How To Go 100% Paperless In Your Business

Eliminating paper can help the environment, enhance business processes, build better relationships with customers, and make your office clutter-free. 
Did you know that one-third of North Americans prefer to work with eco-conscious businesses? Moreover, 70% of these customers are willing to pay 35% more for products bought from sustainable brands. These facts show a clear trend towards eco-friendly and sustainable practices in business. 
While it may seem tricky to make the jump to a virtual workspace, it is easier than you think. Read on to find out five ways to go paperless with the help of incredible software solutions. 

Using Invoicing Software 

Invoicing software saves up to 60% of invoicing costs by removing paper from your billing processes. Moreover, making the transition to e-invoicing can automate processes and save up to 25% of accounting time too. Given an invoice is not a legal document, the transition to a paperless billing environment is very accessible.

Here is how billing software can help enterprises go paperless:

• Invest in FreshBooks to use cloud accounting and save storage space used for paper invoices in your office.
• QuickBooks software can reduce the time spent on paper receipts by capturing, verifying, and processing bills electronically.    
• Invoice Ninja supports over 95 currencies and 45 payment gateways so that businesses can generate invoices for domestic and international clients without paper. 

Create And Store Documents Digitally 

Cloud-based software can help you create, store, and edit office documents virtually with maximum security and accessibility in stark contrast to paper billing. 
Here are three platforms that can help agencies and freelancers create a paper-free business:

• G Suite offers business tools like G Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Forms, which can be used to create, store, and collaborate without paper.
• You can edit and save office docs while creating and sharing folders on the cloud storage platform OneDrive for Windows users.
• Dropbox is a virtual document storage service that can scan receipts and retain documents seamlessly. 

Conduct Paperless Meetings 

Admins often run through reams of paper when setting a meeting or inviting participants. Switching to a virtual meeting space encourages digital presentations and reduces paper waste. 

The following is a list of three digital meeting apps that business owners can use to go paperless:

• Zoom is a video conferencing app that can help you hold meetings with up to 200 participants.
• Skype for Business can be used to hold conferences with up to 250 participants.
• Google Meet allows up to 100 participants while encrypting conversations. 

Hand Out Business Cards – Digitally 

Did you know over 2,400 trees are cut down to make 60 million business cards every day? While paper cards get lost, digital business cards are forever and can be easily edited without having to reprint a new batch of cards. Check out these two top digital business card providers:
SnapDat is a free mobile app available on the Apple App store that can be used for personal and enterprise purposes. 
Knowee is a paid virtual business card making service that can be supplemented with video for an enriched offering. 

Send Digital Contracts, Invitations, And Greetings

Going digital helps by keeping confidential data secure, accessible, and error-free. If you are wondering how switching to electronic communication can help you go paperless, take a look at the list below. 

• Google Calendar is a free way of inviting team members to events and meetings.
• Evernote is a digital way of making and presenting mobile offline notes so that you can eliminate paper memos.
• Instead of creating documents that need physical signatures, switch to digital contracts with DocuSign. 

Conclusion

Digitizing business processes helps to save paper, not to mention time and storage space. Conducting virtual meetings, storing documents on the cloud, and sharing paperless digital cards can help acquaint you with the process. You can even transform your accounting department with invoicing software. 
Get started with a 30-day free invoicing software trial of the Xero billing platform to assess the features and paperless potential. Using the tools available today, you can seamlessly convert your office into a paperless enterprise while enjoying a whole new level of efficiency.