Auditing processes are unskippable when running a business, however tedious they may be. Implementing a document management solution (or DMS for short) can make auditing less stressful but way more intuitive. We’ve compiled 5 reasons why using a DMS improves the auditing process when compared to traditional document management.
Document Centralization
One of the biggest issues with traditional document management is clutter. Documents tend to get strewn all over the workplace, and can tend to land up in places they shouldn’t be in. This includes filing cabinets, employee desks, and hideaway drawers. Having documents in the wrong places is a nightmare for audits.
DMS tackles this problem by having all documents in a centralized location. Documents can be nested into organized file structures to make retrieval straightforward and effortless. In the case where a document is misplaced in the system, features like OCR and robust search can easily pull up the needed file in an instant. These features can save hours of time that can be spent on other pressing tasks.
Competent Security
Storing documents in a trustworthy DMS is the best thing you can do to safeguard your important files. Traditional document management has been proven to be highly unreliable compared to the standard of an electronic DMS. Since files are saved on cloud in secure servers, your data
DMS also comes equipped with security features like industry-grade encryption and level-based access, among other tools that make it highly suitable for audits.
Audit Trails
DMS provides comprehensive reports about how documents are handled, which users accessed them, changes made, and more. Thus, DMS takes into account all the details required by auditors that can boost the auditing process.
Using DMS, auditors have transparent access to the life cycle of documents and workflows. DMS audit trails improve the process so that any mistakes can be brought to attention, fixed quickly and operate within compliance standards.
Uniform Workflows
Custom workflows make it easy to standardize company procedures in a way that is suitable to all departments. This also helps in the auditing process thanks to the ability of following industry standards in a workflow that is tailored to your department.
Pre-programming and automating workflows can greatly reduce additional steps that come with auditing. In addition, certain workflows can be built to improve audits entirely. These can be configured to integrate standards procedures and make audits seamless.
If you’re looking at the prospect of implementing a DMS to improve your auditing processes, we have great news: DMS can do much more than that! We have a plethora of articles on our blog that explore the advantages of DMS and how you can leverage it to improve your office productivity, save on operating costs, and of course—make auditing easier. Read up here, or feel free to contact us for more information.