Tax Preparation Process Shows Promise, Peril of Document Imaging

I am a partner in a tax preparation firm and I am excited about what document imaging technology may do for our business in terms of efficiency, client satisfaction, and reduced costs. But I'm also concerned about being sued because of document imaging gone wrong.

There are some very interesting income tax preparation document imaging applications being developed; in fact, some such apps already quite well-developed. Here is the document imaging app called "Document eSort" from our software partner, Intuit.

Document eSort aims to give me, the tax consultant, the ability to scan an entire disorganized client folder (the proverbial tax receipt shoebox) and receive back, within 24 hours, an organized file that helps me do that tax return in less than half the time.

But what about client privacy of information? How can I guarantee that our clients do not see their social security numbers or other sensitive financial information stolen when it's passing through those Internet wires? Isn't it safer to keep that info in-house, off-line?

Addressing these security and litigation concerns should be a top priority of document imaging salespeople.

Document Imaging, Going Green, and Lower Costs

Going green is one of the most fundamental reasons for increasing the use of document imaging technology within an organization. But is going green through document imaging good business in the traditional sense? Meaning, of course, contributory to the bottom line.

The answer to how much of impact going green through document imaging will have in reducing costs of paper and ink obviously depends on the processes of the organization in question, but all companies should notice at least some level of cost savings if doc imaging is properly done.

Specific areas to target for waste removal include:

-- Payroll (invoicing)
-- Human resources
-- Financial reporting

By re-thinking each of these functions with green goals in mind, there is bound to be some dollars saved from the lower volume of printing and copying.

Pitching Cost Savings of Electronic Medical Records to a Skeptical Populace

Many Americans are angry, even furious, at Democratic Congressmen who are holding town hall meetings across the nation talking up the various Democratic plans to overhaul the medical system. Concerns are that such an overhaul will bankrupt everyone involved.

Democrats and others in favor of large-scale medical reform are countering these fiscal irresponsibility arguments by restating claims of how much money can and will be saved by making major changes to the system.

Document imaging is at the heart of such cost savings plans, because document imaging is the first step to moving all medical records into digital format. However, how much money can actually be saved through electronic medical records is uncertain.

Nevertheless, our current medical record-keeping technology systems can only be described as poor overall, as measured against other industries. David Goldhall points out some of these inefficiencies in his moving essay, "How American Health Care Killed My Father."

This is certainly a hot issue that will continue to be hotly debated.

Document Management Key Concept: Separate Silos, Linked

When using document imaging in hopes of developing a full-scale document management system, there are certain ideas that inform--or should inform--every step of the process. Especially if your organization is planning to purchase a robust software program for the document management system, it's essential to have the right ideas from the beginning.

One of the most important ideas regarding document management is "siloing" content appropriately from day one. By putting related content into the right silo, but still enabling each silo some degree of communication with the others, an effective document imaging system can be developed.

A good silo strategy is important, for instance, when working with Microsoft SharePoint. SharePoint has some great collaboration tools, but your organization is not going to be able to best use those tools if the actual content is hard to find or totally miscategorized.

Before and during the implementation of a document management system, it's wise to be putting the right content in the right silo. Make it a priority.

Document Scanning Fever Spreading Across the Globe

Market research firm IDC put out an interesting report on IT spending during the recession. Among the survey's findings is that scanner hardware shipments will rise 3.5 percent, to 1.3 million units, in 2009.

And much of this growth is due to document scanning needs outside the U.S.

India is one country in particular that is riding the document imaging wave. There are many Indian outsourcing companies that provide document imaging and scanning as part of their services.

The globalization of document scanning as a universal business practice even during a global downturn may be taken as an indication that document scanning can help companies become more efficient, even more profitable.

The ROI of document imaging is most immediately apparent in the elimination of manual labor-intensive tasks such as processing invoices. This is a good place to start.

And the world has started.

The Dangers of Outsourcing Document Imaging

Outsourcing document scanning and imaging to a third-party firm can be a great business decision. Often, the cost savings, efficiency, and expertise provided by outsourced document imaging services are more than worth the affordable cost.

However, there are dangers that business decision-makers must remain aware of.

First and foremost among the dangers of outsourcing document imaging are the security concerns. Document imaging outsourcing, after all, entails outsourcing documents. Some of the heaviest users (and beneficiaries) of outsourced document imaging are doctors, lawyers, and accountants. The documents handled by such people can be highly sensitive.

The second major danger of outsourcing document imaging is more vague but no less threatening. When a document imaging service does not understand the business processes of the company that has hired them, effective document management is impossible.

You are wise to ask about security and explain how your business works in detail before outsourcing a document imaging project to a third-party company.

Document Imaging Industry Building for Big Workload

We have blogged repeatedly about the Obama Administration's push towards electronic medical records and what this means for the document imaging industry. Namely, it means that the document imaging industry is about to get a lot bigger.

But bigger not only in terms of revenues and numbers of companies offering third-party document scanning and imaging service, but bigger, too, in terms of machinery capability.

Business users are starting to see this enlargement in the new round of high-capacity Multi-Function Printers, some of which are built to process literally hundreds of thousands of documents per cycle. Truly, these new MFPs are fully futuristic.

Currently, such machinery is pretty well-confined to large corporations like insurance companies. However, third-party document imaging providers themselves are increasingly purchasing these high-end MFPs and offering high volume service to smaller clients.

Over time, this enlargement in capacity at the input level should make it cheaper to scan all documents, rather than just the really important ones.