Accounting department personnel are often both primary drivers and first adopters of paperless solutions in their companies, according to IntelliChief, a  US provider of document management and imaging solutions for the IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400).

"Because of the cost savings to be gained by going paperless in accounting, and the bottom-line responsibilities that are top-of-mind with financial professionals, it makes sense that the demand for paperless solutions most often originates from within the accounting department," says Brian Smith, IntelliChief Marketing Director.

IntelliChief has determined that it is in both the purchase-to-pay and order-to-cash accounting processes where savings are most easily realised. They report this can be attributed to: physical paper costs and process inefficiencies associated with manual document handling.

Electronic document management solution adopters are also able to minimise the use of physical office equipment and paper supplies, empowering an abundance of cost savings. Much of the paper a company uses is within the accounting department. This is also a reason why companies begin their document management project within accounting. With electronic document management, the cost to process a single invoice is significantly reduced, allowing companies to realize immediate payback from going paperless.

"Finance professionals cite fast ROI on document management solutions like IntelliChief as a major driver leading to adoption," says Smith.

IntelliChief states that their clients also experience operational and process efficiencies while using workflow capabilities. Accounts Payable is a department that tends to experience a high amount of process inefficiencies, as it involves many departments including purchasing and receiving, as well as approving managers.

There are added process inefficiencies if the company operates across multiple locations. With workflow, routing documents electronically, users are able to experience quicker turnaround with invoice processing, as well as the ability to eliminate double payments, and take advantage of vendor discounts.

After finding success in accounting, IntelliChief reports that customer service, human resources and information technology are departments next in line in movement to a paperless office.