Manual document filing can be quick, easy, and necessary at the start of a business. Manual filing, on the other hand, can become a highly inconvenient procedure as your company grows. In today’s fast-paced corporate world, it’s critical to be able to file, locate, and store documents quickly and efficiently. In today’s ever-evolving technology environment, there are more effective techniques to help you stay organized while increasing your productivity. The following are some of the drawbacks of manual document filing systems.

• Takes Up a Lot of Space

The biggest downfall to manual document filing is the amount of space it can take up. While at first, your business will be small enough that it’s not a huge deal, once you start growing, you are going to want to find a new way to store files. Otherwise, you might find yourself taking up rooms just to fit the files in. This also means you have to go out of your way to hunt down a file or a client. This is just one big headache you don’t need. It interrupts your productivity levels.

• Prone to Damage and Being Misplaced

Manual document filing means you are placing faith in the people handling the files. There are so many ways they can be damaged, lost, or misplaced.  A fire or natural disaster could mean the loss of all your clients’ important information. You will have to start over at square one getting the information back. It can also lead you to lose clients who don’t appreciate your mishandling of their information.

• Hard to Make Changes

When you are working with paper documents, it is much harder to make changes. Every time you want to make a change, you will have to make a copy, so you don’t destroy the original with any edits or comments you might add. This means the editing process is more time-consuming than if you were working with digital copies.

• Access Time

Manual document filing is very time-consuming. Not only do you have to organize and store the files, but hunting down the information when it is needed can take time. It can take anywhere from minutes to hours to hunt down a file, depending on how well your organization is. This can cause annoyance for clients as well as for employees. Their productivity is lowered by having to spend excessive time dealing with a paper filing system.

• Lack of Security

Paper document filing can be less secure than electronic filing systems. Misplaced documents can easily be placed in the wrong hands. Clients expect their information to be secure in your hands. If you can’t keep this safe, you are at risk of losing them. A cabinet filled with files is way easier to access than a computer that requires a password and credentials to get into.

• Higher Cost

When you use paper documents, your costs are going to be higher because you are paying for ink and paper. Your office supply bill will be higher if you are using a manual document filing process. While you might think this is insignificant, over time, it’s a lot of money that can be used in better ways.

While manual document filing can be useful for smaller businesses, once your business has grown, it can be detrimental to your growth. It can lower productivity and create a hassle for your employees and your clients. Not only are your documents at risk for harm, but they have the potential to be lost and damaged in a natural disaster. All your paper files are doing is taking up valuable space as well as time.