5M’s of Document Digitization

Documents are part of every organization in one or the other form and handling/processing them become a cumbersome task when they are in bulk and when there is a huge number of documents to be processed manually.

Usually, an organization encounters the following major problems while dealing with its documents:

1. Manual Errors
   It is a common proverb that says “To err is to human”. Manual errors are a part of documents whether are missing document entries, misplacing documents, typing errors, or errors with digits in financial documents leading to losses. These result in rework to find and rectify the error caused and usually gets unnoticed due to the workload and is realized only when the error can’t be corrected. It is the most common problem encountered by staff members which is tiring, and time-consuming and is also responsible for about 62 percent of the cost being incurred by organizations for labor.

2. Managing Inefficiencies
   Efficiency in simpler terms is a ratio between the output and input. To improve efficiencies organizations usually tend to decrease their input as much as possible to reap the maximum output. But in the case of documents the scenario is worse, due to the number of documents generated daily, it is not only time-consuming but also laborious to manage the efficiency.

Other than this the type of information to be used from structured or unstructured sources makes the process more complicated and adds delay and further decreases the efficiency.

1. Maintaining Audit Trail
   Auditing is a process that helps in matching the to and from the movement of information in any kind of document. It is not as simpler as it seems in the previous sentence as it includes the individual matching the information on all the documents from where it has been used from. For example, in the case of Invoices- the manual invoice is to be matched with the Purchase Order (PO) and the Goods Receivable Note (GRN) to reconcile the entries and release the payments. But as the example states, the more the number of items in the invoice as well as the invoices generated/ received by any organization daily/weekly/monthly the job becomes more complicated, prone to errors and inaccuracies, and hard to deliver within the stipulated time.

2. Manual Data Entry
   Data Entry is a kind of job wherein an individual manually sits and enters the information on the documents in paper format in the ERP or other financial documents of the organization so as to ease the processing. But since it is being entered manually field by field, item by item, etc. by the individual the chances of typing errors, fields being missed and entries in wrong fields are common. These account for about tons of information being approved by top authorities and consumes too much time as well to digitize the information on the paper prone to errors and decreased accuracy.

3. Meeting Deadlines
   The documents usually in the form of invoices, contracts, bills, etc. are to be processed within a given time limit to be realized in the systems as well as for payments to be carried out. The increased workloads, busy schedules, and delays in approval leads to lost opportunities and tarnish the relationship between the stakeholders of the organization. Another challenge is the uneven workload and too much load during the last few days of the month-end or quarter-end or filing process.

Are you fed up with these M’s? Then it is time for your organization or business to consider automating the document digitization process to eliminate the errors, save time and improve your overall efficiency and accuracy.

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