Author: Rachel Tilley
Fully understanding document management software can be a big job because of how much the software offers. At its core, it digitally stores business documents, providing one central location to access emails, contracts, invoices, delivery notes etc.
Document Management Software (DMS) is a web-based solution that allows businesses to securely store, organise, manage, and track electronic documents in one central location. By replacing paper filing systems, shared network folders, and informal online storage options, DMS introduces structure and efficiency throughout document processes. It’s designed to speed up how documents are stored, accessed, and processed often streamlining specific workflows, such as accounts payable.
Core features of document management software include version control, user permissions, automated workflows, and audit trails, all helping to boost efficiency, support collaboration, and ensure compliance. Our document management solutions empower employees to work more productively together, reducing time lost on approvals and document searches across multiple systems. There’s no longer a need to chase paper files or spend hours on manual data entry.
By using dedicated document management software, you eliminate chaos, minimise duplication, and prevent document loss allowing you to clearly demonstrate return on investment for every project.
Documents ArriveBusinesses handle thousands of documents every month: sales orders, purchase orders, emails, employee contracts, holiday requests, invoices, contracts, NDAs, drawings, complaints, company polices, tenders and more.
These documents arrive in a wide range of formats including physical paper, digital files, and email attachments. All of this is inbound data and often this is when implementing a structured process is the most challenging.
This variety creates a significant challenge: without a consistent and structured approach to handling inbound information, organisations risk inefficiency, duplication, and data loss. Documents may be misplaced, emailed back and forth with no visibility, or stored inconsistently leading to wasted time, increased printing costs, and a lack of control over critical business information.
Document management software addresses these challenges by creating a central, secure repository for all incoming documents. Paper records can be scanned directly into the system, while digital and emailed documents can be captured and indexed automatically.
With built-in access controls and process rules, a DMS ensures that documents are stored correctly and consistently. Duplication is eliminated, traceability is improved, and teams spend less time searching and more time acting on the information they need.
Accurate data is fundamental to the success of any business process. Whether it’s financial forecasting, compliance reporting, payroll processing, or day-to-day operations, poor data quality can lead to costly errors, inefficiencies, and misinformed decision-making.
A significant source of inaccuracy stems from manual data entry particularly when transferring information from paper documents into core business systems. These human errors, though unintentional, can create downstream issues that impact the entire organisation.
Our document management software eliminates this risk by automatically capturing and extracting key data from incoming documents. Critical information such as client names, dates, document types, and subjects is accurately indexed, forming the metadata used to quickly and efficiently retrieve documents when needed.
Captured data can also be seamlessly integrated with third-party systems including finance packages and ERP solutions ensuring consistent, reliable information across your entire digital infrastructure.
Storing documents in shared network folders like Google Drive can present significant challenges when it comes to version control. With multiple team members accessing and editing the same file, it becomes difficult to identify the most up-to-date version
This lack of control can lead to confusion, duplicated efforts, and even critical errors particularly if one employee is working on a downloaded version at home while another edits the same file online.
With a Document Management System, documents are stored securely and centrally, accessible only to authorised users with the appropriate permissions. Real-time version control is built into the system, ensuring that every edit is automatically tracked, time-stamped, and recorded.
Users can easily identify the latest version of any document, view the full revision history, and restore previous versions if needed. This not only improves collaboration and accuracy but also simplifies compliance and audit readiness giving your business complete transparency over its information lifecycle.
Maintaining separate systems for business data often leads to information silos. When employees input data into unconnected applications, it can create a range of problems such as wasted time cross-referencing documents, increased errors in reports, and difficulties making data-driven decisions. With each department using its own system, teams may lose sight of overall organisational goals and even process information in inconsistent ways.
Document management software breaks down these barriers by integrating seamlessly with a wide range of third-party applications, including finance systems, ERPs, housing and employee management platforms, Office 365, and more. This integration ensures data flows smoothly throughout your organisation, supporting accurate, efficient collaboration across every department.
Integrated document management software allows separate systems to share data enabling access to real time information. Where document management software is integrated with Sage for example, a number of things are possible.
The data captured by document management software can be pushed into Sage, eliminating manual data entry. Additionally, when an employee working in Sage needs to review a document related to the task they're performing, they do not have to leave Sage and open another application. Nor do they need to leave their desk to find the corresponding document stored in a paper filing cabinet.
An integration button between the document management software and Sage means with a click of a mouse, the document opens saving a huge amount of time and effort.
Document management software serves as a digital filing cabinet, storing all your business documents centrally and securely. Just as you might have separate physical cabinets for HR or Finance, the software mirrors this setup with organised, digital folders.
Once documents are added to the system, they are protected from loss or duplication. Access is limited to authorised users, and permissions can be set so employees only see the types of documents relevant to them. For instance, an employee can view their own contract in the HR folder, but not those belonging to others.
Is finding documents in your organisation sometimes like trying to find a needle in a haystack? Are they stored in a variety of places - email folders, on a desktop, in a filing cabinet, created as a Google document, on the network?
If you are able to find all the above information in one place (nice work!), how long does it take you to find it? Are employees clicking through numerous sub folders to get to the document they need? Worse still, are they navigating all the way there to find the document isn't where it should be?
If documents are printed, how do you ensure they're not printed and processed twice or lost altogether?
Documents are easily stored into document management software via a scan, stored directly from an email or dragged and dropped from a network folder. This can also be automated. Once documents are stored, searching for them is simple. Drop down fields narrow the search by date, document type and client etc. Full text search means users can search for any word known to be contained within a document and a list appears of everything containing that word.
The final step in the process is archiving documents. Once all related tasks are finished for example, goods have been marked as received, invoices have been paid, or a contract has been signed the documents can be securely stored. With digital storage, there’s no risk of losing, misplacing, or damaging documents as there is with paper, and every file is safely backed up.
Retention rules ensure that documents are only kept for as long as legally required. If you ever need to retrieve a stored document or supply personal information on record, you can do so within seconds no more searching through countless folders or paper files.
By implementing document management software, your organisation saves time, money, and effort while reducing stress. It streamlines operations and enhances efficiency. As one client described, our software is truly “a one-stop shop” and we couldn't agree more!
Our solutions support every area of your business, so there's no reason to delay. Start improving your processes today contact us to discover how DocTech can make a difference.
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