Today’s business climate means constantly being on the look out for ways to save more time. However, making those extra efficiency gains is becoming more and more difficult and it’s time for a radical rethink.

Some professional firms are doing just that. They are taking the time to look at the processes and the technology they use and are finding that they can save thousands of hours annually. One of the areas where the most exciting gains are being found is around document creation.

One much respected Top 50 accountancy firm has calculated that it is possible to save around 18 weeks of time per year producing a single tax return letter. How is this possible? Well, the team working on the project has designed a process that is one of the slickest I have ever seen with the document management software, practice management and tax software seamlessly working together. Instead of letters being created by the practice management system, they are now generated by the document management system. The practice management software populates the template with the client name and address and personalised tax data is sucked in from the tax system. It takes a matter of seconds to create the letter, which can then be published to the client using the integrated document portal in the document management system. The time saved is estimated to be four and a half minutes as there is no longer any need for any manual data entry where errors can occur. When multiplied across 9,000 returns, the savings equate to 18 weeks of time and this is simply the starting point. The team has calculated that each letter produced using the document creation feature will save between 30 seconds and a minute. The scale of the possible efficiencies is immense.

Whether you create one document a day or thousands, this change in thinking makes it possible to combine client and file data with standard text and to generate professional letters in a seconds. Put simply, legacy document management systems are just not up to delivering the level of efficiencies needed in this challenging business environment. It’s time to leave behind old ways of thinking and look to new ideas to save time.

It is now possible to generate, process, store, retrieve, update, authorise, sign-off, audit, duplicate, distribute, confirm, and integrate documents, anywhere anytime – all while meeting compliance and governance regulations. But it is automatic document creation, using integrated and innovative technology that is the new game-changer.

Author – Alison Jackson
Founder of document management specialists, Lindenhouse Software

Combining in-depth expertise with innovative document management technology, Lindenhouse Software (www.lindenhouse.co.uk) is one of the UK’s leading developers of electronic document management software for industry and commerce.

The company has a particular speciality for providing seamless integrated solutions that save time and money for professional firms, including Accountants, Insurance brokers and Financial Advisors.

Their Virtual Cabinet solution (www.virtualcabinet.co.uk) combines industry strength document management with secure client communication and the electronic sign-off of documents through an integrated portal. This innovation represents a major step forward in the professional markets served by Lindenhouse.