The Paperless Office - Are we there yet?

I love apps!

Not sure when the love began but one of the options for my Management Accounting Unit of my degree was “ Do Accountants Need an Office?” My discussion was predominantly “no” in 1500 words and formatted and referenced correctly obviously because I passed. What was really interesting is that I wrote that discussion piece somewhere between 1998 and 2002.

My sole decision for my firm “no” was based on my life. I was studying my degree around two kids “externally” because I lived nearly 700 kms from my University. My theory was if I could study an accounting degree without stepping foot on a University Campus surely the professional world would follow suit.

I used emails and normal mail so I had to be ultra organised, especially with deadlines. I do remember that this was the birth of multi-tasking for me. Because of dial up internet I knew I had enough time to visit the bathroom and make a cup of tea while my internet dialed up and my emails flew through. As it was dial up like many households this meant that I had to unplug my home line so if my family called and they couldn’t get through I was studying. My first DND.

And now?

My bookkeeping firm specialises in software setups for SME’s and at the time of writing I have clients from all over Australia so obviously I don’t see them and have conquered the paperless office…

I haven't owned a physical printer for over 6 years because the two times a year I had to use one, it took me longer to dust it than print 2 pages.

I actually do not have any paper from my clients. Any documents I need are electronically shared and stored through a combination of emails, shared online storage and apps that receive certain data for me.

I have not seen a shoebox of receipts in over 15 years….. Receipts are vital to substantiate business purchases but these days for me they come via an email, “snapped” directly into the accounting software or into a third party app like Dext or Hubdoc.

Do my clients like this? Hell Yeah! My first snap to receipt client was in Family Day Care, 3 months after her QBO install and awkward conversion with me went a little like this.

Me: “yeah, so now that everything is working and we are invoicing and have the bank feed we probably need to get a process in place where you the Business Owner gets me the bookkeeper all of your receipts, since you are 3000 kms away what would you be comfortable with?”

Her: “What do you mean, get you the receipts? Can’t you see them in QBO?”

Me: “ You put them in QBO already?”

Her: “Honey I hope so, you told me QBO has an app… I use it…. If I am out during the day please understand I have 5 little people under my care. If I am shopping for those 5 little people I don’t have the physical hand space let alone anything else for receipts… if I can’t snap it on my phone right then and there it could get eaten… literally”.

  

Sure enough she had over 300 receipts sitting in QBO… YAH!!!!

So her example was very specific to her but it highlighted a few benefits of paperless receipts;

1. Time saving
2. Ease of use
3. Storage
4. Getting them to the bookkeeper… (accountant)

From my side I have also enjoyed the paperless receipts for the following additional reasons;

1. Physical storage (where would I put paper receipts when I am mid job?), (how would I get them back to the client when finished?)
2. Readability - most receipts are on thermal paper so if not stored correctly they are useless to me (and you) within 3 months.
3. Communication Improvements - instead of a constantly nagging bookkeeper my clients get communication around more important things… like Debtors reports, profitability reports
4. Data entry - using the software available, data entry can be minimised,

If your Bookkeeper is OBSESSED with paper - get a new one. Harsh but true they are costing you time and money… and can’t use their software..

Would you go to a doctor that only used a stethoscope half of the time?

If that was triggering, get in contact …

Until next time

Melissa.