How much could my office save going paperless?

Is your office considering going paperless? We’ve put together this guide to walk you through potential factors to consider when doing a cost analysis.

What can I save money on from going paperless?

Here is what you could potentially save money on by going paperless:

1. Paper

As you have probably guessed from the name, going paperless means you won’t need any more paper. This can save a lot of money for businesses, as well as have a positive impact on the environment.

2. Printer Ink

How much do you spend on printer ink each year? By going paperless, you can save the expense of buying and refilling your printer’s ink cartridges.

3. Printer and Photocopier

Consider how much you spend each year on new printers, photocopiers, fax machines, and other tech used for printing paper files, as well as how much you spend each year on maintaining them.

4. Postage

By sending important documents by email, you can save money that would have been spent on postage.

5. Stationary

A lot of stationery is used alongside paper documents, such as binders, highlighters, staplers, and more. By going paperless, you can save money you would have been spending on stationary.

6. Office Storage

By going paperless, you can save money that would have been spent on filing cabinets, as well as sell your now empty ones.

7. Office Space

With less space needing to be allocated to storing and managing your paper documents, you can possibly downgrade your office space, saving money.

What does it cost to go paperless?

Here is a few potential expenses that could be added by going paperless:

1. Technology or Hardware

Most companies will already be using computers and other technology to connect to the cloud, but if yours does not, that’s an extra expense to consider. Computers are pretty cheap these days, and for the purpose of connecting the cloud, you can even get chromebooks as cheap as $150 USD. 

2. Subscription Fees

Depending on what applications you need to store information with, applications can have subscription or usage fees associated with them. Here are some examples to consider, looking at what it would cost for a mid-sized office of 20-50 people:

• File storage & sharing service: Options like Google Drive, DropBox and OneDrive will typically cost around $40 a month for the entire office, usually costing around $10 per terabyte of data. For a lot of offices, this is the only application they need for going paperless.
• Account service: If you’re using an accounting service for your paperless billing, invoicing, and other financial matters, an option like Xero costs $30 USD per month.
• Data collection app: Data collection apps can vary hugely on price depending on which one you choose, if you want to replace your paper forms with digital forms you can use an application like Locale Central, which will typically cost around $170 USD per month for 35 active users.

Can I save money by going paperless?

For most offices, going paperless does save you money. Do a cost analysis considering the factors above, and see if your office would also save money by going paperless.