Have you ever wanted to check something in a contract but couldn't find it? Or there were so many versions of a digital document that you didn't know which one was the current one? Maybe you had it as a document, but you're not sure if it's the latest version because the partner changed it and didn't send it back? Are colleagues working in the home office unable to access the contracts?
The solution to these problems is to digitise the physical contracts and store them in the digital repository we offer.
The project can start with physical contracts (we then perform the scanning and optical character recognition, or OCR), but if the scanned documents are already available as images or PDFs, they can also be uploaded to the digital repository, where OCR is performed afterwards. The latter also applies to contracts that already exist only in digital format.
Optionally, we can capture some of the key data of contracts so that they can be searched.
The cost benefits of the project are:
- Live contracts do not need to be stored in cabinets, so a smaller office is needed. Digitised contracts can be stored off-site in a rented warehouse or destroyed by certified archiving (rent savings).
- Searching for contracts no longer requires manpower and is now done by free text or data field search in the digital repository (saving on labour costs)
The following small example will try to quantify the savings potential.
Assumptions:
- From active client contracts in the office are in 5 folders, 120 per folder, for a total of 600 (they fit in 1 so-called D box in the filing cabinet, for simplicity)
- On average, 3 contracts (0.5%) need to be retrieved per month, the administrator can find the right document in 5 minutes
- Office rental fee EUR 13
Calculations:
In the example above, the box costs HUF 159 per month if stored in an office and only HUF 100 per month if stored in a filing cabinet, so the monthly saving is HUF 59. However, the search costs take this saving away, as the search cost increases to 1350 HUF per month, whereas in the office it was only 562,50 HUF, so the active files are not worth storing in a rented box.
What happens when we go digital? This involves a major one-off investment, in our example the cost per page is 16 HUF, so a total of 9600 HUF. But in return, the search cost becomes zero, so we save 562,50 HUF in addition to the 59 HUF we can save with the wage storage. The total of the two is therefore HUF 7458 per year the project pays for itself in just over a year.
Many documents that are no longer actively used need to be kept by companies. The retention period is regulated by law (see details in the knowledge base), for example accounting documents must be kept for 8 years, while payroll and employment documents must be kept for up to 75 years. But the benefits of digitisation are being felt in many industries effective solutions help companies to optimise their workflows.
Previously, archiving could only be done physically, typically in archives run by specialised companies.However, since 2014, so-called Authentic archiving has been possible, which means that under certain conditions it is possible to store documents only in digital form, while destroying physical documents (see also the knowledge base for the rules on this).
The advantages of authentic archiving compared to physical archiving are:
- Virtually no storage costs
- Virtually no search costs
- Archive documents are immediately available
But these benefits are offset by a one-off investment: the cost of digitisation. As this is significant, not all documents are worth archiving authentically, and this is typically worthwhile in two cases: either if the documents need to be kept for a very long time (e.g. payroll and employment records), or if the archived documents need to be searched relatively often (e.g. examination documents).
The following small example will try to quantify the savings potential.
Assumptions:
- From documents are in 5 folders in an external file cabinet, 120 per folder, for a total of 600 (they fit in just 1 so-called D box in the file cabinet, for simplicity)
- The minimum quantity to be sought is the minimum, so this cost is neglected in the calculation
- Storage cost 100 Ft/box
- The documents are currently in ring binders and genotherms, from which they must be removed
- Half of the documents no longer need or should not be stored, so there is no need to make certified copies
Calculations:
In the example above, you can see that the monthly storage cost of the box is HUF 100. Since half of the documents can be destroyed, there is no need to digitise them, only to prepare and destroy them, at a cost of HUF 4.1 per page. The remaining documents will cost 4 + 8 + 3 + 0,1 HUF per page for authentic archiving, i.e. 15,1 HUF, for a total of 5760 HUF (300×4,1 + 300×15,1 HUF)
The investment of HUF 5760 is compared to a return of HUF 1200 per year, i.e. the project will pay for itself in 4.8 years.
The digital mailer is the unit that digitises all paper mail that comes into the company and uploads it to a digital archive. This function can be built in-house or outsourced in its entirety. In this case, the company mail is redirected to a mailbox that can be picked up by our colleagues and the digitisation (which includes scanning, OCR and data capture) is done in-house.
If required, digitisation can be combined with certified copying and destruction, but if the client is more conservative, paper documents are stored off-site.
As some of the incoming documents are now also received electronically, the digital mailer will also receive them via a dedicated email address or FTP hosting. In this case, scanning is not required, only the document's identification data.
The benefits of digital mailing are:
- Paper and electronic document management becomes uniformly electronic
- No need to store paper documents in the office, no need to physically search for them
- Documents are instantly and remotely accessible
- Access to documents can be regulated in detail
- Reduced document loss rates
When selling a company or transferring a portfolio of contracts, the buyer conducts due diligence to check that the information provided by the seller is correct. During due diligence, lawyers, financial and tax advisors review the company's documents.
In the past, the scans were physically carried out in an existing room, the data rooms, where experts could enter and look at the requested documents. Nowadays, however, virtual data rooms, where documents can be viewed remotely and digitally by authorised persons, are becoming more common.
The advantages of a virtual data room compared to a physical data room:
- No need for a negotiator
- No need for a physical meeting
- Several customers can have the screening done at the same time
- The fact of due diligence can be hidden from company employees
- No risk of documents going missing
- The possibility to search documents with a free-word search, which speeds up the work of experts
- Control the right of access (which experts can see what)
The project can start from physical documents (we then do the scanning and optical character recognition, or OCR), but if the scanned documents are already available as images or PDFs, they can also be uploaded to the digital repository, where OCR is done afterwards. The latter also applies to contracts that already exist only in digital format.
Optionally, we can capture some of the key data in your documents so that you can search them.
