What is digital accounting? In the age of digitalisation, the administration of accounting documents no longer consists of scanning paper invoices! The management of digital accounting documents has now opened up new possibilities for AI and automated content extraction. These can help you perform accounting and other administrative tasks more efficiently and cost-effectively.
On this topic, our expert Zsuzsa Monek, CEO of DWS Digital, gave a presentation at the Accounting Automation and Technology Conference. The following is an extract from the presentation.
The main stages in the history of digital accounting from a documentary perspective
The evolution of digital document management has been a feature of business for some time - including digital accounting. The first steps were taken by scanning paper documents in the 2000s. This scanning process has resulted in the digitalisation of supporting documents (e.g. delivery notes, contracts), which are a basic requirement for all digital accounting.
Searching scanned accounting documents required a new IT solution. The 2010s saw the beginning of the digital document management revolution, i.e. the spread of document content recognition. This feature made it possible to search digital documents by their full text content.
Today, automation and AI can take digital accounting to a new level. The content of documents will be organised in a database, linked and intelligently retrieved.
Problems in the basics of digital accounting: digital document management
To present the solutions, let's first look at the concrete, practical problems:
- The vision has long been of a paperless office, but the reality is that in reality, there is still a smaller proportion of documents being generated digitally.
- Paper-based accounting documents must be organised, stored and sent for approval. This is inefficient, costly and can result in the loss of documents.
- Don't forget the unprotected PDF invoices that are sent to partners by e-mail. These are considered as traditional (paper) invoices. By law, they must be either printed or electronically signed and archived by the recipient (ITM 1/2018 (29.VI)). Digital document management and archiving is rarely implemented in reality due to the lack of an adequate IT environment.
- Authentic electronic invoices have many advantages, but the disadvantage is that there is no tangible document on which various processing data can be easily recorded.
- In addition, supporting documents (contracts, delivery notes, performance certificates) are still generated on paper.
The future of digital accounting - synthesising economic documents
The optimal introduction of digital accounting, i.e. the problem of digitising accounting documents, will not be solved by a multiplicity of invoicing programs, an accounting application or an ERP system! What is needed is a program that works with these systems. A synthesis software is the solution, a software that brings together the content and data within the company, without interfering with other software and the processes around them. It is along these principles that we have developed custom DocIT software, which has built-in AI functionality to help users manage documents efficiently. How does this work in practice?
DocIT is the right solution for digital accounting and thus for the management of financial documents. Paper invoices and accounting documents are scanned into the system. An important practical tip is that scanning must be efficient and fast, and the right tool must be chosen. DWS Digital's experts can help you choose the right scanning tool and design the right process. A multifunctional device can also be a good solution, as its email sending function can be used to send the scanned documents directly to the system and start the processing.
Documents and invoices received by email from the partner can be channelled into the DocIT system in the same way.
Bulk file uploads are also available in DocIT, even with FTP access. This feature is also useful if electronic files are already available. For example, if the organisation scans invoices or contracts, but has not archived them in a structured database so far, but manages them in a file manager, Google Drive. These can also be processed and archived subsequently by the DocIT system.
Ultimately, DocIT is a software application with the following key features:
- Electronic filing: DocIT allows you to manage your accounting and other documents digitally, online.
- OCR: full text content retrieval, search.
- Automation: the system automates the data processing processes, minimising data entry and administration activities.
- Authentication and security: DocIT enables the authentication and secure storage of documents, in compliance with the legal requirements (Government Decree 451/2016 (XII. 19.)).
- Connectivity with other systems: it is important that DocIT can be easily integrated with other systems, such as NAV Online Invoice, ERP, ERP, ERP, HR or Purchasing.
- Linking economic events: with just a few clicks, you can retrieve and display related documents. Imagine being able to retrieve all incoming and outgoing invoices, contracts and other documents related to a partner at the same time. With this solution, even a complex system can be reported in minutes instead of days or weeks of research!
Summary and full presentation
Managing online accounting material can be a significant challenge, but with the right software solution, these challenges can be easily overcome. The DocIT system is a powerful tool to speed up administration and reduce costs.
In the age of digitalisation, the only way to succeed in business is to manage processes effectively. DocIT contributes to maintaining and increasing competitiveness by helping to significantly reduce the time needed for administrative processes.
If you would like to watch the full presentation of expert Zsuzsa Monek, including a case study, please start the following video: