Thinking about switching from paper forms to electronic forms? Forms automation solutions can modernize your workflow by saving you time, boosting productivity, cutting costs, and more.
Incorporating electronic forms is also surprisingly easy and cost-effective. We’ll go over everything you need to know about the must-have features in forms automation and the value they can bring to your company.
Benefits of Forms Automation
Electronic forms hold numerous advantages over paper forms. By helping businesses optimize their workflows, forms automation solutions cut costs and save time. Take a look at the top four ways businesses can benefit from using electronic forms.
Get Paperwork Done Faster
Auto-fill and progressive fill features make it easy to submit a form in mere seconds. Also, there’s no need to manually input information and you’ll never have to waste time shuffling through file cabinets looking for the correct form.
Every piece of data you’ll need is accessible from a single, easy-to-use database. That means more time to focus on customer relationships, business development, and other important tasks.
Enhance Productivity
Form processing is a menial task that can cause mental fatigue. Research has shown boredom kills productivity and dampens office morale. Forms automation eliminates the repetitive tasks associated with form processing so that workers can be more productive. There’s more time for problem-solving, engaging clients, and generating new ideas.
Reduce Costs
Did you know that companies in the United States spend on average $120 million each year on paper forms - many of which quickly become outdated? Large organizations end up losing one document every 12 seconds. With every misfiled document costing $125 and every lost document costing between $350 to $700 of employee time - the costs of paper forms quickly add up.
And that’s not including how much businesses spend on paper, ink, filing folders, and other office supplies associated with paper forms. The best way to reduce these costs is by switching to electronic forms. You’ll spend less on office supplies as well as operational tasks like back-end data entry, scanning, and more.
Go Green
It’s no secret climate change is taking its toll on the environment. Deforestation is a serious problem that is eliminating entire ecosystems and causing irrevocable damage to our planet. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates 25 million acres of forests were lost each year between 2015 and 2020. Unfortunately, the paper forms businesses use daily are part of the problem.
Incorporating forms automation solutions is a cost-effective and easy way to go green. You’ll print less paper, store less paper, and lower emissions by eliminating shipping.
Forms Automation Solution Must-Haves
Not all forms automation solutions are created equally. Most electronic forms, such as those offered through Adobe PDF, only include fillable fields - leaving you to manually input information.
This approach is the bare minimum. It’s also time-consuming and prone to errors. The more forms you are juggling the more impractical it becomes. Instead, focus on finding forms automation solutions with these features.
Progressive Fill
Progressive fill allows repetitive information - such as names, addresses, birth dates, etc. - to automatically flow onto all fields throughout the form. This eliminates the need to manually re-enter the same piece of information more than once.
Form Bundling
It’s incredibly inconvenient to have to sift through 4, 5, or more different forms and fill out each one individually. Look for forms automation software that bundles your forms - or groups them together in ways that are most efficient.
Connecting to a Data Source
Forms automation software that integrates with your CRM or offers mobile data collection will ensure accurate information is uploaded onto your forms every single time. And when information from the data source is prefilled onto the form - you’re simultaneously saving time and eliminating errors.
Data Validation
Forms are notorious for being noisy and difficult to read. This makes it hard to verify if all the required fields have been properly filled out and no piece of information is missing. Instead, opt for forms automation solutions that help you locate required fields easily.
E-Signature
You want forms to be able to be signed as quickly and efficiently as possible. Fax machines and scanners are clumsy alternatives, and you can’t guarantee your client has access without going to a third party. Everyone has immediate access to e-signature.
Instead, look for forms automation software that integrates with e-signature platforms, such as DocuSign or SIGNiX. Better yet, look for a solution that fully integrates with the forms tagged for e-signature and ready to go.
Electronic Processing
There’s no need to ever print out a form and send it in the mail again. Electronic processing lets you fill out forms and submit them online - creating a faster and streamlined workflow.
Choosing the Best Forms Automation Software
There are two main ways you can incorporate forms automation solutions at your firm. The first is to hire an in-house team to automate your forms and build the infrastructure. This process is extremely time-consuming and costly - and doesn’t always prove to be adaptable when forms need to be updated or modified. For most companies, it’s more practical to outsource to a forms automation software provider.
Quik! App offers leading forms automation solutions for companies and larger institutions alike. Quik! App has all the top features your business needs to automate your workflow - including autofill, progressive-fill, data validation, CRM integration, form bundling, and more.
Quik! App also makes it easy to update forms and control settings across multiple different branches. Quik! App has over 34,000 forms used by some of the biggest names in the financial industry readily accessible through an easy-to-use, intuitive interface.
Ready to give up paper forms for good? Talk to us about customized forms automation solutions by calling 877- 456 - 7845 (and select option 2) or getting in touch online.