Reevaluate Your Relationship with Paper Forms
Do you really understand the cost of paper?
Have you ever considered the true cost of using paper forms as part of your business workflow? While the most obvious expenses — such as the cost of purchasing paper and allocating storage space for your physical documents — might already be on your radar, there are hidden costs that may not be as apparent. For instance, consider the time and effort your employees spend managing, organizing, and retrieving these forms. These tasks can quickly add up, impacting productivity and overall efficiency. If you’ve been hesitant to explore the transition to digital and online forms or are unsure about the return on investment (ROI), it’s time to take a closer look. In this blog, we’ll dive into how much your business could be currently spending on paper forms and uncover what could be the first step toward embracing a more streamlined, cost-effective solution.
The Costs You Know
Some of these expenses may already be on your radar, but when was the last time you reviewed the actual costs of all your office supplies? Consider how much you spend on paper and ink to print those forms. How do your employees complete them? Do they rely on clipboards, pens, or correction pens to fix errors? And what about the cost of storing all those physical documents — filing cabinets, storage boxes, and the office space they occupy? Do you physically store those documents or have someone rekeying information into your Cloud server? Now, imagine your employees accessing mobile forms on the devices they already use for work. How much could that reduce the overall cost of running your business? While these are some of the most obvious expenses associated with paper forms, the true costs don’t stop there. Hidden inefficiencies and time spent managing paper-based processes may cost you more than you realize.
The Hidden Costs of Paper
Time Wasters
The hidden costs of paper forms become evident when evaluating the time they consume. Employees spend valuable hours printing, distributing, completing, and filing paper forms — not to mention the time wasted searching for misplaced documents or correcting errors. Manual data entry and form processing further drain productivity, diverting attention from more strategic tasks. These inefficiencies add up quickly, turning what might seem like minor inconveniences into significant operational costs that hinder your business’s overall efficiency and growth.
Delays or Lost Paperwork
Delays and lost documentation are among the most significant hidden costs of relying on paper forms. Misfiled or misplaced documents can stall workflows, disrupt project timelines, and lead to costly errors or missed opportunities. Paper forms are also more prone to damage or loss, whether through accidents or environmental factors. By adopting a digital form automation tool like GoFormz, businesses can eliminate these risks, ensuring all documentation is securely stored (e.g. in Cloud storage), easily accessible, and instantly shareable. This not only reduces delays but also enhances overall operational efficiency, saving time and money.
Labor Costs of Managing Paper Documents
Another hidden expense is the labor cost associated with managing paper documents. If employees spend countless hours printing, organizing, filing, and retrieving paper forms, manual data entry further adds to the workload, increasing the likelihood of errors and duplication of effort. These inefficiencies can result in higher labor costs and reduced productivity. Transitioning to digital solutions, such as introducing Automated Workflows and digital forms, frees up employee time and reduces the financial burden of managing paper documents.
Why GoFormz?
GoFormz is a cutting-edge data capture platform that transforms your existing paper forms into identical digital replicas. Designed to streamline data collection and improve business workflows, GoFormz allows teams to complete forms on any device, from anywhere in the world. With real-time data sharing, Automated Workflows, and seamless integrations (e.g. Box, Google Workspace, SharePoint, etc.), GoFormz helps businesses save time, reduce costs, and boost efficiency. The intuitive no-code required Template Editor makes it simple for teams of all sizes to transition from paper to digital, unlocking a more productive and modern way to work.
“When we found GoFormz, we knew it was the perfect fit… the other solutions were too generic for what we needed. We needed to be able to customize the platform to exactly what we were doing… we needed it to change and grow with us.”
Whether you want to use GoFormz to digitize a collection of paper documents or just one digital invoice, GoFormz is your one-stop shop for all your digital transformation needs. To learn more about how GoFormz can save your business time and money, check out our savings calculator.
