As a business owner, the most prominent burden on your shoulders is the cost of running a business. Among the many operational costs that a business has to bear, the cost of paper-based supplies and their necessity present a confusing scenario for every business. Digital transformation is gradually driving attention towards paperless solutions such as Electronic Signatures. The primary motive of cost-saving with electronic signature solutions is driving the necessity for justifying the use of electronic signatures.
However, many readers might still wonder about the improbable proposition of replacing something as cheap as paper. On the contrary, there are many costs that accompany the use of paper and a closer reflection on them can help you understand the reasons to use an electronic signature for businesses.
Cost Saving with Electronic Signature
The following discussion would outline the various costs associated with paper-based signatures to help readers understand the how they can save money with the electronic signatures i.e. cost saving benefits of electronic signatures.
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Costs of Purchasing Paper
One of the first costs that you would find with paper-based signature refers to the costs of purchasing paper itself. However, this is where the majority of readers assume that paper is cheap and obviously a cost-effective solution.
According to Informit, a U.S. office worker uses over 10,000 sheets of paper per year.
So, there are many more costs involved with paper when you use it for requesting paper-based signatures. You can get a detailed idea of cost-saving with electronic signature by reflecting on various costs associated with the use of paper in an organization.
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Printing and Photocopying Costs
Printing and photocopying are undoubtedly mandatory procedures in the use of paper for an organization. The cost of printing and photocopying includes the capital cost of the equipment such as printer and photocopier. In addition, the benefits of electronic signature become clear when you find other costs in printing and photocopying. The cost of toner and the maintenance costs would also no longer trouble you with the adoption of electronic signatures.
Furthermore, you can also save a considerable amount of time alongside costs by shifting to electronic signatures. Workers don’t have to wait anymore at the copier for their turn or fix a jammed printer. The time saved on these menial tasks can encourage workers to focus on business-specific productive tasks.
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Costs of Paper Delivery
The validity of cost-saving with electronic signature becomes evident with further reflection on paper delivery costs. The cost of paper delivery is a significant highlight in paper-based signatures, as you would have to deliver a document to other people who have to sign it. Now, the variability factor comes into play when you estimate cost savings on paper delivery costs because of the different types of delivery methods.
You don’t have to incur any costs for paper-based signatures when documents are delivered internally within an organization. However, delivery of documents through postal service would include the cost of envelopes and postage. In the case of urgent documents, you might have to incur overnight delivery charges for using courier services. Furthermore, you would also have to pay additional costs for the courier to return the signed documents.
Also Read: Top Reasons to Go Paperless
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Costs of Paper Scanning
Another noticeable cost associated with paper that answers the question, ‘why use electronic signature’, refers to paper scanning costs. After receiving signed documents, you have to scan them for storing as digital records. Apart from the average cost per page for scanning, you can also find that manual processes in scanning are cost-intensive.
For example, the manual efforts in the removal of staples and paper clips from documents before scanning or repairing any damages involve additional costs. Furthermore, you would need technical expertise for indexing of images for connecting them with digital records in a database.
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Costs of Storage
Enterprises that rely on paper-based signatures would definitely rely on retaining the paper documents. The factor of legality is a prominent concern as a paper-based signature is valid only when there is proof of their association with a physical document. You cannot validate a paper-based signature without the actual document.
Therefore, a business is legally bound to store documents with paper-based signatures. As a result, you cannot leverage cost-saving with electronic signature due to the administration costs for storing paper-based documents. The cost-saving benefits of electronic signatures would also take the cost of filing cabinets, folders, and tabs alongside the cost of their maintenance into account.
The legality of an electronic signature is an important concern while using electronic signatures. Let’s have a discussion on what makes an electronic signature legal.
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Costs of Paper Disposal
Finally, after the use of paper documents for obtaining signatures, you would have to dispose of them. Disposal of the documents is an essential practice in the management of storage for paper-based documents of an enterprise. The costs of paper disposal would involve the capital cost of equipment such as paper shredders and other administrative costs. You have to pay an expert to shortlist the documents suitable for disposal and provide authentication for disposal processes.
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Hidden Costs with Paper-Based Signatures
In addition to the above-mentioned costs that are explicitly visible with paper-based signatures, there are many hidden costs you can avoid by choosing electronic signatures. Apart from cost saving with electronic signature, you can save a considerable amount of time. Paper-based signatures require a lot of time for processing, beginning from the preparation of documents to their disposal.
However, electronic signature solutions allow users to sign multiple documents at a time without any trouble. Most important of all, paper-based records often land up enterprise in compliance failure issues due to lack of security. Another critical cost associated with paper-based signatures is the delay in capitalizing on favorable business opportunities.
Finally, enterprises should also focus on the costs of retrieving data in the event of disasters in the case of paper-based signatures. The cloud-based backup and recovery infrastructure of e-signature solutions can help in realizing the cost-saving benefits of electronic signature in this case.
It is important to look into the security factors while choosing an electronic signature solution for your business. Here are the top points you should consider while choosing an e-signature vendor.
Bottom Line
On a concluding note, you can clearly see how electronic signatures help you avoid the costs with paper-based signatures. The cost-saving with electronic signature primarily involves savings on the costs of administration and capital costs with paper. Based on the information presented above, we can clearly notice that electronic signatures enable businesses to focus on productive tasks.
Electronic signature solutions also hold similar legal credibility as paper-based signatures. In addition, popular electronic signature solutions have formidable security safeguards, thereby assuring the integrity of all business documents. If you want to realign your organization’s strategic direction for the digital age, then adopt electronic signature right now!
