Many accounting departments find themselves in the situation of constantly searching for files. Perhaps both the payroll and human resources departments need the same file, so the documents are constantly being borrowed from storage, resulting in no one being able to consistently locate them. Also, some employees are better than others at returning files when they are finished with them, while other companies just have a hard time obtaining a qualified group of people who can reliably file documents in the right place. Whatever the case may be, it is a common problem and one that can seriously impact accounting operations.
An answer to this quandary is to convert all paper documents into digital ones and store them in the central computer system so that all employees can access them from all locations – and do so at the same time. Digital documents have the advantages of never being lost (with one caveat, noted later), never being destroyed (as long as there are proper back-up routines), and being available to anyone with the correct kind of access. These are formidable advantages and have caused many larger corporations to adopt this approach as the best way to avoid the majority of their filing problems.
To implement a document imaging system, first obtain a document scanner with a sufficiently high throughput speed and resolution to allow scanning a multitude of documents, as well as scanning with a sufficient degree of clarity to obtain a quality digital image. This scanner must be linked to a high-capacity storage device, usually one containing multiple compact discs that is called a “CD jukebox,” and a file server containing the index file that tracks the location of all digital documents stored in the jukebox. A number of terminals are also necessary to link to this system, so that users may access digitized documents from as many computer locations as necessary.
There are some problems with digital document storage that make it useful only in selected cases. One is cost – the entire system, especially the storage device, can easily bring the total cost into the six-digit range, with high-end systems for large corporations exceeding a million dollars. Also, there is a considerable workload required to set up the system, for a large portion of the department’s existing documents must be scanned into the system, as do new documents that are generated each day. In addition, if a document is not properly indexed when it is first scanned into the system (i.e., given an access code that allows a user to more easily find it), it is possible that there will be great difficulty in later locating it in the computer; in effect, the document is lost in the storage device. Thus, there are a number of issues to be aware of before installing such a system. Generally speaking, the cost consideration alone will keep smaller companies from implementing this solution.