The Cost of Going Paperless

In an effort to become more environmentally conscious, there has been a trend among businesses across a wide array of industries to go paperless. What may have first sounded like a radical idea is now commonplace as businesses have realised there is more than just an environmental reason to go paperless: it can also reduce costs.

While a paperless model may work for some businesses, it’s not always going to be beneficial. Some businesses encounter what is described as an opportunity cost when they move to a paperless system. If you’re a business owner who has been thinking about going paperless, it’s important to understand the full cost.

Here, we’ll take a look at how much it can cost to implement systems that replace paper, the potential cons of adopting this approach, and which industries are better suited for the paperless model.

How Paper-Dependent Is Your Company? Identifying Paper-Based Systems and Processes

A good place to start when determining the true cost of going paperless is to do an audit. A deep dive into how often and where paper is used in the company systems and processes is necessary. For larger companies, this can be a more involved audit that can take time, but it’s worth following through on.

What happens if paper is so integral to the company that the cost of going paperless is just too high? This is what the audit can point out. It may be that your company can’t make the move to paperless, or maybe it’s just not right at this time.

Do Your Customers Rely on Paper Communications?

While it’s important to look at how paperless systems and processes will affect the company, what about the customers? They are just as important, and their needs have to be considered. If customers are used to receiving paper invoices, receipts, communications, flyers, and so forth, you need to think about how the shift to paperless will affect them. 

Opting for digital invoices, receipts, and communications may work perfectly fine for your customers, but they will need plenty of notice. Let them know what your company is doing, and point out the positive environmental impact of going paperless. Customers should be given an easy way to contact you if they have any questions, well before switching over to the new system.

What About the Opportunity Cost?

This brings us to a potential negative in the quest to go paperless. Opportunity costs can be triggered in the process, which isn’t good for business. It could be losses in sales, potential new customers, and productivity. Opportunity costs can result in lost benefits or lost money.

Going paperless is guaranteed to have a domino effect, and not all of those effects will be advantageous. 

Implementing a Paperless System Comes at a Price

There is a great deal of focus on how much a company can save when adopting a paperless system. There’s no need to purchase paper, photocopiers, printers, and printer ink. And that is just the start of the savings. Without having to house endless stacks of paper documents, it means you spend less money on a filing system, need less storage space, and save time leafing through all that paper.

On the flip side, switching to a digital system to replace paper also incurs a cost. You’ll need to invest in new software and potentially train employees. Some industries, like online gambling, manage this transition more easily. For instance, casinos.com reviews all legal UK online casinos to highlight platforms successfully operating with minimal paper usage. However, other sectors, such as manufacturing, may find it more challenging.

Besides new software, you may also need to replace the hardware your business uses. Adding up the costs of new computers for all can be daunting. A good alternative can be to lease the equipment needed, but that’s not going to work for all businesses. 

Some Industries Are Better Suited to a Paperless System

The deeper you look into the cost of implementing paperless systems, the work involved, and the potential opportunity costs, it becomes clear that some industries are better suited to this setup than others. Some of the industries that tend to transition to a paperless model most easily include finance, healthcare, and education.

Healthcare, in particular, is already very deep into the paperless transition. It offers huge cost savings, but there’s also the benefit of having medical records more readily available. If the records exist digitally, they make it easy for various doctors and healthcare professionals to access patient data when needed. It’s fast and simple, and there’s no need to mail paper records back and forth.

Medical professionals can also update digital records in real time, making sure the data is always up-to-date and accurate. These are two very important factors in healthcare.

Make Sure You Know What You’re Getting Into Before Your Company Goes Paperless

Going paperless can be a wise move that positions your company in a positive light. Not only can it offer cost savings, but there is a feel-good angle that the company can then promote. Showing customers you care about them, the community, and the environment is always great, but it also has to make fiscal sense for the company. 

Make sure you perform an audit and factor in all costs involved with going paperless, including opportunity costs. Only then can you decide whether going paperless makes sense for your business.