When small businesses depend on transactions with clients and customers to make end's meet, a lot of paper can be wasted on receipts and invoices. Not only are physical resources needlessly used, but the amount of time that elapses for such deals to process and paper copies to travel can cost organizations even more. When associations embrace electronic workflow, businesses can maximize profits at an early stage when they need them most. Firms welcome transaction automation resized 600 However, converting to a paperless business can take time, and companies may discover that document management software can be applied to a wide variety of aspects of an organization. For example, invoice automation can greatly impact the daily duties of employees that normally handle them. Plan the level of implementation Depending on what industry a business operates in, paperless solutions can pervade multiple departments, offices and procedures. A company may originally intend to only eliminate paper from one facet of the group, but discover the ease and cost savings such arrangements can provide. When Claire Maurer, associate vice president of adviser relations for Girard, decided her organization needed to go paperless, they didn't expect the extent the conversion would take them. "While it started out just going paperless, it evolved into a whole business automation process for the compliance and operations team at Girard," Maurer told Investment News. The firm incorporated electronic signatures and more advanced workflow tracking to improve performance beyond eliminating a few boxes of paper in the office. When companies make the shift toward paperless operations, they also have the opportunity to automate certain areas such as transactions and bookkeeping. This undertaking can reduce the number of errors that occur during manual data collection. In addition, it's a lot harder to lose something filed correctly on a hard drive than in a desk. Organizations need to decide before implementing paperless solutions just how widespread they want eco-friendly initiatives to spread so they can lay out the proper infrastructure to support its demands. Making every purchase count When a business relies on paper to keep track of a host of orders, payments and transactions, it needs an excellent filing system to handle everything accurately and maybe a dedicated team for sifting through the various papers to answer requests for information at a moment's notice. Although, when an organization decides to automate their invoices and purchase orders, the logistics of running a business become a lot simpler. One of the most obvious benefits to automating these processes is the increase in efficiency firms can see by removing the human component of file keeper roles, asserted LinkedIn. Getting rid of paper in the office creates a much cleaner environment that's conducive to tasks well beyond invoicing.