Did you know that businesses lose about 21% of worker productivity because of document-related issues? Workers waste a lot of precious time looking for documents, managing the latest version, and getting documents signed.
A business documentation system can be the difference between a struggling business and a thriving one. Check out this guide to business documentation and learn why it’s necessary.
1. Comply with Regulations
Business documentation practices help your company comply with various regulations. In the healthcare industry, practitioners and providers have to comply with HIPAA, which is meant to keep sensitive patient information safe. Even if you’re a sole practitioner working from home, you need to comply.
Manufacturing documentation is a must in the food industry. The Food and Drug Administration requires food, supplement, and beverage manufacturers to comply with GMPs or Good Manufacturing Practices.
This involves the documentation of every detail of production, from how you get raw materials to quality control.
2. Protect Your Business
Small business owners fear getting audited by the IRS. The best way to protect yourself during an audit is to have a business documentation system.
You can document your business expense policy and have a system in place for organizing business documents. It’s much better than bringing a shoebox full of receipts to an audit.
3. Scaling Is Easier
When you have a system in place for all of your business documentation, everyone in your business is on the same page.
This makes it easy for anyone to step in and take on any role. If you’re a solopreneur, it’s much easier to hire a virtual assistant and handle tasks that you don’t have time for. Large businesses can hire employees without missing a beat.
Creating a Business Documentation System
A business documentation system is created in two parts. The first is by creating standard operating procedures for your team. The second is document management.
Start by looking at your operations. Look to see what policies and procedures need to be documented. You’ll want to assign people to create SOPs for their roles.
How will you manage all of those documents? Each department should have a system in place for organizing and managing documents. They should share the same naming conventions to make it easier to find.
As far as organizing documents go, it makes sense to invest in the cloud. For a small business, Google Drive or Dropbox will work fine. Enterprise-level businesses need to have something that manages invoices, purchase approval, and vendor contracts.
Business Documentation for a Growing Business
How can you make sure that your business complies with regulations, is ready for an audit, and is in a position to scale up? It all starts with business documentation.
A good business documentation process ensures that your business is organized and ready for anything. You need to have all of your operations documented and a system for organizing those documents.
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