperless is not just an environmental strategy; it’s an effective business strategy. Paper intensive processes are some of the biggest time wasting activities in any organization. It’s a fact that efficiency suffers when a business is required to print, copy, fax, route, get approval, re-route, file, and mail every important document.
In fact, according to recent research, paper usage is becoming a big (and costly) problem for many businesses today and is contributing to office inefficiencies. Statistics show that the average office worker uses around 10,000 pieces of paper each year, and the average business is increasing that usage by 20% every year. Businesses have reported that their employees spend up to 40% of their working hours searching for information in email records, filing cabinets, and documents. The average business-related document is copied 9 times, and it costs an average of $20 to file that document throughout its lifetime. Statistics also reveal that misfiled documents can cost businesses up to $125 and lost documents can cost somewhere between $350 and $700. That’s a lot of money!
What many companies don’t know, however, is that their enterprise resource planning (ERP) system already contains the paperless capabilities they need – they just need to know how to use it. In fact, Sage 100 ERP (formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and Sage ERP MAS 200) contains several features designed to help your business transition to a paperless office, such as:
- Journals and Registers
- Job Cost Invoices
- Period-End Processing
- Purchase Orders
- Report Viewer
- Sales Orders and Sales Order Invoices
- Payroll Direct Deposit Stubs
- Accounts Receivable Invoices
- Electronic Forms Delivery
By activating the Sage 100 ERP Paperless Office feature in your Sage 100 ERP system, you can begin taking advantage of all the paperless features Sage 100 ERP has to offer, including converting your documents into PDF files so you can store them electronically within your system. This will make it easy to locate your documents in the future and when you need to share a document with an employee or customer, all you have to do is share it electronically. No more copying, scanning, or faxing!
The benefits of going paperless are numerous: reduced overhead, improved employee productivity, increased efficiency, and contributing to the environment. However, transitioning to a paperless office will take some time and require some adjustment, particularly for your employees. We’ve created a few tips to help make the transition to a paperless office easier on everyone involved:
- Stick to a consistent naming convention.
Eliminate any confusion by using a consistent and precise naming convention. Name menu items what they are and don’t be vague (ex: “HR”, “Finance”, “Payroll”, etc.) This will make the system easier to navigate and alleviate the frustration many of your employees will face when they are looking for a specific document. When in doubt, ask yourself: “What would I look under to find this document?” - Prepare your employees for role changes.
Whenever you automate business processes, you will face a slight change in roles and job responsibilities. While these are positive changes, your employees may have a hard time adjustment. Make sure that you introduce the change in phases so you employees have time to ask any questions or voice any concerns, and reassure them that their jobs are not in jeopardy even though they’re undergoing some changes. - Don’t expect the ERP system to do everything – it won’t.
The biggest mistake companies who have transitioned to a paperless office make is that they expect the system to do everything for them. While ERP certainly eliminates the majority of manual tasks and paper-based processes, you may still have to manually track and record data for some things. The difference is you now have time for tracking and data entry because your other tasks are being taken care of by the system.
Overall, Sage 100 ERP software can reduce the paper burden on your company. If you’d like to learn how to take advantage of these capabilities, give us a call today. If your company is in need of a Sage 100 ERP (formerly Sage MAS 90 / Sage MAS 200 ) system, we can help! Our Sage 100 experts are available to discuss your business needs and set you up with the right software solution for your company. Whether you are located in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, or Boise, Mindover Software is here to help.
Learn more about Sage 100 ERP’s capabilities by downloading the whitepaper, “Flexible Sage 100 ERP Delivers Unmatched Customization and Scalability”.
