With so many activities halted due to Covid-19, homeowners across the UK have been getting stuck into DIY, deep cleaning and clearing out cupboards. It is an opportunity to finally shred or file all those old bills, bank statements and insurance documents accumulated over the years.
No matter how digital our lives become, it seems we cannot escape mountains of paperwork either at home or work. But even businesses with the most rigorous admin team and filing systems are sometimes unaware of the costs associated with printing and storing orders, invoices and receipts.
For a start, the average cost of one sheet of paper is around five pence. While this doesn’t sound like much, a firm with 25 employees is estimated to use 10,000 sheets of copy paper every year and wastes about 1,410 – which amounts to £12,000 spent on paper and £1,550 on wasted paper. By only printing when absolutely necessary, you’ll quickly save on paper, ink cartridges and equipment maintenance.
Another cost is the time staff spend posting out invoices or filing then searching for documents in cabinets and folders. Though common practice in many traditional offices, it is inefficient and can lead to mis-communication and poor service. A customer, who comes in with their materials requirements written on a piece of paper, is hardly going to be impressed if their order goes missing and they don’t get what they need for a job.
Given the problems linked to poor document management, it’s no surprise many timber and builders’ merchants are now sending and storing their records electronically. We’ve seen how firms could drastically reduce costs by thinking twice about printing, but a central document management system can improve cash flow too. Sending an invoice takes seconds, you save money on paper and postage and, importantly, you ensure it gets to the right person for prompt payment.
Moving away from paper allows staff to claw back time that would otherwise be lost trawling filing cabinets and franking mail, while owner-managers can view documents securely when working off-site. It also means teams are able to process customer orders quickly and accurately, and create a clear audit trail, by scanning the list, attaching it to a quote and storing it in the system.
There are other benefits to reducing your reliance on paper, of course. It helps to build a sustainable business, both in terms of costs and the environment. We shouldn’t underestimate the negative impact cluttered offices often have on employee morale either, nor the boost they get when they have time to talk to customers and play an active role in growing the company.
More important still are the security benefits electronic record-keeping brings. Losing documents is frustrating enough, without worrying whether sensitive personal and financial information has been compromised as well. Storing them in a secure location, using passwords and encryption features, enables you to shred paperwork immediately, knowing that information is still available to those with special permissions.
Whether or not the nation’s appetite for home improvement continues beyond the Covid-19 pandemic remains to be seen. Some householders are no doubt already itching to bring in tradespeople to complete projects too ambitious to tackle themselves, or else repair any DIY disasters from lockdown.
Whatever happens, now is the time to get your house in order and prepare for the coming months – and good document management is key to success. Driving down costs and improving cash flow means your business is well-placed to counter any challenges, while a focused and agile team helps you make the most of new opportunities.
