When you think about bookkeeping, you may picture a desk littered with papers, forms, files, and a trusty calculator. It makes sense – for many years, accounting and bookkeeping revolved around hard copies. While the traditional bookkeeping ways of the past might bring about a warm feeling of nostalgia, today’s businesses are getting ahead by adopting technologies and innovative mindsets.
The ways of bookkeeping have evolved, and one such evolution involves ditching the photocopier and three-hole punch in favour of more streamlined, paperless methods. Making the switch to paperless bookkeeping sounds inconsequential, but the truth is it can start a cascade of positive effects that will ripple throughout your business – especially in those traditionally paper-heavy industries like contracting or landscaping.
Embrace Paperless Bookkeeping and Reap the Rewards
We’ve compiled seven of the most compelling benefits to paperless bookkeeping in business so that you can say goodbye to papercuts and shredders, and say hello to a brand new, headache-free bookkeeping experience.
1. Reduce Costs
At the end of the day, no business is looking to shell out superfluous funds. When it comes to bookkeeping, one simple way to reduce expenses is to ditch the office supplies and go entirely digital.
Paper, ink, toner, photocopiers, and all other office equipment involved in keeping physical records can really add up over time. Adding to this the time spent retrieving files and searching through hard copies and the space needed to store those files, there are a lot of potential savings on the table for making the switch to virtual bookkeeping.
2. Increase Data Security
It might feel like the most secure way to protect your files is to keep them under literal lock and key, but this is an outdated view of modern security.
Leveraging cloud storage techniques for your bookkeeping documents is a more secure method than storing sensitive information on paper files. Digital documents can be encrypted and kept secure through multiple layers of protection, and access to those documents can be restricted and granted only to trusted users.
3. Improve Efficiency
No matter how adept you are at bookmarking and filing physical documents, you simply can’t “ctrl-f” a stack of papers.
When you adopt paperless bookkeeping and opt for an entirely digitized filing system, locating the exact document you need at a moment’s notice is a pinch. Never again lose time and energy rifling through filing cabinets and save yourself a lot of stress in the process when you switch to paperless solutions. Plus, digitizing your books helps you to avoid duplicates and maintain an organized system that runs like a well-oiled machine.
4. Enhance Accessibility
The thing about paper files is that you have to be physically in the same room for them to be useful. In an increasingly digital and remote world, this can be extremely limiting.
In contrast, going paperless and opting for cloud bookkeeping means that you and your trusted employees and partners can access documents in a moment’s notice anytime, anywhere. Especially for those working with a remote or hybrid workforce, this increased accessibility does wonders for optimizing workflow and streamlining processes.
5. Protect Against Disaster
A major advantage to storing data on the cloud is that no physical disaster will place those files at risk. Should your office be the victim of a fire, a robbery, or any other sort of emergency event, your bookkeeping information remains safe and sound in the digital world. Even if your tech hardware gets destroyed, those files are easily accessible through other devices.
6. Facilitate Workplace Collaboration
Paperless bookkeeping paves the way for streamlined communication, collaborating, and file sharing. The days of waiting for the trademark screech of the fax machine are behind us; seamlessly and effortlessly share pertinent files with employees, colleagues, and partners with digital accounting and bookkeeping solutions. Plus, it makes working with expert virtual bookkeepers (like yours truly) a pinch!
7. Protect the Environment
Of course, reducing the amount of paper consumed will lessen the negative environmental impacts of doing business. Producing one kilogram of paper requires two to three times its weight in trees, and anywhere from two to thirteen litres of water are needed to produce just a single A4 sheet of paper. In addition to all practical benefits of adopting paperless bookkeeping, it’s another push toward a greener, more environmentally conscious future.
Explore Paperless Bookkeeping Solutions
Here at AIS Solutions, we’ve been 100% virtual for many years, and we know a thing or two about the value of paperless business operations! We provide cloud bookkeeping and accounting and tax services, virtual support, and seamless software integration, to name a few of our specialties in the realm of digital bookkeeping solutions. Contact us to learn more about the benefits of paperless bookkeeping and how we can help to move your business forward in a modern landscape.
