At the beginning of the year, amid deafening noise, in many small companies, freelancers and private individuals, the document shredders were overheating again and the paper containers were overflowing. The reason: At the end of the year, the retention periods for many invoices, receipts and other documents had expired. This illustrates that there is still a lot of paper in circulation everywhere - with negative consequences.
This fact is proven by a current one Opinion poll from the document specialist Ephesoft. Accordingly, companies are moving towards automating their processes. However, they are making slow progress in digitally transforming invoice processing and other financial documents. 15 percent of respondents said their organization was completely paperless, meaning 85 percent of companies were not. A third of companies are predominantly paper-heavy and are still a long way from intelligent automation. Only 30 percent use automation in accounts payable. Eleven percent say they use AI.
Paper-based document processing is inefficient
This not only creates unnecessary paper, but also high costs. With average processing costs of around twelve euros per invoice, a lack of automation slows down company growth, according to Ephesoft. Modern automation often reduces costs by 80 percent or more. Budget that could be reinvested in other areas!
GetMyInvoices automates preparatory accounting. Our solution collects invoices, bank statements and other accounting-related documents from thousands of different sources. The range extends from online portals to email inboxes to third-party solutions such as invoice creation tools. In addition, documents that arise on the go, such as receipts, can be easily captured using the scanning app and uploaded to the cloud solution. All documents can be managed at any time via the web browser, with information being read out automatically. The banking module enables automatic reconciliation of account transactions with invoices. In addition, the desired documents can be forwarded directly to other solutions such as accounting software or to the tax advisor.
It’s best to do it digitally right from the start
This shortens the processing time for invoices etc. By eliminating media disruptions, accounting becomes less prone to errors. Documents that are available digitally can be easily stored in accordance with the principles for the proper management and storage of books, records and documents in electronic form and for data access (GoBD). Because there is no reason to print them out anymore. Scanned receipts may be destroyed because the app meets the requirements for replacement scanning. This means that individual receipts can be chopped up little by little and no longer have to go into the shredder in bulk at the beginning of the year. This also means that companies can ensure data protection even more effectively when working from home. Because there are no longer any pieces of paper lying around the apartment where you can easily see them. Another advantage: In contrast to printed thermal paper, the information remains readable throughout the entire storage period.
It is best to work digitally right from the start, i.e. to ensure that paper receipts are not created in the first place. To achieve this, we recommend that you informally write to your suppliers who still send you invoices by post and ask them to make the documents available digitally in the future. This is possible, for example, via an online portal or by email. Then you just need to do a one-time setup in GetMyInvoices and then the invoice management solution will do the rest. Your paper shredder may even stay in the basement forever. The neighbors are happy.
Take advantage of the beginning of the year and lay the foundation for less paper! Try GetMyInvoices free for 14 days!
