Paperless office

Paperless office

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Hi,

I'm just about to setup in practice and will be providing typical general practice compliance services to my clients such as accounts prep, self assessment, personal/corporation tax, co sec, payroll services etc.

I am keen on setting up a paperless office and would welcome any advice from people who have already setup a paperless office and any suggestions you might have as to which software I should consider and reasons why?

Many thanks,

Ahmad

Replies (33)

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By CA-London
18th Aug 2015 09:07

A scanner and cloud server

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By hje
18th Aug 2015 09:28

And

clients who only use computers and never need anything posting.

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By Healthpay
18th Aug 2015 09:30

Definitely!
We are as near paperless as we can get. Essentials are Evernote teamed with a scanner that talks to it (Fujitsu Scansnap), a Gmail business account using Google docs to store all the PDF docs we send out, a decent PDF printer (bullzip) and a multi layered backup strategy - an onsite NAS, secure cloud and imaging PCs to the NAS weekly.

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By Captainblack
18th Aug 2015 12:03

Scanner, NAS and Sugarsync

We scan everything, store it on a NAS with RAID (separately backed up each night) and duplicated in Sugarsync. Works well.

Captain

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By Ian McTernan CTA
18th Aug 2015 12:39

Often wondered..

I've often wondered whether all that time spent scanning things is worthwhile, and what checks you have in place to ensure all documents are fully scanned (humans involved- mistakes will be made).

Classic one I have seen so far is client submitting bank statements double sided and the 'paperless office' accountant failing to even notice that the documents they had scanned and carefully securely stored on a cloud based system only contained half the required information for the Revenue enquiry.

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Replying to kevinringer:
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By roblpm
18th Aug 2015 15:43

We use Invu (Iris Opendocs)

Ian McTernan CTA wrote:

I've often wondered whether all that time spent scanning things is worthwhile, and what checks you have in place to ensure all documents are fully scanned (humans involved- mistakes will be made).

Classic one I have seen so far is client submitting bank statements double sided and the 'paperless office' accountant failing to even notice that the documents they had scanned and carefully securely stored on a cloud based system only contained half the required information for the Revenue enquiry.

As opposed to someone filing a piece of paper in the wrong file never to be seen again? Getting thrown away as a pile of paper on someone's desk gets cleared?

Assuming a practice receives thousands of pieces of paper a year I would suggest that there is always going to be an error rate. Surely the aim is to reduce this as much as possible rather than be perfect?!

We have been using Invu for 8 years and whilst not perfect we have lost very little!! We have no files at all. ICAS seem to have got used to it and our last quality review went by with no issues.

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By Captainblack
18th Aug 2015 14:01

It's true, you have to be diligent about the scanning and checking but we have found the downstream benefits to be worth it.

Captain

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By Healthpay
18th Aug 2015 14:40

Duplex

The scanner I use is duplex , so that catches the missed side problem!

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By PK Group
18th Aug 2015 15:18

Receipt Bank

Hi Ahmad,

We can recommend a software called Receipt Bank (http://www.receipt-bank.com/) - It's a great way to reduce paper in the office and avoid data entry. 

Kind regards,

PK Group

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By happy
19th Aug 2015 11:43

Another suggestion

Wouldnt be without this - 

http://www.techhit.com/messagesave

I havent used a paper file now for years.

 

 

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By partner55
19th Aug 2015 12:21

Another idea

We moved from Invu to Virtual cabinet which works quite well,

You have a lot of choice about how the files are structured.

 

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Replying to Matrix:
By jon_griffey
19th Aug 2015 12:31

Why?

What were your reasons for moving from Invu?

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Derek French
By derek44
19th Aug 2015 12:31

Paperless Office

If the original poster is only just starting-up then software systems like INVU, Virtual Cabinet and Docusoft (which I work with) would be overkill. I like Healthpay reply for a startup office using a Scansnap scanner and bundled software makes good economic sense.

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By pauljohnston
20th Aug 2015 12:03

Docusoft

In my opinion it is a false enconomy to buy cheap now and up grade. 

We started paperless in 2002 and have been through a number of packages.  Each time one changes there is a large learning curve.  We have used docusoft for a number of years and as we have grown we have taken on additional licences.  I suggest you call them www.docusoft.net and see what the cost is.

A duplex scanner is an essential.  Scansnap is great but I would probally go for a colour laser sheet fed scanner (duplex) as a good tool see http://www.printerland.co.uk/Colour-Multifunction-Printers-C6.aspx for some ideas

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By Healthpay
20th Aug 2015 12:13

They are!

The Scansnap range are colour duplex sheet feed, except for the small portable one which is only single sheet, but still colour duplex

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By Mr_awol
20th Aug 2015 12:22

Second monitor

Paperless working takes longer at first (possibly forever) but a second screen narrows the gap in my experience

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By Ahmad-Q
20th Aug 2015 12:40

What about Office 365?

Thank you all for your comments which have been very insightful.

Has anyone any experience with Office 365?

As a new startup, I am very cost conscious. At £7.80/month per licence per user, Office 365 seems to offer very good value considering you get all the MS Office applications (Word, Outlook Excel, PowerPoint etc.) you also get access to One Drive for business where files can be stored and shared, and you also get access to SharePoint which is effectively an intranet site where you can create your own filing structure and store/share files etc?

Would be good to hear real experiences?

Thanks,

Ahmad 

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accountant in london
By Accountant in London
20th Aug 2015 22:06

I use two large flatscreen all in one desktops. One screen for reading and another for working.switching between the two constantly. So i hardly print anything just to read it. Also use drop box. Helps with storage of documents and sharing documents between the two desktops. Have a good scanner.

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By Tim Vane
20th Aug 2015 22:40

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Two monitors is at least one too few. Three monitors is the minimum for efficient working.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
By Penfold
20th Aug 2015 23:43

for the last 10 years ...

Tim Vane wrote:

Three monitors is the minimum for efficient working.

 

absolute minimum,

try 6 - mind-blowing profits :)

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By DHillside
21st Aug 2015 10:55

We use Docusoft
We started with Invu and hated it so much that we dumped it in favour of Docusoft which although not perfect is fine. Their support leaves a lot to be desired but the software is good and we now can't imagine how we managed without it. I have four screens and may upgrade to six. Anything less than four is so 1990s

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By lme
21st Aug 2015 11:01

The app "to pdf" can be much quicker than scanning

Also, for practice software, we have found Digita to be excellent.

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By Henry Nathaniel
21st Aug 2015 11:47

A very versatile cloud based co sec solution

I should declare an interest here....since it is my baby...but Inform Direct (please see www.informdirect.co.uk) could be ideal for your co. sec needs.  It is comprehensive, simple to use and the diary feature gives you plenty of warnings about upcoming deadlines for your clients.

There are stacks of testimonials from accountants of all sizes extolling the time they save.

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By greybeard
21st Aug 2015 12:08

Using since 2008

We have used DMSPRO from docmansolutions.co.uk since 2008. The file structure is excellent and all documents are scanned into our cloud system along with all emails in and out and client correspondence going both ways. Not expensive and easy to use.

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By Charlie Carne
21st Aug 2015 13:06

New practice software solutions

My suggestion would be to start by deciding what key applications you want to use and then look at how to store ancillary documents. You say that you “will be providing typical general practice compliance services to my clients such as accounts prep, self assessment, personal/corporation tax, co sec, payroll services etc”. You will, therefore, need a bookkeeping package (preferably one that incorporates a payroll module) and software for final accounts preparation and tax (personal and corporate). You will also need a good email solution, general office products (word processing and spreadsheets) and file storage. You may want co sec or CRM solutions, but I’d look at those once you’ve sorted the basics.

As part of setting up a paperless office, you should consider having all of your data stored online. This can either be in a selection of cloud products or via a hosted desktop solution (or, more likely, a combination of both). By ‘cloud’, I mean software that all users access through the same front-end (usually via a web browser). By ‘hosted’, I mean a virtual Windows desktop that runs on your provider’s servers (so that they are responsible for fixing and updating it and keeping it virus-free), accessed via remote-desktop software (such as RDP or Citrix). You may decide to use a cloud bookkeeping solution, as there are now many sophisticated options to choose from, but have your tax and final accounts software in a hosted environment.

Bookkeeping
I would certainly recommend going for cloud rather than desktop packages. This is undoubtedly the way of the future and, as a new practice starting out, desktop is very “last century”. My personal preference is for QuickBooks Online (QBO), as I find that it is very easy use to use (especially for less than financially savvy clients), yet offers superb reporting. Other options to consider include Xero, which is also an excellent product, and ClearBooks. I’d also take a look at KashFlow (now owned by Iris) and FreeAgent.

Tax and accounts production
At the moment, there are very few options in the cloud for these solutions. I’ve not used any, but there are some posts on AWeb that you may wish to check out. Instead, I use TaxCalc for tax and VT for accounts production, both of which are desktop solutions and I find them both to be first rate. TaxCalc can also do accounts production, but I have not used that module. Although TaxCalc remains a desktop product, they did recently announce a CloudConnect product that hosts the data in the cloud, whilst the application software continues to run on your local machine, which may prove a useful, hybrid solution. There are numerous other applications which you can find in posts on AWeb and I would recommend that you review them, too. Had you posted this question a couple of months ago, I would have recommended that you visit Accountex, as that would have given you a great opportunity to look at all of the market-leading solutions. Next month AWeb are running their Practice Excellence conference, which you should attend.

Office products and email
You mention Office 365 and I would strongly recommend this for its powerful (and very cheap) Exchange functionality to run email, calendar and contacts, as well as a relatively cheap licensing of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. I described the three key versions of O365 here. The alternative is Google’s solution, but I think that Microsoft still has huge advantages over Google in this area. I certainly would avoid running email via POP or IMAP mailboxes, as Exchange is so much more efficient.

Hosted desktop or cloud and local storage
If your main software products are hosted in the cloud, then you have less need for a hosted desktop, though this still may be a valuable option. Much will depend on whether you work alone or with colleagues with whom you need to share files and/or applications. For example, I use a hosted desktop for all of my files and for running TaxCalc and VT but, as I use Office 365, Outlook can run on my local PC and is fully synchronised (and thus backed up) in the cloud. If my tax and accounts production were also in the cloud, I’d stop using a hosted desktop completely, as my only external need would then be for file storage and backup. I’m still not convinced by SharePoint or OneDrive (both of which are included within an Office 365 solution) as a reliable, sole repository for all of my files. They work excellently as back-up (and for access anywhere), but have not really been designed to be the definitive source for all of a company’s data. There is a lot of overlap in functionality between SharePoint and OneDrive, which is confusing, and OneDrive for Business is surprisingly not as sophisticated as the totally different (despite being similarly named) OneDrive Personal. The reason for this is that they were originally totally different products that Microsoft re-named. The business version, for example, is limited in the number of files and depth of hierarchy that can be stored, which may not be an issue for a start-up, but can cause serious problems if migrating an existing collection of data. If OneDrive for business had an unlimited (or very high) quantity for file storage and was reliable enough to be used as one’s sole file repository, I would embrace it as warmly as I have Exchange (which is superb via Office 365). In the meantime, there are a number of excellent hosted desktop providers. Hosted Desktop UK and Hosted Accountants are both very well reviewed by AWeb users and specialise in accountancy practices, though that is not necessarily a great advantage unless you need someone experienced at regularly updating hosted products like Sage.

Document scanning and sorting
Many of the comments on this post have focused on the word “paperless” in your question and have advised on solutions that sort and file documents as they are scanned or received in your email system. These can be very useful, but are not critical and I would start building your practice by reviewing the general hosting, bookkeeping, tax and accounts production tools, as these are key. Once that is all set up, you may wish to consider the document management tools or you may find that you can manage this using a standard Windows file hierarchy structure.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By Ahmad-Q
24th Aug 2015 09:07

New practice software solutions

Wow, what a fantastic and comprehensive response CharlieCarn, thank you so much!

I have signed up with Office 365 and have started to getting to grips with it. I'm planning to use SharePoint for my file repository (I think this will work for me at this stage, and the early years of my practice) and will take it from there.

I would like to have an integrated solution as far as possible with Practice management, bookkeeping, accounts production, Co Sec, Tax etc as I want to minimise duplicating data entry accross different software packages, so I am looking into IRIS/Digita for these. I will also look into your suggestions above and try and evaluate the best solutions.

Thanks again for your response.

Ahmad

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By sjfbarrett
21st Aug 2015 23:01

Invest from the start

I started my practice two years ago and took the decision to invest in software from the start, as I wanted to aim for a paperless office.  I went with Digita and Virtual Cabinet, both of which are reasonably expensive, but work together.  As someone else said instead of scanning, you can send documents from Digita straight into the filed section of Virtual Cabinet.  They really do work very well together.  As others have also said it's worth looking at what applications you are going to use across the board, where you want to be and whether the applications will be able to grow with your practice.  There's nothing worse than having to change software!  

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By Gone Sailing
23rd Aug 2015 18:42

Client Task Management (Sole Practitioner)

Requirements:

Chronological listing (ie diary record) for each client of all emails / letters / phone calls / notes - esp work completed / accounts / filings / links to other working docs / etc.Automatic sync to email (Outlook) so that emails insert themselves in to the diary.Clickable links to the docs / spreadsheets etc - in the chronologyFollow up reminders (this should be client specific to avoid the Outlook task bombardment scenario)Desktop / online sync (ie. can use it on PC when internet down, and from smartphone/tablet when out and about)

Do any of the above or others do this? I am unable to find it clearly described on any of the websites.

 

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By Cloudcounter
24th Aug 2015 10:10

Be careful

if you use any storage system based on a directory tree and accessed using Windows Explorer.

It is all too easy to inadvertently drag a file or folder, or even a whole bunch of folders, into the wrong location.  The files are lost and you either spend time hunting for them or stumble across them at some later date.  The search facility in windows is often not a lot of use in such circumstances

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By Gone Sailing
24th Aug 2015 14:29

Office 365 Journal

Has anyone used the Off 365 Journal function (as in diary - not DR/CR).

This was a little hailed function of earlier versions of Outlook.

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accountant in london
By Accountant in London
25th Aug 2015 08:19

Drag and drop vs cut and paste
Regarding drag and drop, yes it can be very dangerous and can easily misplace the file. I therefore tend to use cut and paste the file by opening the folder.

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Replying to accountantccole:
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By Maslins
25th Aug 2015 17:04

I imagine it's more accidents

Accountant in London wrote:
Regarding drag and drop, yes it can be very dangerous and can easily misplace the file. I therefore tend to use cut and paste the file by opening the folder.

If you try to do either deliberately it's fine.  The problem comes when you try to "just" click something, but your hand moves slightly on the mouse whilst clicking and you inadvertently shift it somewhere useless.  Especially bad when you don't notice at the time.

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Torben Halvorses owner of PaperLess Document Management for Sage
By torbenhalvorsen
25th Aug 2015 17:02

Going PaperLess

Hello Ahmad,

That depends on the type of approach you want but the best option is to go for a document management solution that integrated with your accounting software and that also helps you reduce manual data input. PaperLess software integrates with both Sage 50 Accounts and Sage 200 Business Suite, allowing to link all documents directly to the transactions you have in Sage.

If you need any further help please do not hesitate in contacting me.

Kind Regards,

Diogo Cavazzini

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