Paper was once the backbone of all business admin. But the days of keeping physical copies of all records are long gone. With computers, tablets and even phones, documents can be created, signed, sent and organised in a matter of clicks. So why would we still use paper?
Paper could be one less thing you have to pay for. Working with software like Xero and Quickbooks eliminates the need to work with physical copies.
This way you can submit your returns quickly and easily within a secure digital system, saving you from working with and sending paper copies in the post.
Ink is also a big expense and paired with having to power a printer, there are definitely savings to be made for your business as well as the environment.
It is estimated that on average, a tree will produce up to 10,000 sheets of paper. That doesn’t go very far when there are 6m private sector businesses in the UK, with 7,800 of those being large businesses (as documented in 2020).
Trees store CO2 and the more we remove the harder it will be to combat climate change. On top of this, the energy required to produce paper only adds to the problem.
HMRC and Companies House have both made it easier to accept digital information over the past couple of years. It makes processing the information much more efficient for them while making the process easier for you as well.
This change brings environmental benefits, reducing the demand on postal services to send and receive information. With digital signatures now a viable option as well, emailing files back and forth saves businesses money and time with less need for vehicles in the process.
Virtual meetings have also made life easier for businesses whose staff now work from home. Now that meeting in this way has become the norm, people are travelling fewer miles in their cars to go to meet new clients or other businesses.
This comes with the bonus of reducing the chance to spread COVID from business to business
All paper has to end up somewhere. If it isn’t to be used for a permanent document, it could well end up in a recycling bin.
Not all recycling gets recycled. If we could cut the amount of paper we use we would in turn reduce the amount that is thrown away.
There are businesses that do more to combat this. Did you know that the toilet paper brand Who Gives a Crap recycles office paper into their biodegradable toilet tissue?
Everything you need will be in one place making your filing as streamlined as humanly possible… because there is no paper.
From your receipts to your payroll, everything will be digital and stored securely within a system. Dext allows you to completely digitise your receipt capture, making your data easily accessible. Gone are the days of searching through big folders full of receipts and reports.
We understand that not all businesses have fully implemented digital systems into their workflow. With Making Tax Digital, it is important you make the change.
There is plenty of advice, support and training available to get you up to date with digital systems like Xero, Quickbooks and all other digital accounting software.
Find out more about our training options and how we can support your business as it embraces digital.
Over the past four years, we have vastly reduced our paper usage. We have cut down on printing and enjoy the benefits of fully digital accounting. So we have taken a deeper look into what this means.
We used to order 10 reams of paper a month. With 120 reams a year we were going through 60,000 sheets of paper every 12 months – that’s roughly 6 trees!
So, to combat this we stopped cutting down the trees and cut down the paper usage instead. We now only need 10 reams of paper every 6 months, saving roughly 5 trees a year. It’s a start, and we aim to go further.
All that’s left is to put back what we took in the first place. So now we are pledging to plant 6 trees a year!
With the National Trust’s Plant a Tree fund, we can donate the money for 6 trees every year, replacing what we have used. We encourage you to take a look at their options – planting just one tree means a tone of CO2 will be stored from the air over the tree’s lifetime!