Let’s be honest, there’s way too much paper in our lives. We get bills. We get contracts. We get notices and memos. Everyone’s all “Let’s go paperless” but the question is how. We are here to help you streamline that process.

Let’s first discuss what can be done. With the SignMyPad suite of products (SignMyPad, SignMyPad Pro, SignMyPad Cloud, and the Magnetic Stylus) you can get your PDFs marked up, signed and delivered sans paper. Did you know SignMyPad supports multiple cloud services for syncing, including our own SignMyPad Cloud?

Why PDFs and not doc files? PDFs are secure, and compatible with every device. PDF actually means Portable Document File. The idea behind the filetype was that it would work on any device, anywhere…so that’s why we have SignMyPad and SignMyPad Pro on iOS, Android and Windows. Now you can take that document and have it signed by anyone, with any mobile device, anywhere.

Thanks to our brand new SignMyPad Cloud, you can now centralize your PDF management. Have a central office, but a team that’s out and about? With SignMyPad Cloud you can push the documents you need signed right to the employees’ devices. Each document will show up right inside SignMyPad Pro for your employee to sign. When finished, simply tap “Save and Send” and the document will be pushed back to main office. Couldn’t be easier.

Going paperless is a big job. You first have to obtain all of your documents as PDFs. Apple computers have this ability built in. Just open any document, choose File -> Print, and click the button Save As PDF. For Windows computers, you will need software such as CutePDF Writer to print to PDF. Are your documents already printed pieces of paper? Consider a fast paper scanner such as the ScanSnap or NeatDesk scanner. Both of these allow you to stack a bunch of documents at once, click a button and let it run.

You will then need some file structure. If your company does not have a centralized file server, consider one. This way, all the companies’ documents reside in one central place (don’t forget to buy backup drives for that server!). Organization is key to going paperless. Set up a folder structure that is compatible with the way your company works. That might mean making a “Clients” folder with all your clients separated into their own sub-folders. Or you might create a “Projects” folder, or “Archive” folder with documents dating back to when the company started. Whichever way you choose to organize, stick with that plan. Don’t let employees become “free radicals” changing the organizational structure. Once your plan is set, start loading up your documents.

Your employees on the road will need some sort of mobile device. SignMyPad Cloud (as of this writing) is currently only available for iOS. We suggest employees receive iPads and iPhones. This way, you can upload the necessary documents to SignMyPad Cloud and push those documents to your employees. When a document is signed and returned, you can see the date, time, location and first signature added to the document right in the website.

Still worried about going paperless? Consider this: going paperless can help you make and save money. For each document that’s lost, it costs, on average, $220 to reproduce that document…digital files help alleviate that loss. You will also save on all that document storage. Think about how many filing cabinets you have.

If you were able to get rid of all that storage, you would save a bunch on rent (especially if your offices, like ours, are in New York City).

Need more monetary incentives to go paperless? If you send a digital invoice, you will get paid, on average, 17 days faster than if you had sent a paper one. Do you want your money now or later?

Check out our Going Paperless Infographic for even more facts about going paperless.

Thanks to technology, SignMyPad and SignMyPad Cloud, you can easily streamline your paperless process.

Let us know how you are going paperless in 2015 by leaving a comment below!