Paperwork. It's so unnecessary.
Times were when paper was critical to small business success. Printers, printer cartridges, files, boxes of receipts, fax machines, even typewriters were a requirement for your own business.
But it's 2016. And the great news you are likely already aware of is that paper is now optional.
In general, this is true for life as we know it. Our smartphones hold boarding passes, bar codes, passcodes, and even identification.
Of course, there is the odd glitch as we go about our daily tasks. Government agencies still seem to be stuck in 1982, requiring us to print a form, sign it, take it physically to an office – only to discover that we printed version 6.5 of the form, not version 6.5.1, and we have to start the process all over.
But that is not the case for small businesses: because you have the power to set your own processes and systems.
And you can do all of that in the cloud.
At Nimbus, cloud integration is our motus operandi. We help small businesses get everything into the cloud – and that includes paperwork of any kind. (We really can save those trees!)
When it comes to your financial information held in the cloud, QuickBooks Online is the first place to start. It holds all your invoices, expenses, and accounting data of any kind.
And taking it to the next step is Hubdoc.
Hubdoc is the answer for this campaign to root out all unnecessary financial-related paper in your business life.
Times were when paper was critical to small business success. Printers, printer cartridges, files, boxes of receipts, fax machines, even typewriters were a requirement for your own business.
But it's 2016. And the great news you are likely already aware of is that paper is now optional.
In general, this is true for life as we know it. Our smartphones hold boarding passes, bar codes, passcodes, and even identification.
Of course, there is the odd glitch as we go about our daily tasks. Government agencies still seem to be stuck in 1982, requiring us to print a form, sign it, take it physically to an office – only to discover that we printed version 6.5 of the form, not version 6.5.1, and we have to start the process all over.
But that is not the case for small businesses: because you have the power to set your own processes and systems.
And you can do all of that in the cloud.
At Nimbus, cloud integration is our motus operandi. We help small businesses get everything into the cloud – and that includes paperwork of any kind. (We really can save those trees!)
When it comes to your financial information held in the cloud, QuickBooks Online is the first place to start. It holds all your invoices, expenses, and accounting data of any kind.
And taking it to the next step is Hubdoc.
Hubdoc is the answer for this campaign to root out all unnecessary financial-related paper in your business life.
Why Hubdoc: Integration capabilities
Hubdoc is not the only system out there that can streamline your data, but it's our preferred system – partly because it works so smoothly with QuickBooks Online.
Your financial data is the hub of all your business information. So it's critical that whatever system you set up to manage your paperwork is fully integrated with your financial hub, QuickBooks Online.
This means that among other things, you can:
Your financial data is the hub of all your business information. So it's critical that whatever system you set up to manage your paperwork is fully integrated with your financial hub, QuickBooks Online.
This means that among other things, you can:
- Publish receipts & bills, and their data, to QuickBooks Online, automatically
- Take control of how documents are coded into QuickBooks Online (we can help you there)
- Import your chart of accounts and vendors/suppliers from QuickBooks Online (again, we can help you there – if you're not sure what a chart of accounts is, or how it needs to be set up!)
- Automatically match Hubdoc transactions with your bank feed
- Access data on any internet-connected PC or Mac via web browser without having to install software (that's essentially the definition of the cloud!)
How does Hubdoc remove the paperwork hassle?
Think of Hubdoc as a magic wand – the computer elves who turn all your paperwork into data that is:
"Like a great personal assistant," Hubdoc says, "we do it for you".
Here's how it works:
Take photos with the Hubdoc app: Simply take a photo of your receipt, invoice or bill with the mobile app and throw out the paper copy. Hubdoc scans, extracts and stores your documents, ready to be published.
Forward by email: When you sign up, Hubdoc automatically creates a personalized email address just for you. Email in your documents and Hubdoc does the rest. (Note – it is important to get those integrations right from the start – read on to the next section.)
Scan or upload your documents: If you've already scanned your receipts, invoices, statements or bills, you can upload them directly to Hubdoc and the software will extract the key data for you.
The best part is, once you've started on the cloud integration road, it gets easier as you go on. Hubdoc not only synchronizes with QuickBooks Online, but with many other cloud systems you're using.
It's also backed up in the cloud – so the days of physical backups, with storage in an off-site location, is no longer needed.
Best of all, your paperwork is so easy to find now. You don't even have to be an organized person with your files all in one place. Looking for that document when you can't even remember what it's called? Just search by keyword or phrase. Kind of like using Google for your financial information. (But no one has access except you.)
- Useable
- Trackable
- Searchable
- Forwardable
- Publishable
- Integrated
- …and more
"Like a great personal assistant," Hubdoc says, "we do it for you".
Here's how it works:
Take photos with the Hubdoc app: Simply take a photo of your receipt, invoice or bill with the mobile app and throw out the paper copy. Hubdoc scans, extracts and stores your documents, ready to be published.
Forward by email: When you sign up, Hubdoc automatically creates a personalized email address just for you. Email in your documents and Hubdoc does the rest. (Note – it is important to get those integrations right from the start – read on to the next section.)
Scan or upload your documents: If you've already scanned your receipts, invoices, statements or bills, you can upload them directly to Hubdoc and the software will extract the key data for you.
The best part is, once you've started on the cloud integration road, it gets easier as you go on. Hubdoc not only synchronizes with QuickBooks Online, but with many other cloud systems you're using.
It's also backed up in the cloud – so the days of physical backups, with storage in an off-site location, is no longer needed.
Best of all, your paperwork is so easy to find now. You don't even have to be an organized person with your files all in one place. Looking for that document when you can't even remember what it's called? Just search by keyword or phrase. Kind of like using Google for your financial information. (But no one has access except you.)
Best of all: Hubdoc does it automatically
One of the most exciting features of Hubdoc is the fact that it automatically downloads bank and credit card statements, as well as a large number of vendor bills, invoices and statements.
For example, Hubdoc can automatically download Amazon invoices, record the associated expense transaction in QuickBooks Online, and attach the invoice to the transaction. This is a very powerful thing. And Hubdoc adds new vendors monthly, so it's not just Amazon!
Depending on the number of banks and vendors you deal with, this can become a huge time saver and also represents the differentiator between Hubdoc and other similar expense-integration cloud software.
Without this automatic download function, many other receipt and expense integration apps are essentially the same.
For example, Hubdoc can automatically download Amazon invoices, record the associated expense transaction in QuickBooks Online, and attach the invoice to the transaction. This is a very powerful thing. And Hubdoc adds new vendors monthly, so it's not just Amazon!
Depending on the number of banks and vendors you deal with, this can become a huge time saver and also represents the differentiator between Hubdoc and other similar expense-integration cloud software.
Without this automatic download function, many other receipt and expense integration apps are essentially the same.
Getting started with Hubdoc
It is so important, though, to set the systems up right from the beginning.
You can do it DIY-style: open a QuickBooks Online account, import your financial information, and set up a Hubdoc account and integrate them. In our experience, it's not that you can't do that. You are a business owner, and you know how to research systems, watch videos, and learn on the go. All these cloud systems are built to make it easy.
But it still takes time.
And who has the time to spend hours and hours setting up things like a chart of accounts, which you may not even be familiar with in the first place? Or what if you set up Hubdoc, and integrate everything, and then discover that it would have been better to set it up in a different way, or change one of the integration settings?
Here's how to get started:
Make sure you're using QuickBooks Online, or another cloud accounting software. As we've mentioned, that's your financial hub. There's little point to getting everything working with Hubdoc if it's not integrating with your bill payments, invoicing, and other financial systems. Naturally, as part of our cloud integration services, we can make sure that's all set up for you – and Hubdoc at the same time. Perhaps even a few other systems, as well.
More about QuickBooks Online
Set up a Hubdoc account (or let us do that for you). The account needs to be created – and then integrated right from the start. We can of course set that up, and just give you the unique Hubdoc email address we mentioned, and direct you to the app. Everything else will be taken care of.
More about admin and paperwork integration
Create rules for how your documents will be organized. This is critical. As we all know, it's exciting to start a new system – but it will work better if you take the time and effort to set it up in a way that streamlines it for the months and years to come. Having done this for many small businesses (as well as ourselves), we know the best way to set it up so that you won't be tearing your hair out in two months' time when you discover that all your personal invoices are being categorized as tax payments.
Give access to key advisors. Think about who needs access to these types of documents – your accountant, obviously (and we can take care of that if you want). Your bookkeeper, if you have one. Colleagues, fellow business owners, employees. Of course you will want to give the right kind of access to each person – and that's part of the setup process also.
Once you've done the setup and have been using it for even a few days, we're confident you will never want to go back.
After all, this is the future. And there isn't much paperwork here.
You can do it DIY-style: open a QuickBooks Online account, import your financial information, and set up a Hubdoc account and integrate them. In our experience, it's not that you can't do that. You are a business owner, and you know how to research systems, watch videos, and learn on the go. All these cloud systems are built to make it easy.
But it still takes time.
And who has the time to spend hours and hours setting up things like a chart of accounts, which you may not even be familiar with in the first place? Or what if you set up Hubdoc, and integrate everything, and then discover that it would have been better to set it up in a different way, or change one of the integration settings?
Here's how to get started:
Make sure you're using QuickBooks Online, or another cloud accounting software. As we've mentioned, that's your financial hub. There's little point to getting everything working with Hubdoc if it's not integrating with your bill payments, invoicing, and other financial systems. Naturally, as part of our cloud integration services, we can make sure that's all set up for you – and Hubdoc at the same time. Perhaps even a few other systems, as well.
More about QuickBooks Online
Set up a Hubdoc account (or let us do that for you). The account needs to be created – and then integrated right from the start. We can of course set that up, and just give you the unique Hubdoc email address we mentioned, and direct you to the app. Everything else will be taken care of.
More about admin and paperwork integration
Create rules for how your documents will be organized. This is critical. As we all know, it's exciting to start a new system – but it will work better if you take the time and effort to set it up in a way that streamlines it for the months and years to come. Having done this for many small businesses (as well as ourselves), we know the best way to set it up so that you won't be tearing your hair out in two months' time when you discover that all your personal invoices are being categorized as tax payments.
Give access to key advisors. Think about who needs access to these types of documents – your accountant, obviously (and we can take care of that if you want). Your bookkeeper, if you have one. Colleagues, fellow business owners, employees. Of course you will want to give the right kind of access to each person – and that's part of the setup process also.
Once you've done the setup and have been using it for even a few days, we're confident you will never want to go back.
After all, this is the future. And there isn't much paperwork here.