To go paperless or not, is that really the question? I think not.  I am from a generation that used typewriters for term papers. I like to see and feel paper.  I enjoy a good cup of coffee with a newspaper, that is if you can find a newspaper anymore. But that really doesn’t apply to a document management system. You can still hold and look at paper with a good document management system.  However, document management is more about our most valuable asset… Time. 

The most significant reason to use a scan-and-organize application is to make operations become more effective. “Effective” relates to the total benefits received exceeding the cost of the system and its support. Anything that creates less revenue and more cost should not be considered. The good news is that many CPA firms have already discovered significant benefits by using systems that convert paper to digital data.
 
Information is forever expanding and there are more documents, more regulatory schedules, perhaps multiple W-2s, income from a number of employers and so on. This rising tide of paper is pushing up against the availability of people to do the work of collecting, sorting and filing. CPAs, both partners and staff, have a growing desire to maintain a quality of life. Performing clerical activities like manually making copies or storing documents wastes high salaried individuals’ time. It increases rather decreases firm operating costs.

When we first started looking at trial balance software ten years ago there was a laundry list of companies that we'd wade through for reviews. In reality, no company yet offered a complete collection of software  - trial balance, audit tools, paperless tracking - that we could label as engagement software.

Businesses outgrow their small business accounting package for any number of reasons. Surprisingly, it’s not a user count problem anymore– thanks to products like Peachtree Quantum and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions which offer multi-user solutions for small businesses. Rather for mid-market companies, system limitations tend to result from changes in the nature of their business –expansion into new product areas, new distribution channels, or new geographies. These are the business requirements that tend to separate the men from the boys and the business owner from her checkbook.