Barcodes are everywhere – on your groceries, movie tickets, airline boarding passes, and shipping packages. Both linear and 2D barcodes, like QR codes, store information about an item or product in a machine-readable format that can be easily scanned. Although barcodes are generally used to track inventory, there are many creative and interesting ways to leverage them. That’s why it’s no surprise that the use of barcode recognition technology is hastily growing in business environments today.
Barcodes provide unprecedented opportunities for users to connect and share business-critical information. Beyond their secure encryption, barcodes are widely utilized for a number of reasons. They are an inexpensive option for fast, efficient, accurate data management and can increase your company’s profitability by reducing manual labor costs. Versus a standard barcode, QR codes can store horizontal and vertical information of various types including email addresses, names, product details, URLs, dates, geolocation data, plain text and more.
Thanks to scanning technology and the power of capture automation, barcodes can be very useful in a number of business applications. Let’s take a look at two common and interesting methods for leveraging barcode recognition technology.
Accounts Payable: Vendor Invoice Capture
Every organization has bills to pay and new invoices arriving daily. Each invoice needs to be reviewed, processed, and sent to the approving manager, causing delays in the payment process that can lead to late fees. Using barcode cover sheets, invoices can be routed to the Accounts Payable department in a secure, reliable and fully indexed manner.
The manager can simply complete an online web form for vendor invoice capture by entering the Vendor Name, Invoice Date, Invoice Number, Purchase Order Number and Amount into the barcode index fields. The barcode is automatically created – without the need for an Adobe license! The cover sheet is then printed and placed on the Vendor Invoice before hitting the Scan button. Seconds later, the Vendor Invoice arrives in the digital document management repository, notifying the Accounts Payable team that a fully indexed document has been received and is ready for processing.
By using a QR code, any misplacement or mishandling of incoming invoices is eliminated, and the entire process is streamlined for faster payment. The AP department can further reduce downstream costs with automated routing, notifications or reminders for any users involved with the invoice approval process.
Human Resources: Employee Records Capture
Barcode recognition technology is an extremely effective tool for capturing all types of Human Resources records. During the onboarding process, the Human Resources manager can use cover sheets to quickly scan, separate, classify and file each record within the new hire paperwork including the W4, Federal I-9, Emergency Notification, Direct Deposit form and more. Best of all, this type of document capture creates a highly secure and HIPAA compliant process.
To start, the manager can complete a web form for a Human Resources cover sheet by entering the employee name, department, document date, etc. This can be applied for all HR records including annual performance reviews, disciplinary actions, change of beneficiary or contact change forms. The cover sheet is printed and placed on the document and once scanned, the office multifunction printer sends the files into the document management system’s Human Resources file. The manager now has immediate access to the file from the browser and can shred the original scanned document. Not only is this process simple but it also provides a secure method for managing sensitive employee information to ensure data is not left accessible for view by unauthorized personnel.
There are an infinite number of use cases for digital transformation through the use of Barcode Cover sheets. Want to know more about how you can set up a barcode scanning system in your business? Contact Square 9 Softworks today to get started!
