With today’s technology and focus on the environment, there’s no reason businesses shouldn’t be headed in the paperless direction. With the right equipment and training, your business can have a seamless scanning, storing, and organizing process for an online document system. Fortunately, making the switch to paperless is easier than ever.

Get the right technology. The first step to going paperless is getting the right technology to help you do so. From tabletop scanners and half-page image scanners to RFID technology, there are a lot of devices and services to look into. The Peerless Research Group found that in 2016, 38% of companies were planning to invest in RFID technology within the next year, but not all companies have the same needs. So it’s important to decide which technology or devices you’ll need — do you need a computer document scanner? How about a kiosk scanner? You’ll need to assess your business needs and decide which type of scanning equipment you’ll need.

Start scanning. After you have your equipment, now comes the fun part: scanning! Everyone in the office should do their part to organize the paper documents for a seamless scanning process. Documents can be sorted alphabetically, by category, or any other system that makes sense to your business needs. Make sure the documents are organized in a way that once they’re scanned, it’ll be easy to organize them in the online system. Additionally, all of your employees should be trained on how to use the scanners as well as the online database system. This will make transitioning to paperless much easier.

Encourage digital use. Once the documents are scanned into the online database, the hard work is done! But it’s important to encourage your employees to fully utilize the online system now. If they continue to try to use paper documents, that will disrupt the whole system. So make sure your employees utilize the computer document scanners and use the online system to store, access, and share any necessary documents. This can be a great time to introduce your clients to the online system as well.

If you follow these few simple steps, you’ll be on your way to running a productive paperless business in no time.