Jemina Boyd • April 8, 2022
But it’s not enough to have access to the right documents or data sets. They must be properly managed in order to deliver value and ultimately boost a company’s bottom line. That’s where document management systems (DMS) come into play.
Organizations such as nonprofits, academic institutions, hospitals, and other small and large businesses alike rely on massive volumes of information and data sets to effectively make business decisions, enhance connectivity, evaluate products and markets, and transact with stakeholders and customers.
As a result, they need to strategically store, manage, track, retrieve, and share digital documents like PDFs, Microsoft Word files, and digital images.
Document management systems provide an automated, singular hub for organizing these different formats of essential documents in the modern workplace and converting paper documents.
Often mistaken for a content management system, a DMS is largely viewed as a component of an enterprise content management (ECM) system that also includes digital asset management, workflow systems, document imaging, and records management solutions. Best-of-breed cloud-based platforms offer greater network security, governance, version control, and collaboration for businesses interested in modernizing their document management systems.
Unlike traditional, time-consuming legacy systems that lack flexibility, increase security risks, and are often incompatible with new technologies, these paperless systems are particularly advantageous for businesses seeking to expand their digital business objectives and automate processes. For example, by modernizing how Accounts Payable teams across industries manage their requisitions, invoices, purchase orders, receipts, and vendor contracts, these DMS solutions have empowered AP professionals to operate within a fully automated and efficient digital environment.
OCR Document Management Software
Optical character recognition (OCR) is a software technology utilized by modern document management systems such as PairSoft. When a document is scanned into the DMS, the OCR solution automatically “reads” it and converts the written or printed content into machine-readable text.
In PairSoft, the documents (like invoices, receipts, vendor contracts, and more) are then automatically “stapled” to the digital records, making them easily searchable and editable within the DMS.
OCR Applications:
Contracts, invoices, receipts, payments, checks, vouchers, purchase orders (POs), receiving reports, bank statements, endowments, donations, correspondence, proposals, images, etc.
As the cost of paper continues to skyrocket, the related operational costs of using a paper-based solution also steadily increase. An electronic document management (EDM) system can drastically reduce costs related to misfiled or lost documents, regulatory violations, paper and other resource waste, and common data entry errors. In fact, according to CPA Practice Advisor, an EDM can lower overhead costs by 30% to 40% and drive profitability and growth.
Prevent the pain points associated with disjointed workflows by digitizing mission-critical documents within a DMS that’s powered by artificial intelligence and OCR. By digitizing your documents and moving them into an electronic workflow to be reviewed, approved, and stored in an automated DMS, your organization can also:
Whether your team shares an office space or works remotely, a cloud-based DMS makes sharing and collaborating on various documents and processes much easier than traditional document management solutions. With a program like PairSoft, electronic documents can be shared as a secure link, so collaborating just takes one click. A DMS can also create audit trails that document who made an edit and when. Additionally, with integrated email capture, any correspondence related to a shared document is tracked and viewable.
When important documents are captured and saved in a robust, digital DMS, all featured content is archived and indexed with metadata. This allows advanced searching capabilities when someone needs to locate any and all data or text that has been digitized and stored alongside ERP records. Within seconds, complex searches yield accurate results, saving AP and other teams time, money, and energy.
Eliminate the need for costly file cabinets, boxes, storage bins, and oversized desks by adopting a modern DMS that stores documents in the cloud — and manages a paperless, automated workflow. Reclaiming valuable physical space not only creates room for alternative organizational solutions, but it saves money better allocated to improving business efficiencies.
A business can dramatically improve document retrieval speeds with modern document management systems. But considering that employees spend six days in a year, on average, trying to find documents, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Given the benefits of the advanced search function discussed above, it’s clear that a DMS makes retrieving documents easy and fast. Documents are sorted according to specific variables that make it exceptionally convenient to search for and retrieve them.
A DMS can arm an organization with key security features ahead of costly data breaches and other cyber threats. In addition to protecting the integrity and confidentiality of business data, the DMS can supplement other security habits undertaken by a business owner. Some of the most effective security features of an EDM include digital archiving, automated deletions and backups, document annotation and redaction, role-based user permissions, and multifactor authentication.
A DMS will help protect your company’s valuable data and promote advanced disaster recovery efforts in the event that servers are destroyed. A stable internet connection will ensure your files are backed up to the cloud. Cloud-based disaster recovery offers the peace of mind that business continuity can be maintained even if your organization’s operations have been disrupted.
In this ever-evolving age of information technology, it’s critical that businesses safeguard their document storage against any number of threats or inefficiencies. From reducing costs and enhancing security to offering advanced search and easier document retrieval, adopting and managing an electronic document management system has many benefits.
Schedule a one-on-one call with our team to learn more about how your organization could benefit from a DMS like PairSoft.
Jem Boyd has 10+ years of ERP strategic marketing and implementation experience across a variety of platforms. She specializes in developing PairSoft's platform relationships as well as campaigns with Microsoft, NetSuite, Sage, and Blackbaud. She is based in Nashville.
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