Jimirig

All businesses use paper in one way or another for purchasing, receipts, orders, time sheets. These forms are usually custom printed with a logo, and pertaining information for that company. Some of these forms once they are completed are either stored in a box or manually entered into a computer. Why not just knock out 90% of that hassle and have the forms digital from the start. Not only will you save money from buying paper, you will also be one step closer to being a greener company which is a big deal these days.

Several options are available right off the bat without really having to have some professional design help. Microsoft Office has many contributed templates that others have submitted available to download for free. Some of these templates are word orders, time sheets, asset tracking, etc. Adding your logo is very simple. Microsoft has made InfoPath very simple to use for the basic functions. If you can use Microsoft Word, then you can customize basic features of InfoPath. Once this form is filled out it can be saved and sent where it needs to go via email or folder share.

More advanced option would be to save the form directly in SharePoint. Speaking of SharePoint, what about a simple Punch In/Out site on MOSS or WSS where employees just go to a site on your intranet and click a button. When the day is done, go back to the site, click punch out, and supply information if needed. Let SharePoint calculate the time spent on the job. SharePoint knows who is visiting the page so there is no need to identify the employee. You can also just simply create a custom list in SharePoint where a user enters the required information.

An even more advanced option for larger organizations is to build custom forms for orders, time sheets, and others that are stored in SharePoint and require an approval process. Many of which could be attached to a workflow to automate the process. For example when a time sheet is submitted for approval, it is sent automatically to the manager, and then once approved there all the time is recorded in SharePoint and payroll only has to verify the information and get a check completed.

There are many different variables that can be programed to ease business. Many of which only need to be done once and then they run for years so the overhead is very low and the ROI is very high due to maintenance. This also increases the time spent everyday doing business. Instead of manually taking down all the information for an order and then walking over and faxing or handing over to another person, have a computer do it instantly for each order. That saves a huge amount of time and money for business owners.

Find out more by looking at our solutions or contact us for more details.

TIP: Save an InfoPath Form in SharePoint

SharePoint Workflow – Part 1

Unique ID in InfoPath Using SharePoint

SharePoint – More Than Just a Technical Solution

Workflow. What is it?