A paperless office? That just does not seem possible. What if your affordable housing department could eliminate all of the countless hours spent searching through file cabinets for important documentation – applications, re-certification and inspections papers?

In the past, housing agencies have struggled to find space to store the ever-increasing amount of applications, funding contracts, loan and mortgage documents and more. Thanks to electronic document management software applications, they no longer have to worry about misplacing an important document or the trouble that comes along with accidentally duplicating information and storing in it various locations. An online document management system provides solutions to these organizational problems, as well as addresses other important concerns of housing departments.

Besides paper and document processing, housing departments have three other main concerns: complying with record keeping and reporting laws, reducing administrative costs and distributing their grant money as efficiently as possible. The best way for affordable housing agencies to handle paperwork influx, reduce costs, more easily comply and distribute funds is to implement an electronic document management and compliance system that includes workflow automation.

There are many benefits that come with a document management system. These benefits include: secure document capture, routing, storing; fast and organized maintenance of applications, re-certifications, inspection and financial documents (all audit-able documents); the ability to monitor each document from its creation to when it is purged; automated approval processes that move a document through the appropriate workflow instead of manual paper pushing.

With an online document management system, your organization’s documents are now electronic. So, what happens if more than one user is accessing and changing the same document simultaneously? Version control and revision tracking features take care of this issue. The system will track and make a record of who has accessed what files and what changes to the document(s) were made. The most up-to-date and recent version is displayed as the current file.

Because an electronic document management system is web-based, there are cost-saving benefits. With the large amount of paperwork that affordable housing agencies handle daily, they are constantly struggling to come up with enough office space to store and file information, resulting in more expenses. An electronic system converts paper documents to electronic documents eliminating the need to office storage space, not to mention eliminating paper processing, printing and copying costs.

Now, onto Records Management. With a system that includes a Records Management module for compliance, the application tracks document retention periods and will alert you when its deadline has passed, and the document needs to be purged. This functionality is specifically helpful to prevent compliance issues that arise from surprise audits.

How does a document management system help with distributing grant money? Well, housing departments ultimately want to perform this task as quick and efficient as possible. Document management software allows you to drag and drop or import electronic files and applications. Say you need to convert a grant application form to an electronic version. Scan the document(s) into the online system, where it is then automatically stored and can be immediately accessed and moved through an automated approval process. This allows applications to be speedily processed and approved, resulting in grant money being distributed quicker and more efficiently.

What about all of those emails housing agencies daily receive? Document management software offers a solution for this too. With email archival, the system categorizes and archives each email and fax that is received. If a user needs to find a specific email or fax later on, you can quickly retrieve by using a text search.

With all of these time and cost saving benefits, there is no reason not to consider an online document management system for your affordable housing department. Start by doing your homework and researching software that offers all and more of the benefits discussed. And don’t forget, choose an application that will address ALL of the needs of your agency.