New Neat® Research Finds Most Construction and Building Contractors Are Missing Out on the Benefits Offered by Smart Organization Systems
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) February 25, 2015 -- Neat®, a leader in Smart Organization Systems for the small business and consumer markets, released new survey research revealing that most construction and building contractors need more efficient ways to manage paper documents and the important data those documents contain. The survey of 150 contractors with under 20 employees also discovered over 17% of respondents indicated that are adopting Smart Organization Systems to improve document and data management for their businesses.
Contractors are faced with a daily influx of paper documents, such as vendor invoices, client contracts and expense receipts— all containing data and information critical to business success. Owners and office managers often spend valuable time sorting paper into filing cabinets. In fact, 56% of respondents said the majority of their business-related paper is currently organized and stored in file cabinets or boxes.
But, the industry isn't only using outdated practices when filing—they are also searching for a more efficient way to process the critical data featured within business-related documents. About 44% of respondents reported that they spend five to 10 hours per month entering data from expense receipts and vendor invoices into their accounting software or other business systems, while 26% spend two days or more entering the information.
The speed at which contractors are organizing their business-related documents speaks to their importance of staying organized. Almost 79% of contractors file their paper in under four weeks, compared to a previous Neat study, which found that only 30% of general small business owners file in under that same amount of time.
Access All the Time
Contractors are not only looking for an efficient way to process the documents that flood their businesses on a daily basis, but in the information age, these documents need to be securely stored, always available and easily shared. Business owners, customers, employees and business partners expect to retrieve this vital information at a moment’s notice.
Based on Neat’s survey, most contractors are interested in leveraging a Smart Organization System when dealing with business-related documents. A Smart Organization System is a cloud-based service where business-related documents are securely stored and always available. A Smart Organization System keeps data organized and allows users to instantly share information with others. The information in a Smart Organization System might come from scanned paper documents, digital documents, such as email or electronic receipts, or even as images, captured by your mobile device. Here are some additional findings from the survey:
- 78% of respondents are interested in having a Smart Organization System to ensure their important business information is accessible to them anytime, anyplace
- 94% of respondents would value having all of their important information in a single, safe, electronic location, regardless of its original format or source
- 90% of respondents would find it valuable to automatically share information from their Smart Organization System with business partners, employees and/or clients
“This research proves construction and building contractors are in need of a complete, end-to-end solution to deal with their never ending paper dilemma,” said Jenn Choi, Vice President of Marketing at The Neat Company. “It is obvious contractors value the benefits of a Smart Organization System, which will allow business owners to save time on monotonous task like data entry and reentry, and get to what matters, like managing employees and “on the job” work.”
Automating Accounting
As stated above, 44% of survey respondents spend 5-10 hours each month entering data from expense receipts and vendor invoices into their accounting software or other business systems. Often times, this data needs to be entered and re-entered manually, taking valuable time away from more pertinent business matters. Tedious data entry is taking up so much of a contractor’s time that 95% of survey respondents reported it would be valuable to automate the process of getting financial documents, such as expense receipts, invoices and bills into their accounting software. Furthermore, the longer it took respondents to input the vital data, the more likely the contractors were to say it would be very valuable to automate the process.
About Neat®
Neat is the leading provider of Smart Organization Systems for the small business and home office markets. Neat’s unique combination of cloud-based applications, mobile and desktop software, and hardware scanning solutions transform important documents into usable digital information. Neat helps users organize, access, and share those digital documents by simplifying everyday tasks and facilitating information workflows so small businesses have more time to get to what matters.
Robert Kreis, Broadpath, +1 215-644-6505, [email protected]
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