In our digital age, it is important to consider how technological advances can be best used to streamline work processes (or even completely side-step outdated ones) and improve efficiency for businesses of all sizes.
Suppliers, banks and most other business partners are increasingly providing invoices and statements exclusively in digital format. While it is good news both in terms of environmental sustainability and the cost to your business not to have as many paper records, what are the legal implications? And is going fully paperless a viable option?

Can I go paperless?

HMRC states that you can keep records on paper, electronically or as part of a software program (e.g. bookkeeping software). Any records kept must be accurate, complete and readable. As we have written about many times in our blogs, we recommend using Xero accounting software. If you use good online accounting software and the information input is accurate and well narrated, you shouldn’t need to send any actual paper records to your accountant. All your purchase invoices can be attached to the related transaction or stored online and bank feeds can be activated so there are no requirements for paper statements. This will reduce the time your accountant spends trying to analyse your bookkeeping and give them more time to concentrate on the figures themselves, providing you with better accountancy advice and better value for your money.

All records, whether paper or digital, must be held for at least 6 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year. Clearly, being able to save documents digitally avoids the logistical challenges of storing boxes of paper records over this length of time.

Benefits of going paperless

• Increased practice efficiency – printing, filing and subsequent location of documents can often take a lot of time that could be used to better advantage
• Reduced storage requirements – a large proportion of your office space is likely to be full of paper documents
• Reduced costs – printing documents can be a large cost even for small practices
  Better for the environment – storing documents digitally reduces the need for printing

You may not be able to eliminate every piece of paper from your practice, but you can reduce the amount of paper your practice uses almost immediately – and save money by doing so.
If you would like to discuss how to make your dental practice paperless or if you would like more information on Xero please get in touch with our team of experts.