If you’ve been thinking of going paperless, and have been wondering “How do I scan a document?”, you’re in luck.

There are 3 easy ways to digitize your documents – using a desktop scanner, using your smartphone, or using a mail-in service.

When you scan documents, all of your data becomes digitized and searchable on your computer or in the cloud. Once your documents have been scanned, you can recycle the hard copies, freeing up precious space in your home or office.

Here is how to scan a document using a desktop scanner, mobile phone, or mail-in service:

1. “How Do I Scan a Document with a Traditional Desktop Scanner?”

• Make sure your desktop scanner is connected to your computer, either wirelessly or through a USB cable

• Make sure your scanning software is installed. Most devices will automatically detect the scanner and download the appropriate software the first time you plug the scanner into your computer.

• Place hard copy documents face down on the scanner. Or, if you have a multi-feed scanner, place your stack of documents into the feed tray.

• Open your scanning software on your computer, adjust the settings, and click “Scan”

• Once the document is scanned, you’ll have the option to save it on your computer, create a PDF, share it via email, or export it to the program of your choice

2. “How Do I Scan a Document with a Mobile Scanner?”

If you need to get a document online but you aren’t at home, you can scan using your smartphone’s camera. Applications like Shoeboxed allow you to snap a photo of any receipt or document, and instantly send the scan to your cloud-based account.

• Gather any receipts or paper documents you’d like to scan

• Open your scanning application on your smartphone

• Take a photo of the receipt or paper document from within the application

• Make any needed edits or adjustments to the scanned data – for example, Shoeboxed allows you to categorize each scanned receipt right from your smartphone

3. “How Do I Scan a Document with a Mail-In Scanning Service?”

What if you don’t have time to scan your documents at home or on the go? In that case, you can use a mail-in scanning service and have someone else do the scanning for you.

In addition to their great mobile scanning app, Shoeboxed also offers a mail-in service for people who are either too busy to scan themselves, or simply don’t feel like spending hours going through stacks of paper!

• Sign up for a Shoeboxed account

• In a few days, you’ll receive one of their big blue Magic Envelopes in the mail

• Collect all of your receipts, business cards, bank statements and other documents and dump them into the Magic Envelope

• Shoeboxed will send you two envelopes to get started. Don’t worry. If you have more documents to scan than can fit in two envelopes – they will send you more envelopes once you’ve mailed them the first two.

• Drop your Magic Envelope(s) into the mailbox.

• Check your Shoeboxed account. In a few business days, all of your documents will be scanned, digitized, and accessible within your online account.

It’s never been quicker and easier to scan a document! Whether you have receipts to scan while on the go, or file cabinets filled with old bills and records, scanning doesn’t have to be a long, labor-intensive process.

There are 3 main ways to scan documents and email them:

1. Using a desktop scanner

When you scan a paper document using your desktop scanner, you have several options of what to do with that document once it’s scanned. While you may want to simply scan and save the file in question as a JPG, chances are you’ll also need to share scanned documents with others via email.

Most scanning software has an automatic scan to email option. Instead of saving the scanned document, then opening your email account and uploading the scanned file as an attachment, the process is much simpler.

After scanning a document, click on it to highlight it. Your scanning software will then have an email option in the toolbar – usually a command that says “scan to email” or  “forward as email.”

Your scanned document will then automatically be attached to an email that will open in your mail client. Simply fill in the “to” field and any relevant message you’d like to include, and hit “send.”

2. Using a portable travel scanner

Travel scanners are a fantastic option for emailing scanned documents. When you’re away on business at a conference or at an offsite work location, use your travel scanner for all of your scan to email needs. Chances are you’ll need to share expense reports with co-workers and employees back at the office, so this is a handy way to email documents right as you scan them.

Your travel scanner will come with scanning software that is similar to the software included with your desktop scanner. After scanning, select the document and click the “forward as email” option. Keep in mind that your software may word the option slightly differently, so also keep your eyes peeled for “email scan” options or “send to recipient” options.

3. Using your smartphone

Another great way to scan and email documents is by using your smartphone. Your phone’s camera functions as a built-in scanner that can be used anywhere and everywhere you go.

If you have large stacks of documents to scan, a traditional scanner is probably the best option. But for daily business dealings, snapping a quick photo of receipts and single-page documents is the quickest, easiest solution.

Simply take a photo of a receipt or other document using your phone’s camera. In iPhone, touch the arrow icon in the bottom lefthand corner of your screen. Then select “mail.” Fill in the “to” field and the subject field, and your scan will be emailed to whoever needs it. This also means you now have two digital records of your scanned document – one saved within your phone’s Photos folder, and another cloud-based copy in the “sent’ folder of your email account.

If you didn’t have the means to buy your own scanner and scan documents at home, you had to try and locate the nearest FedEx Office or print shop, drive there, and use your credit card to pay for each and every document you scanned.

Talk about the Stone Age!

So how do you scan a document in the 21st century? Like so many things in the digital age, the answer is whenever and wherever you want.

Scanners are now more lightweight and compact than ever. You can purchase a travel scanner to scan your documents on the go, scan documents in the comfort of your home or office, or even scan documents using your smartphone.

When using a scanner like the Fujitsu Scansnap, all you have to do is place your document (or stack of documents) into the scanner’s feed tray. The scanner will do the rest, scanning a page every 7.5 seconds.

What’s more, modern scanners create digitized documents at 600 DPI, ensuring the scanned copy will be crystal clear and easy to read.

Another great feature of modern-day document scanning is the ability to digitize your data. When you scan a document, the scanning software will capture the data from whatever hard copy document you’ve scanned. It will then present that data in a variety of searchable forms, making it easy to create reports using Microsoft Excel or export data to a PDF. You can then incorporate this data into expense reports or other tax documents, and easily share it with colleagues, co-workers, and your tax professional.

When you’re on the go, the easiest way to scan a document is to simply snap a photo of it with your smartphone. Shoeboxed is a company that offers receipt scanning software for your iPhone or Android via their smartphone app. Whenever you need to scan a receipt or document, simply open their app on your phone and snap a picture of it. The information from the document will be automatically scanned and synced within your secure online account. You can then recycle the hard copy and prevent paper clutter from collecting in your home, office or car.

Shoeboxed is also great if you have massive stacks of paper that need to be scanned. Instead of snapping a photo of each individual piece of paper, simply place the stack within one (or several) of their Magic Envelopes. Drop the envelope in the mail, and sit back and relax as the Shoeboxed team does the scanning for you. In this way, the answer to the question “How do you scan a document?” becomes “You don’t – you let someone else do it!”

Whether you’re scanning from home or snapping photos on the go, it’s never been easier to scan a document, go paperless, get organized and stay that way.

Just a few years ago, you would have to physically go into a FedEx Office store to scan documents, or invest in an expensive scanner and receipt scanning software just to turn piles of paper clutter into digital data.

While you can still use public workspaces like FedEx Office to scan documents, doing so requires you to journey to and from their store location each and every time you need something scanned. That’s a lot of work and a lot of wasted time!

Luckily, things have changed a lot in the past few years.

Now, it’s easier than ever to scan documents from the comfort of your own home or office. Scanners are more compact, more lightweight, and more powerful than ever. As more and more small business owners go paperless, scanners are becoming one of the most – if not the most – important office supplies to have on hand.

A mobile scanner like the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 weighs only about 12 ounces and scans everything from business cards to bank statements.

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Mobile Scanner

When wondering “Where can I scan documents?”, the answer with ScanSnap is “anywhere you want!” Convert paper documents to PDF, Word, Excel, or JPG, connect directly to your laptop or mobile device, and organize full color scans by category or keyword.

Another great answer to the question “Where can I scan documents?” is “Nowhere!” That’s because there are receipt scanning services that will scan all of your documents for you, eliminating the need to buy a scanner at all.

With a service like the one available from Shoeboxed, you can dump all of your paper documents into a big envelope, drop the envelope in the mail, and watch as your account is magically populated with digital data. All of your documents will be scanned, digitized, categorized, and stored in a single secure account. This is a great option if you’re a busy small business owner and don’t have the time to spend hours scanning.

Shoeboxed also has an app for iOS and Android that functions in a similar way to the ScanSnap scanner. Instead of bringing a portable scanner along with you on business trips, you can use your smartphone as a scanner.

Open the Shoeboxed app on your phone and simply snap a picture of the receipt or document that needs to be scanned. The app will then automatically beam the document to your Shoeboxed account and sync the new data within your account.

There is no longer any need to leave your home, go back to the office, or try and find an open FedEx Office simply because you need to scan a few business cards. With the ScanSnap starting at just $199, and Shoeboxed accounts starting at under $10/month, it’s easy to start scanning documents (or not!) when it’s most convenient for you.

But what if you’re a small business owner or solopreneur? If your business is small or you’re just getting started, it can be difficult to plan a monthly budget. You may be spending more money than you’re making, and if you’re like most small business owners, you may be pouring a lot of your own financial resources into growing your business.

Even if your budget is different every single month, you can still benefit by using a monthly expense worksheet to track spending, income, write-offs, and payments.

Step 1 – Organize

The first important thing you should do is get organized. Billfolds, filing cabinets and paper clipped stacks of receipts might work for some people, but there is a big chance you could lose an important piece of paper, and nobody has time for that!

One of the best things you can do is scan your receipts, bills and other paper documents so that there is always a digital record of them. An even easier option is using a service that can extract the data for you and export it right into an excel document.

Step 2 – Do the Work

The process of actually making your monthly expense worksheet and doing it well is essential for managing your budget time and time again. So, pull up that spreadsheet and get started!

There are two key categories you’ll need: fixed and variable costs. Once you have these, you can carry the fixed costs over to your expenses worksheet each month and change the variable costs as needed. Remember to cross reference the information in your worksheet with your online checking and banking accounts to verify that everything is correct. Also, check to make sure that the OCR technology from your scanning equipment got everything right. Some scanners only claim accuracy rates of 85%, so ensure that no decimals are transfixed!

Now that you have a spreadsheet template that you can use going forward, you’ll have no problem completing the final step.

Step 3 – Repeat (and don’t get lazy!)

The last step involves simply getting into the habit of managing your monthly expenses. The best way to do this is to add it to your schedule and to hold yourself accountable. Put a date on your calendar each month where you devote a few hours to scanning your receipts. Some people choose to break it up and scan weekly to keep their monthly expense reports in order while others need only do it monthly. Either way, doing this will eliminate the need for a bookkeeper (and as a result, some of those monthly fixed costs!).

Keep in mind that scanning your receipts is a much faster and more reliable solution than paper clipping receipts together and manually entering them into your accounting software. If you’re not using a scanner yet and are considering it, keep an eye out for receipt scanners and scanning services around tax time. Many companies will promote special offers to business owners to get them to buy their products while they’re prepping to file their taxes.

The benefits of capturing receipts via your smartphone or desktop scanner include:

Instant digitization

When you scan your receipts or snap a picture of them using a smartphone app like the one available from Shoeboxed, all of the information on the receipt becomes instantly digitized. This means that you’ll be able to search for purchases and transactions by date, amount, category, and even individual items. Cloud-based applications like Shoeboxed ensure that all of your expense information is available at the touch of a button.

Never lose another receipt

It’s easy to lose track of paper receipts when they’re stuffed in your wallet, purse or briefcase. By capturing your e-receipts and uploading them to the cloud as soon as you get them, you’ll never lose another receipt. You’ll also be able to search for and find receipts as needed when requested by your tax professional or the IRS.

Easy reporting

When the time comes to send information to your accountant or create an expense report, software that captures e-receipts makes the process seamless. Instead of shuffling through receipt after receipt and manually recording each total, simply select the date range or category of receipt you’d like to report, and voila! A comprehensive report created with the touch of a button.

Digitally sort into categories

Another major benefit of capturing your e-receipts is being able to sort and organize them into expense categories. Shoeboxed’s receipt scanning service automatically detects the appropriate tax category for each uploaded receipt.

For example, a scanned receipt from Office Depot would be automatically labeled as “office supplies,” and be available in searches for that particular expense category. If your purchase at Office Depot needs to be categorized differently, it’s easy to remove, edit, and change category labels from within your account.

Capture on the go

While a receipt scanner comes in handy at the office and when dealing with large stacks of paper, capturing receipts on the go prevents clutter from being reintroduced to your newly clean workspace.

When you receive a receipt from a retail outlet or restaurant, simply snap a picture of that receipt from within your smartphone application. The information will be instantly digitized and beamed to your account. From there, you can recycle the receipt and leave the establishment clutter-free. Since the IRS no longer requires hard copy receipts, the digital record is all you need to keep.

Eliminate stacks of paper clutter

Capturing your e-receipts in the office doesn’t have to be a painstaking process. Shoeboxed offers a service called the Magic Envelope, which allows you to eliminate enormous stacks of personal or business receipts and other paper documents in a matter of minutes. Simply toss anything you’d like to be captured into the big blue envelope, and toss the envelope in the mail. In a few days, the folks at Shoeboxed will have scanned and digitized each and every item.

Luckily, even Uncle Sam has decided to go paperless. The IRS now accepts digital receipts, which means that scanned receipts are now considered fully legitimate documentation for your taxes. Instead of collecting stacks of paper receipts in your wallet or “organizing” receipts with plastic sandwich bags, you can simply scan your receipts, upload them to a cloud-based receipt management account, and recycle those pesky pieces of paper once and for all.

Then, if you do need to pull a specific receipt for your accountant come tax time, you can simply open up or log in to your digital receipt account and either email them a screen shot of the receipt or print it out. Receipt scanning software like the programs available from Shoeboxed lets you search for receipts that have been placed into a receipt form digitized by date, amount, line item, or category.

With a Shoeboxed account, you can keep track of business receipts no matter where you are. Dump piles of paper receipts into their Magic Envelope and watch your entire office become clutter-free in a matter of minutes. The folks at Shoeboxed will actually scan your receipts for you, saving you the time and headache of scanning slip after slip of paper.

Neat Desktop Scanner

You can also scan business receipts yourself with a desktop scanner or mobile receipt scanner, or simply snap a picture of each individual receipt with your smartphone. This is a great option while traveling, and prevents receipts from getting lost in the shuffle as you head from the airport to the rental car agency to your hotel.

When you receive a receipt that can be expensed or used as a write off, simply snap a photo of it with your phone from within your account. The information from the receipt, including the items purchased, location, date, and total will be instantly uploaded to your online account.

When you return from your trip, need to generate an expense report, or need to file your taxes, simply log in to your cloud-based account and get an instant snapshot of your receipt totals. Each receipt can be categorized, labeled, and exported as a report to the email address of your choosing. You can also download reports and send them as attachments, streamlining the accounting process for you and your tax professional.

Digitizing every business receipt is a great way to get organized, save money, and save time throughout the year. By opting for digital instead of hard copy receipts, you’ll never have to worry about misplacing important financial documents or losing proofs of purchase. If you’re a small business owner, scanning digital receipts will streamline your entire accounting process, freeing you up to do what you do best – run your business!