UK SMEs waste more than GBP 422 million per day in revenues looking for documents

Released on: July 10, 2008, 2:19 am

Press Release Author: Invu

Industry: Accounting

Press Release Summary:
. 92% of managers and directors surveyed waste time searching for paperwork each
working day, with 80% losing up to an hour per day
. Less than 1 in 4 companies have a document management system in their company
. A mere 7% of SMEs have a predominantly paperless office
. 80% of managers and directors surveyed waste up to an hour a day looking for
documents


Press Release Body: Blisworth, 10th July, 2008 - Searching for documents is costing
SMEs a staggering £42.2million per day in lost revenue, according to independent
research released today. The survey, which was commissioned by Invu and conducted by
YouGov, revealed that managers and directors are wasting valuable time trying to
locate documents that may have been mis-filed, moved to another location or simply
lost, costing businesses dearly. Yet despite this, according to the
managers/directors questioned, less than one in four UK SMEs have replaced their
paper filing with digital document management, making it no surprise that only 7% of
companies operate a predominantly paperless office.

With more than 4.5 million SMEs in the UK, and the survey finding that 80% of
managers and directors waste up to one hour (worth £88 on average*) of their time
per day looking for documents, it is little wonder that this wasted time is costing
businesses £42.2 million. But this is really just the tip of the iceberg, if the
number of director and managers in each company is considered; for example, for a
company of 120 people with 10 directors and managers, the cost to that business
could be up to £4400 per week.

The root cause of this inefficiency is paper; just 7% of SMEs have 91% or more of
their documents saved electronically, even though paper documents can easily be lost
or mis-filed due to human error. With only 6% of survey respondents stating that
their organisation doesn't have a digital document management system because there's
no point in creating a paperless office, the question of why more companies have not
yet taken the plunge and become paperless leaps to the fore, particularly
considering the growing need to efficiently store and retrieve documents for
compliance and audit purposes.

Spending time on business development was the top response (31%) to the question of
what managers and directors would do if they had additional time during their
working day. This was followed by completing admin tasks (26%) and going home on
time (21%).

"It's shocking to think that managers and directors in SMEs are wasting valuable
time that could be spent developing their business," commented David Morgan, CEO,
Invu. "Document management is now very accessible to even the smallest business.
For as little as £1 per day per user this problem can be eradicated."

George Derbyshire, Chief Executive of The National Federation of Enterprise Agencies
(NFEA), says, "This research is quite frightening and is an example of how everyday
inefficiencies can have a very damaging effect on small businesses. It\'s vital to
prioritise on a daily basis, but it is also important to take time out from time to
time and review your processes and systems to ensure that they are supporting you -
not holding you back."

On the plus side, 23% of respondents have already implemented a digital document
management system, with nearly two thirds of SMEs (64%) agreeing that this solution
enabled them to look for or search through archive documents more quickly and
easily. 16% cited decreasing the amount of storage space paid for as a major
benefit, with one in 10 implementing a solution in order to meet regulations, such
as the Data Protection Act.

For those SMEs that don't yet have a document management system, one third were
apprehensive about high upfront expenditure; a worry that may be unfounded as it
has been shown that ROI can be achieved within six months with this kind of system.


[* value established from survey questions]

-Ends-
ALL FIGURES, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, ARE FROM YOUGOV PLC. TOTAL SAMPLE SIZE WAS
858 MANAGERS/DIRECTORS IN UK SMES. FIELDWORK WAS UNDERTAKEN BETWEEN 16TH - 27TH JUNE
2008. THE SURVEY WAS CARRIED OUT ONLINE. THE FIGURES ARE UNWEIGHTED.
ABOUT INVU
Invu [LSE, AIM, Symbol: INVU] develops, markets and sells software (under the brand
name of Invu) for the electronic management of all types of information and
documents, such as forms, correspondence, literature, faxes, e-mail, technical
drawings, electronic files and web pages. Invu targets the small-to-medium size
enterprise (\'SME\') market and individual departments of larger organisations with a
range of products which the Directors believe strongly adhere to Invu\'s brand values
of ease of use, high quality and price performance.

Founded in 1997 and based in Northampton, Invu has 68 employees and operates in the
UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, South East Asia, Australia, the United States of
America and Nigeria. Invu\'s products have been sold to over 4,000 customers,
representing more than75,000 licensed users. Invu has a proven reseller business
model and has established a network of more than 166 Value Added Resellers, 14 of
which are in Benelux.

Invu is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a member of the Business Application
Software Developers Association (BASDA). Its version 5.4 and Series 6 software have
been accredited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
(ICAEW). In January 2006 Invu became the first DDM ISV to join SAP\'s portfolio and
is certified for integration with SAP Business One. In September 2006, the Invu
Series 6 product was selected by Sage to be marketed by them into the Professional
Adviser market in the UK.

In January 2008, Invu announced a partnership agreement with IRIS, to integrate its
Invu technology into the award winning IRIS Practice Management system, extending
the IRIS systems' existing document functionality.

Invu achieved the ISO 9001 compliance, in March 2008. Used by over ¾ million
organizations the accreditation sets the standard for quality and management
systems, by helping companies to succeed through improved customer satisfaction,
staff motivation and continual improvement.

For further information on how Invu can benefit your business, please contact us on
+44(0)1604 859893, or email us at info@invu.net. Alternatively visit our website at
www.invu.net.







Web Site: http://www.invu.net

Contact Details: Media contacts:
Sarah-Anne Bray / Laurie Glimmerveen
Wildfire PR
0208 339 4420
invu@wildfirepr.co.uk

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