While digital recordkeeping has become much more popular in recent years, many businesses still need to use paper. Service businesses often use paper invoices and work orders on job sites. Signed contracts and agreements are still common and need to be kept on file for many businesses. Government offices like the DMV use paper forms as part of providing services to the public.
There are many situations where going paperless simply isn’t possible. But that doesn’t mean you need to live with the risks that come with keeping everything on paper.
The problem isn’t the paper itself, it’s what happens when paper is the only place your data lives. Relying on paper alone means taking on serious risk if something goes wrong. A water main break or a small office fire can erase years of records in an instant, leaving you with gaps in your data that can’t be easily filled.
It’s stressful knowing that one event could put your records and your business at risk. Thankfully, you can keep using paper when you need to while still protecting the information you rely on. Scanning and indexing your paper records is an easy way to protect them, while letting you continue working the way you’re used to.
In this article, we’ll explain why creating a digital copy of your records makes sense (even when you still need to use paper), how it helps protect your information for the long haul, and how professional scanning services make the entire process much easier than you might think.
The Risks Of Relying On Paper Alone
Many people take an “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” approach to keeping records. Unfortunately when you rely on paper, it doesn’t take much for things to go wrong.
One day everything is organized, filed, and right where it should be. Then a record goes missing, or a box of files gets wet, and you’re left dealing with a mess that takes time and energy to fix, if it can be fixed at all.
When physical records are lost or damaged, there is no easy way to recover them. Those kinds of data disasters do more than just slow your down, they can delay projects, create compliance issues when you can’t produce documents you’re required to keep on hand, and damage your reputation with your customers.
There’s an inherent risk that comes with storing all of records in one place, no matter what format they are. Even with a single digital copy, should something unexpected happen, it could mean losing everything at once, leaving you without the information your business depends on.
Simply crossing your fingers and hoping nothing goes wrong isn’t enough, because if it does, there may not be a way to recover that information. That’s why creating and maintaining a digital backup is so valuable for your business.
Why A Digital Backup Makes Sense
Having a digital backup of your paper records doesn’t mean you have to change how you work. It simply means you’re prepared if something goes wrong.
A digital backup gives you a lifeline if the physical copy is ever lost or damaged. It also makes it possible to access records or share information with your team without having to physically pull files, make copies, or worry that something might get misplaced.
It’s a safety net that protects your business, your staff, and the people who trust you to keep their information secure. If a disaster happens, you’ll have a reliable way to recover without losing everything you’ve worked to build.
Keeping paper workflows doesn’t have to mean accepting the risk of total data loss. A digital backup gives you peace of mind, knowing your information is protected no matter what happens to the original.
How To Create a Digital Backup of Your Paper Records
Scanning is the easiest and most effective way to create a digital backup of your paper records without disrupting how you work. But scanning is only part of the process. Indexing your records, capturing and extracting the key details within them, makes them easier to access and use.
When your documents are scanned and indexed, you have digital copies of every record that can be found whenever you need them. If the originals are ever lost or damaged, your information is still there, helping you recover quickly and avoid major setbacks.
A digital backup with indexing also protects your business from compliance issues that can arise when records go missing. Instead of digging through boxes or filing cabinets to find records, you can search your files by text, making it easy to provide documentation for audits, respond to customer requests, or pull records for internal business needs.
For many businesses, scanning and indexing is the only practical way to protect the large volume of information they have accumulated over the years, without adding the administrative burden of trying to maintain duplicate physical files.
Scanning and indexing can also help free up space by allowing you to securely dispose of older records you no longer need to keep in their original form, while preserving the information for reference or compliance purposes.
If your business still relies on paper, scanning and indexing give you a reliable backup, reducing the risk that a single event could wipe out your entire archive.
Now That They’re Scanned, What’s Next?
Once your records are scanned, you have a reliable backup in place. Now, it’s about keeping that protection going.
Day-forward scanning (scanning new records as they’re created) makes it easy to keep your backup current without needing another large scanning project down the road. As new paper records are created, they can be scanned regularly on a schedule that makes sense, whether that’s daily, weekly, or monthly, and added in to your digital archive for safe keeping.
This approach helps you maintain a clear, organized system while continuing to work with paper when you need to. Your team can access digital copies quickly while originals can be filed or stored as needed, giving you flexibility without risking data loss.
Over time, maintaining a digital backup of your paper records reduces the need for physical storage and makes it easier to manage information as your business grows. It also ensures that if a file is ever lost or damaged, you’ll still have the information you need to keep serving your customers and running your business without interruption.
How SecureScan Can Help
Creating a digital backup of your records is easy with SecureScan. We’ve spent the past 22 years helping businesses of all shapes and sizes protect their records with scanning services that make records management… well, manageable.
Our scanning experts will work one-on-one with you to develop a plan that lets you digitize your records without interrupting your day-to-day work.
Whether you need to scan decades of records at once or set up a day-forward scanning process for the paper you use each day, we can help. We handle every part of the process with care, keeping your records organized and secure from pickup to final delivery.
We’ve helped medical practices, law offices, government agencies, and small businesses protect their information while keeping their paper workflows in place. If you’re ready to create a digital backup for your records, we’re here to make the process simple and stress-free.
Reach out for a free quote or contact us to talk with one of our scanning specialists about how we can help you keep your information safe, no matter how much paper you need to use in your business.
