Documents used to be handwritten on parchment paper with ink and a quill. Sometimes it would take weeks on end to make sure that text was written out the way it was intended.
It took Thomas Jefferson 17 days just to write the Declaration of Independence.
Nowadays, almost anyone can write up a document they need with the help of the internet. And depending on how complex it is, there are plenty of templates and help available.
Document generation software is making the process even easier by saving time and money every time a professional needs a document.
But what is it? Keep scrolling to learn all about it and how it can benefit your business by implementing it today.
What Is Document Generation Software?
Document generation (or creation) software is an app or a product that helps you generate and organize your documents.
This software can function as a word processor, as a PDF creator and editor, and as a document generator.
When it comes to PDF generation, a document generation program can import data from third-party sources and turn that data into templates. This solution enables you to create a huge range of documents, such as notes, contracts, proposals, forms, reports, and other legal documentation.
This software also allows you to create, edit, customize, and share these text-based files. It can help with the storing and sharing of files across a business, either locally, or on a common drive.
You can purchase these solutions as independent applications or as part of a bigger group of software.
It Helps with Naming Conventions
Think about anytime one of your employees saves a file or a document to your server. Do they name it in the same manner and format every time? Or are you finding yourself having to search for documents without a standard naming system?
A document generation software will provide you with concrete naming conventions. That means that names, dates, titles, and authors will be recorded and used in a document name, in the same way, every time.
Even if you have a standard that you train your staff on, mistakes still happen. And even the tiniest difference can make for finding a document time consuming and frustrating.
You’ll Establish Maintenance and Retention Policies
Do you have file cabinets galore full of documents that you haven’t looked at in years?
Many organizations are required to keep documents for at least 5 years. Depending on how many people come in and out of your offices daily, this could leave you with thousands of pieces of paper with no place to organize them properly.
A document management solution, which is integrated into document generation software, will allow you and your employees to scan all documents and store them digitally.
You can even program the software to keep documents for a certain amount of time and then flush them out after a certain date (like after the 5-year requirement).
You’ll Boost Team Work and Spirit
When a business decides to implement a document generation program, the whole team has to be on board. If half of your employees are scanning and saving documents digitally, and the other half are storing them physically, there’s no point in getting the software in the first place.
Encouraging and mandating the team effort is both exciting and modern. And despite some individual’s initial reactions to change, in the long run, it will make everyone’s life easier. They’ll appreciate the new approach, and will work more efficiently by coming together as a team to instill a new practice.
As long as you provide encouragement and the proper training to learn more about this software, your employees will be on board, especially once they understand how much easier their jobs will be.
You’ll Reduce Mistakes and Have More Consistency in Branding
When software is generating your documents for you, there will inevitably be less room for human error.
Cutting and pasting often cause things to be left behind or mistakes to be made, and that will be eliminated.
Plus, your brand will be more consistent across the board.
Layout, grammar, logo placement, design, and verbiage are all things that can be changed even the slightest amount when documents aren’t generated by a software.
By using approved templates and documents that can be implemented time and time again without having to be recreated, there’s much less risk of straying from those standards.
You’ll Increase Customer Security and Flexibility
Most software systems will have built-in security systems that ensure documents are safe and sound. This method is much better than storing them and generating them on your personal computer where an information breach is more likely to occur.
Plus, your customers will be able to communicate how they want. Whether they want to talk on the phone, provide information via email, fill out a form, or share information in another language, a document generator will allow you and your customers to seamlessly enter in that information and transfer it and store it in a document that you use across the board.
Document Generation Will Allow Your Staff to Focus on Their Jobs
Having to worry about the generation of, the organization of, the security of, and the management of documents takes a lot of time away from other jobs.
If you can get document generation software to do it all for you, and keep information safe in the process, it’ll save you time, money, and hassle in the long run. Plus your staff will be excited when they see how modern and easy the new approach is.
Do you want to add a new sign to your business to go with your new software? Check out our post with 5 tips for choosing the perfect business sign.
