Going paperless

[NotEasy]

We are thinking about to go paperless. But we are no technology wizards and have no idea which kind of scanner suits our need the best though. Does anyone of you have suggestion on the brand/model of scanner that suits the need of a small accounting office the best?

[Holland]

Not much difference

I haven't found much difference between brands. I would recommend that you buy a scanner with an automatic document feeder (ADF) and a flatbed. This will make scanning multiple pages much faster and easier. Small and flimsy pages can then go on the flatbed. We found that in our office the least expensive method was to buy a machine for each workstation. You should select a scanner that is "TWAIN" compliant, but almost all scanners are now.

[taxmandan]

Paperless office

I use a Xerox with flatbed and sheet feed ability, like Holland says it's good to have both feed capabilities. Avoid getting a multi-purpose fax/scanner/copier machine, they do each function OK, but none really well and are very slow in scanning mode. I use Paperport 10.0 for scanning software and it works well, saves everything in pdf format and allows you to add notes, edit information on the scanned document and save to a database in that format.

[veritas]

I believe

Fujistu is the leader for scanners. We have several and they are work horses.

[NotEasy]

Thank you

Thank you for the feedbacks and advice. Just one more question...how time-consuming is the scanning process? Like how long will it take to scan a 10 pages tax return?

[Holland]

Time will vary

The time it takes to scan will vary primarily upon the resolution you choose. 300 dpi will give a pretty good copy. My scanners (all in ones) have all been able to scan at about the same speed as they print. So I would suggest that 10 pages should take a minute or two on a reasonable machine.

[dsi]

I've been using the fujitsu scansnap for a couple of years now and it hasn't given me any trouble at all. A 10 page return can be scanned in about 1 minute (color docs and duplex scanning also part of the package).

[sea-tax]

Thank you for the feedbacks and advice. Just one more question...how time-consuming is the scanning process? Like how long will it take to scan a 10 pages tax return?

IMHO it will take a little getting used to , the whole scanning thing. But once you and your staff become accustomed to it you will wonder why it took so long to implement.

I have personally seen an increase in productivity. Specially on my bookkeeping and payroll staff. It has shaved approximately 1-1.5 hours off of there day.

[BOB W]

Not sure......

.... where your paperless concept is going but, to me paperless means printing my copies directly into my PDF files. Scanning is only used for documents that I did not generate and need copies for my records.

[Bjorn]

Scan what you need

Think about what you need to scan. It may be better not to scan everything.

Things that are referenced often, like a 1040 I put into the paperless system. Things like an 8879 or w2 are only looked at if there is a mistake in the keying of the data into our system so I just toss them into a bankers box and sort them alpha. A few times a month a client may want a copy of a w2, then I need to copy them. For now it is few enough that scanning in 4700 people is more time consuming than a few copies per month.

Paperless may be excellent for some firms, but less paper may be effective for others.

I use the Brother multifunction 9700 machine and it works for pretty well.

I'm all about productivity.

Mahalo,
Bjorn

[sea-tax]

.... where your paperless concept is going but, to me paperless means printing my copies directly into my PDF files. Scanning is only used for documents that I did not generate and need copies for my records.

Likewise Bob W, we scan only those docs which can not be directly printed into our Document management system. Right now we can print into our dms directly almost 85% of everything from P&l's , payroll reports, tax returns, excel and word docs and the like. Basically all the 1099 and w-2's and supporting schedules need to be scanned unless we made them then even those get printed to the dms. It is pretty slick.
When a client needs an extra copy of something it takes all of about 1 minute to find it and get it to them, either by password protected email or fax.

[Joe Btfsplk]

Scanning

I tried scanning everything last year, but when it got down to near the end of the tax season, I found that I didn't have time for making complete scans.

Next year, I will probably limit my scanning to W-2s, 1099s and a few other documents that I think might be good to retain. I will then return all documents except those attached to Form 8879 to the client and hope that they will retain them.

[Luis Mopeo]

How about backing up files? That's my biggest worry in going from the scroll to the book. Is backup easy? Reliable?

[TaxBird]

Back up

How about backing up files? That's my biggest worry in going from the scroll to the book. Is backup easy? Reliable?

Quite. Depending on your size, of course.

I have an Iomega REV drive that backs up to 90G. It comes with backup software that you can set on a schedule at regular intervals &/or incrementally. And it allows you to distinguish between system information and data.

Iomega now has relatively inexpensive back up drives up to 250G.

I also backup online/offsite which runs nightly. That saves me that hassle of having to mess around with multiple cartridges & a safe deposit box.

So the short answer is yes, backing up is both easy & reliable.

[BOB W]

Backups

I just did a web search for "online backup" and found this> http://mozy.com/. PC editors choice icon is shown. It is free for most but 4.95 a month for higher KBs. Seems very reasonable.