Going paperless is one of the highest-ROI digital transformation steps for an SMB. The savings are immediate and measurable: less printing costs, less physical storage, faster approval workflows, better document findability, and compliance-ready audit trails.

This article gives you a concrete 60-day plan. For the broader digital office context, see the pillar Digital Office and Process Automation.

Before You Start: Set the Baseline

Before launching any digital initiative, measure where you are:

  • Monthly paper consumption — how many pages printed per month?
  • Document types — what categories of paper documents exist (invoices, contracts, HR, correspondence, production records)?
  • Current approval flows — which approvals still happen on paper?
  • Archive volume — how many metres of shelf space for paper archives?
  • Compliance requirements — which document types have legally mandated retention periods?

This baseline takes 1-2 days but is essential for measuring success and for prioritising where to start.

The 60-Day Plan

Week 1-2: Audit and Selection

Days 1-5: Document audit

  • Map all document types created and received
  • Identify volume per type (invoices: 200/month, contracts: 20/month, HR: 30/month, etc.)
  • Identify the five highest-volume or highest-friction paper workflows
  • Interview department heads: what are the biggest paper pain points?

Days 6-10: Technology selection

You need two core components:

  1. DMS (Document Management System) — for storing, indexing, and retrieving documents
  2. ERP with digital workflows — for automating invoice approval, purchase order approval, contract review

Evaluation criteria:

  • EU data hosting (GDPR compliance)
  • OCR quality for automatic data extraction from scanned invoices
  • Integration with your current accounting/ERP system
  • Mobile approval capability
  • e-signature integration (eIDAS-compliant)
  • Audit trail for compliance

Days 11-14: Project planning

  • Appoint a project owner (internal, with authority)
  • Identify departmental champions (one per department)
  • Create a communication plan for employees
  • Define “definition of done” for the 60-day project

Week 3-4: Setup and Pilot

Days 15-21: Technical setup

  • Set up DMS and ERP integrations
  • Configure document categories and naming conventions
  • Set up approval workflows for highest-priority document types (typically invoices first)
  • Configure OCR and automatic field extraction
  • Set up user access and permissions
  • Integrate e-signature tool

Days 22-28: Pilot with one team

  • Select a pilot team (typically finance/accounting — highest invoice volume)
  • Train the pilot team thoroughly (not just “watch this video”)
  • Run all invoices through the new digital flow in parallel with paper for one week
  • Collect feedback, fix friction points
  • Document what works and what needs adjustment

Week 5-6: Training and Rollout

Days 29-35: Broader employee training

  • Train all employees who will use the system
  • Focus on practical exercises, not theoretical presentations
  • Specific training for: uploading documents, finding documents, approving on mobile, using e-signature
  • Create a quick-reference card for each role (one page maximum)
  • Set up an internal help channel (#paperless-help in Slack/Teams)

Days 36-42: Phased rollout

  • Roll out digital invoice approval to all departments
  • Roll out digital contract workflow
  • Roll out digital HR document workflow (leave requests, expense reports)
  • Keep paper as backup for the first two weeks of each rollout

Week 7-8: Archive Migration and Shredding

Days 43-49: Scanning existing archive

  • Prioritise documents by legal retention requirements
  • Set up a scanning station (or hire a certified scanning service)
  • Scan and index documents by type, date, and relevant entity (customer/supplier/employee)
  • Quality-check sample of scanned documents (readability, completeness)

Days 50-56: Certification and shredding

  • If using certified scanning (scanning = legal original): document the process per your national legal requirements
  • Legal review of which document types can be shredded after certified scanning
  • Shred approved documents using a cross-cut shredder or certified destruction service
  • Document the destruction (date, volume, method) — required for legal defensibility

Week 9: Monitoring and Optimisation

Days 57-60: Review and next steps

  • Measure against baseline: printing volume, approval cycle time, document retrieval time
  • Collect employee feedback through a short survey
  • Identify remaining paper flows and schedule them for phase 2
  • Set up monthly metrics dashboard for ongoing monitoring
  • Plan phase 2: supplier portal, customer self-service, automated e-invoicing

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Trying to Boil the Ocean

Attempting to digitise every single document type simultaneously leads to chaos. Start with the highest-volume, highest-friction flows. Invoices almost always come first — highest volume, clear legal requirements, most measurable ROI.

Mistake 2: Technology Before Process

Buying a DMS without redesigning the workflow is just “putting paper into a computer”. Define the to-be process first, then configure the technology to support it.

Mistake 3: No Training Budget

“They’ll figure it out” does not work. Employees need hands-on training, not documentation. Budget 2-4 hours per employee for training, not 30 minutes.

Mistake 4: Leaving Outliers Behind

There is always one department or one person who insists on keeping their paper. This creates an incomplete transition and undermines the project. Address outliers individually, understand their concerns, and involve them in designing their specific workflow.

Mistake 5: Forgetting Compliance

Scanning and shredding without proper documentation of the process creates legal risk. Consult your legal adviser on what constitutes a valid digital original in your jurisdiction before shredding.

Modulario and Paperless Office

Modulario supports the paperless transition end-to-end:

  • DMS module — document repository with automatic tagging, version control, and audit trail
  • Invoice OCR — automatic extraction of supplier, amount, date, and account code from PDF invoices
  • Approval workflows — configurable approval matrices with escalation, mobile approval, and Slack/Teams integration
  • e-signature — eIDAS-compliant electronic signature built in (no third-party tool required for standard contracts)
  • Archive — compliant long-term storage with configurable retention rules per document type
  • Audit trail — read-only, cryptographically sealed log of every action on every document

For the digital office pillar, see Digital Office and Process Automation. For document workflows specifically, see Workflow and Document Approval in ERP.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it actually take to go paperless? For an SMB with 10-50 employees, 60 days is realistic for the core transition — scanning and digitising current documents, setting up DMS and digital workflows for invoices, contracts, and HR documents, and training staff. Full maturity (all processes digital, zero paper printing) takes 4-6 months. The critical factor is leadership commitment and a dedicated project owner who drives the change. Without that, ‘paperless’ projects drag on for years with partial results.

What happens to our paper archive? Do we have to keep it? EU accounting legislation requires retention of accounting records for 10 years, employment records for up to 50 years in some categories. You have two options: (1) scan everything, certify the scan process (certified scanning = original status), shred the paper — legally valid in most EU member states for most document types, (2) keep paper archive for legally required periods alongside the digital system. Option 1 is the clean approach but requires a certified scanning procedure. Option 2 is simpler but means maintaining parallel systems. For invoices and contracts, certified scanning and shredding is standard practice in 2026.

Will employees resist going paperless? Resistance is normal and predictable. Three main causes: (1) habit — ‘I know where my paper is, I don’t know where the digital file is’, (2) technology anxiety — especially for older employees or those with limited digital skills, (3) perceived extra work during transition — scanning old documents feels like extra burden. Mitigation: involve one champion from each department in the project from day one, make the digital process demonstrably easier than paper from day one (e.g. approval via mobile in 30 seconds vs. paper travel for 3 days), and never leave employees without support during the transition period.