right to the root, or why scanners rule

computer keyboard with finger pressing "go paperless" buttoncapture source documents as efficiently as possible.

by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless 

one of the keys to optimizing production processes is capturing information at its “root” source. this means when data enters your firm, regardless of the format (mail, fax, email or on a flash drive).

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ideally, documents would be provided to the firm in a digital format such as secured email or preferably through a web portal, but the reality today is that a significant portion of accounting firm source documents arrive from clients in a traditional paper format. your firm will need to develop processes to efficiently scan, name and store these documents.