Our Paperless Office Tools – Part 2: Document Management

For us, picking a document management system was a difficult decision.  For years, we have had a mapped network location, with folders for each client, but no standards file name or folder structure.  Finding documents was difficult, and we didnt feel we could rely on those folders.  So, we knew if we were gong to fully go paperless, we needed a better solution.

Based on my research, document management seems to fall into two categories:

1. Document management software or solutions that are basically an interface into Window’s operating system.  So, in this case, if you needed to, you could simply ditch your document management system and all of your files are still in that location, named as they were.
2. Document management software that I describe as itunes for documents.  You know, when you import a cd into itunes, it names all of the files itself, and saves them in whatever directory it uses (you can control some of this of course).  These kinds of systems then use a index file to locate and manage the documents.  Without the index file, finding documents is almost impossible.

For us, we did not feel comfortable going with the itunes method.  We did not want to be tied to a particular piece of software, and it seems that changing document management for a proprietary indexed solution would be a big problem if we ever wanted to do so in the future.

Our solution, at least for now, is a product called FileCenter by Lucion.  At first glance, the software seems to be a simple replacement for Windows Explorer.  Point it to an existing folder, such as our existing mapped network location, and it simply allows you to brows through the folders and files, and launch them, with a different interfact than Windows Explorer.  No big deal really.  But here are the other features that make this a powerful tool for document mangement in a small firm environment:

1. Folder Templates – As detailed in the picture above, FileCenter allows you to create folder templates.  So, if you need to create a new folder for a client’s 2007 tax return let’s say, you can click new folder, and the new folder will be created wherever you select, but the folder will contain whatever subfolders you want, such as a tax planning folder, extension folder, billing, correspondence, etc.  A very nice way to standardize the folder structure for all different types of engagements.  We all know where each other is saving different types of documents now.

2. File name templates.  In order to help us all easily find documents, we have devised our own list of standard file names, based on the type of document.  For instance, TL-Smith-2007.doc might be the transmittal letter for the smith 2007 tax return.  FileCenter allows you to save a list of these standard file names, and it will autmatically add items to the file name, such as a date, or folder name, or an increment.  So, you can create a file name template for this example as:

TL-<folder level1>-<folder level2>-”increment”

Under this template, if the name of the folder at folder level 1 is Smith, and the name of the folder at folder level 2 is the year – 2007, the TL-Smith-2007.doc is automatically created when saving to that location.  The “increment” option will automatically add an increment, such as 1, 2, 3 if a file with the same name already exists in the folder.  Again, an easy way to standardize how everything is being done accross the organization.  But how does the standard file name work if you are saving a file in Excel or Word you ask?  Read on.

3.      Save-As replacement.  In any program you run, FileCenter replaces the Save-As dialog with their own.  So now, whether you are saving in Excel, Word, or printing a pdf file, or saving a pdf you scanned in from your network, you can simply point to the folder you would like to save the file in from the FileCenter save-as dialog, select the automatic file name from the drop down, and you are done.

So, there is a our solution to document management.  A fairly simple method to standardize file names and locations accross our organization, without an expensive, complicated piece of software that ties us down for the long-term.  What’s your solution?  Please let us know by commenting to this post.

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