Dematerialization consists of replacing paper documents with digital files.
There are two types of dematerialization. The first, known as duplicative dematerialization, starts with an existing paper document and creates a digital copy of it. This is what happens when a scanner is used.
The second form is known as native dematerialization. In this case, there is no original paper document. Files are generated directly by software applications. For example, an invoice may be produced by an ERP, while a payslip may be generated by payroll management software.
Why Dematerialize?
The benefits of dematerialization are numerous:
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- Improved productivity: Dematerialization helps automate and streamline many time-consuming processes, such as document filing, invoice issuance, and payment reminders. Employees can therefore dedicate more time to higher-value tasks.
- Greater profitability: Managing a digital document is significantly less expensive than handling a paper document, which requires manual processing, materials (paper, ink, envelopes, stamps), and physical storage. Dematerializing accounting documents helps reduce invoicing costs and shorten payment cycles.
- Space savings: No more need to store large volumes of paper documents for years (for reference, the legal retention period for invoices is 10 years). Bulky physical archives are replaced by secure digital archiving.
- Time savings: Spending valuable time searching for a specific document becomes a thing of the past. Dematerialization provides excellent traceability: all digital documents are centralized within a single document management interface (DMS) and organized according to standardized rules.
- Facilitates collaboration and remote work: Digital documents can be accessed remotely by all authorized users. Employees can create, edit, annotate, approve, sign, and share documents directly online.