Munns stresses that document management can act as a powerful catalyst in helping businesses to streamline their operations and cut costs so that they can operate more efficiently and cost-effectively during times of economic instability.

With the latest UK unemployment figures hitting 2.03 million in January 2009, the highest since 1997, and with this expected to rise to more than 10% by the end of 2010, the future remains uncertain. Many organisations are expected to buckle under the weight of spiralling costs and deteriorating market conditions and the heightened prospect of banks restricting normal borrowing margins would see the recession further tighten its stranglehold on many businesses.

Lynne Munns, General Manager of document management and imaging company Version One, says, “There’s no doubt that many organisations are struggling to stay afloat. Most of these would acknowledge that improving cash flow whilst keeping costs low is fundamental to surviving the recession, however, how many recognise that investing in key systems, such as integrated document management, can be the most effective means of achieving this?”

Using electronic document management technology integrated into their accounting/ERP systems, businesses can automate and streamline their procure-to-pay and order-to-cash processes. By replacing the production, circulation and duplication of paper documents with automated processes, businesses cut costs, facilitate swifter cash collection and avoid late payment penalties. In addition, costly document storage space is freed-up and staff are no longer occupied with time-consuming administration tasks such as producing and posting copy invoices, enabling them to be redeployed on more value-adding tasks.

Munns comments, “It is more important than ever for organisations to run a lean operation and ensure costs are kept in check. Using integrated document management, businesses can save as much as £5 per transaction for processing outgoing documents such as purchase orders and sales invoices and as much as £50 for processing incoming documents such as purchase invoices. This is a significant cost saving which is key to recession survival.”