# Document Digitisation: A Paperless Office in 90 Days

> Cut costs by 40% and improve efficiency by removing paper from your company, step by step.

URL: https://quinatec.es/en/blog/document-digitisation-paperless-office-in-90-days/

Tomas E. Cordoba · 13 April 2026 · Updated on 25 September 2026

Paperless companies cut operating costs by 40% and improve productivity by 35%. Ready for the change?

## Immediate benefits of getting rid of paper

### Financial savings
- 80% reduction in printing costs
- No more filing cabinets or the space they take
- Less time hunting for documents
- Lower spend on supplies

### Environmental benefits
- A smaller carbon footprint
- Lower resource consumption
- A greener corporate image

### Operational efficiency
- Instant document search
- Simultaneous collaboration
- Remote access to files
- Automatic backup

## A 90-day digitisation plan

### Days 1–30: preparation and planning

**Week 1:** document audit
- Inventory of document types
- Current paper volume
- Processes that require paper
- Identification of critical documents

**Week 2:** tool selection
- High-speed scanner
- OCR software
- Document management system
- Team training

**Week 3:** initial setup
- Hardware installation
- Software setup
- Creating the folder structure
- Defining the naming convention

**Week 4:** pilot run
- Digitise one small department
- Validate the processes
- Adjust the workflows
- Resolve the early problems

### Days 31–60: mass digitisation

**Weeks 5–6:** historical documents
- Contracts and agreements
- Invoices and tax documents
- Legal documents
- HR files

**Weeks 7–8:** operational documents
- Processes and procedures
- Manuals and specifications
- Important correspondence
- Project documents

### Days 61–90: rollout and optimisation

**Weeks 9–10:** digital workflows
- Electronic signature
- Digital approvals
- Document flows
- Integration with your systems

**Weeks 11–12:** refinement
- Process optimisation
- Advanced training
- Physical disposal of the paper
- Establishing policies

## Tools by budget

### Low budget (€500–2,000)
- Scanner: Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600
- Software: Adobe Acrobat DC
- Storage: Google Drive Business
- OCR: ABBYY FineReader

### Mid budget (€2,000–10,000)
- Scanner: Brother ADS-3000N
- DMS: M-Files or DocuWare
- Storage: OneDrive + SharePoint
- Workflow: Microsoft Power Automate

### High budget (€10,000+)
- Scanner: Kodak i5850S
- DMS: a full enterprise ECM
- Infrastructure: dedicated servers
- Integration: custom APIs

## Document types to digitise, by priority

### High priority
1. Contracts currently in force
2. Invoices from the current year
3. Legal documents
4. Certificates and licences
5. Employee records

### Medium priority
1. Important correspondence
2. Project documents
3. Manuals and procedures
4. Historical invoices
5. Marketing documents

### Low priority
1. The general historical archive
2. Reference documents
3. Training material
4. Old catalogues
5. Routine correspondence

### Optimal OCR settings

- **Resolution**: 300 DPI minimum
- **Format**: PDF/A for long-term archiving
- **Colour**: greyscale for text
- **Compression**: balanced quality vs size
- **Languages**: configure Spanish + English

## File naming

### Suggested format
[YYYY-MM-DD]_[TYPE]_[DESCRIPTION]_[VERSION]

### Examples
- 2024-03-15_CONTRACT_ITServices_v1.pdf
- 2024-03-15_INVOICE_001234_SupplierXYZ.pdf
- 2024-03-15_MANUAL_BackupProcedure_v2.pdf

### Folder structure

```
/Company_Documents
  /01_Administration
    /Contracts
    /Invoices
    /Legal
  /02_HR
    /Employees
    /Payroll
    /Training
  /03_Operations
    /Procedures
    /Manuals
    /Projects
  /04_Archive
    /2023
    /2022
    /Historical
```

### Retention policies

- **Contracts**: 10 years after expiry
- **Invoices**: 6 years (tax obligation)
- **Payroll**: 75 years
- **Legal**: permanent
- **Operational**: 3 years

## Security and access

### Access levels
   - General read access
   - Departmental editing
   - Full administration

### Audit trail
   - Who opened the document
   - When it was modified
   - What was changed

### Backup
   - Automatic daily copy
   - Document versioning
   - Distributed storage

### Expected ROI after 12 months

- Printing savings: €2,000–5,000
- Space savings: €1,000–3,000
- Time savings: €5,000–15,000
- Supplies savings: €500–1,500
- **Total**: €8,500–24,500 a year

### Common mistakes to avoid

1. Not defining naming standards
2. Digitising without disposing of the original paper
3. Not training the team properly
4. No backup of the digital documents
5. Not setting up digital approval flows