Going Paperless: How much money do schools save?

There’s a cost to how you currently do things. In the case of shifting to a paperless system, an average school or district of 1,000 employees can save around $277,530 and 788 hours per year. Less Cost + Saved Time = Much Better. Here’s the breakdown:

Buying paper, ink, printers and filing cabinets are obvious costs that shrink drastically (or go away entirely) when you enter the wonderful world of Paperless, but there are additional costs that most paperless users notice only after already saving them. Here’s a summary:

Overhead and Overtime
Many of our partners didn’t realize how much they were spending on extra duty pay and other costs that aren’t part of regular payroll. In fact, 38% of their Going Paperless savings estimate comes from a decrease in overhead and overtime costs.

Reduction in Expenses
With better control and approval of expenses via electronically streamlined workflows, unnecessary and duplicate expenses can be caught and reduced.

Paper Cost Savings
Research shows an average school spends approximately $48,000 at the central office. This doesn’t include paper usage at school sites. Almost half of the estimated savings in paperless are associated with the cost of paper, ink, printing, mailing, and other associated expenses.

Estimated Time Savings Per Year
Streamlined processes, automated notifications, reports, and less paperwork lead to tremendous gain in office staff productivity and overall happiness, while the ability to track forms and information easily helps site administrators and staff not get bogged down by paperwork and makes their lives easier. Office Staff at this 1,000-employee school can save 526 hours, while School Site Administrators save 263.  That’s nearly five months’ worth of work! Not too shabby.

Physical Storage Space
Schools going paperless report less filing and subsequently less need for filing cabinets and document storage. As a result, this average school is saving 90 square feet in storage space. That’s enough room to put some plants, a fridge, a few pot luck tables, and an indoor swimming pool; everything you and your team need to celebrate going paperless right!

And let’s not overlook the qualitative benefits of paperless:

• Sustainable Workloads lead to Happier Staff and Less Turnover
• Faster Hiring leads to Higher Quality Talent
• Improved Compliance and Reduced Errors
• Increased Transparency
• Better Service to Employees and Students
• Positive Impact on Superintendent and Board

With our Savings Calculator, schools and districts don’t have to realize these savings in retrospect, but can get their own estimate now by taking a few minutes to answer some questions:

• How many employees do you have?
• How many systems do you use?
• Which processes are manual or paper-based?
• How often do you pay overtime or extra duty?
• How transparent are your processes?
• How often does your staff do double data entry?

Check out our system overview video and schedule your demo today!