VEDO. External electronic document management what it is and how to choose

Not so long ago, I was engaged in the implementation of electronic document management for one of my clients. In the process, I had to explain very many concepts, to tell what it is, how systems of this type work. And only after that he managed to understand the essence of my proposals and approved the work plan. During the discussion, I realized that very little was written on this topic in simple language for a wide range of readers. As usual I will try to explain in simple language about this concept.

It is important to understand that there are two types of workflow - internal (SED) and external (VEDO). In Russia, it is customary to call it EDI, but I think that it is more correct to call it VEDO and SED so basically these concepts are shared in the Russian Federation. That is, if you are looking for a system for exchange with counterparties, then you need to search for EDM, if for internal document management, then EDMS.

In this article I want to talk about external electronic document management, between the company and its counterparties. Internal electronic document management systems are used for the exchange of documents between departments of the same company, they are presented with a slightly different set of requirements. But I will not consider them here.

Why do we need electronic document management

Electronic document management is a modern convenient alternative to regular paper documents that are used for any type of business activity.

Traditional workflow associated with constant time delays. To start cooperation with a client, an invoice is needed, often a contract, and then signed invoices signed, acts of completed work, etc. All these papers go through approvals, they are printed, signed and stamped. After that, it becomes necessary to transfer them to a business partner, where they also go through the process of approval and signing.

Further documents with signatures are scanned, sent by e-mail. After that, originals are sent by courier, by staff or by regular mail. All this takes considerable time, paper documents are sometimes lost, they require revisions (which slows down the process of obtaining documents). And for their storage often allocate the whole room. As a result, the business is experiencing a lot of inconvenience, the conclusion of transactions is delayed, there are problems with the accounting department, since at the end of the reporting period the papers are still somewhere “on the road”. And if in the contract after the signing of one of the parties disputed points were revealed or an error was found in the accounting documentation, the process of obtaining the correct paper document is stretched even more, sometimes even for months.

Electronic document management allows you to get rid of all these inconveniences:

• All documents are "signed" electronically using digital signatures. It's quick and easy.
• To obtain a paper copy, simply print a copy. Interested parties receive all documentation instantly, without waiting for letters or couriers.
• The conclusion of contracts and confirmation of the completion of cooperation (invoices and acts) occurs without delay and additional efforts on the part of employees.
• The impact on the business of the human factor is decreasing: documents are not lost, errors are corrected in a short time.
• There is no need to allocate usable space for storing a variety of paper documents.

In addition, electronic document management can solve the problem of business reporting to the state. Previously, documents were accepted only in paper form, and company employees spent long hours on tax travel, queued up to the inspector, and the inspectors, in turn, processed many papers to verify the correctness of the report and enter data into the common database.

Now all these issues can also be solved with the help of electronic document management. At the same time, it is important to understand that the tax service accepts reports and documents of a strictly established form in electronic form. Any other format will not be accepted. Therefore, when introducing electronic document management, it makes sense to check the format of the company's internal documentation and, if necessary, make appropriate adjustments to the document templates.

At the first stage, the state began to accept tax returns electronically. The technique was successful. And more recently, all documents are also accepted in electronic form.

What does electronic document management consist of?

This type of workflow involves 4 parties:

1. Supplier of goods or services. The party that generates the electronic document.
2. Buyer or customer. The party that accepts the electronic document.
3. A vendor company that provides an electronic platform for the exchange of documents and service services for the organization of electronic document management.
4. State. Government agencies where the vendor company transmits data on the recorded transactions and executed documents.

How it is implemented in practice:

1. The supplier of goods or services generates an electronic document in its own accounting system or immediately in the service provided by the vendor.
2. The document inside the service is instantly sent to the addressee’s company, which receives it either directly in the service or in its own program connected to the service.
3. The site records data on the document.
4. After “signing” (confirmation) by the recipient's side, the document information is sent to the tax office.

This automatically records the fact of sending and receiving a document. Unlike paper bags of documents that are transmitted by employees of the company, by courier or postal service, it is impossible not to receive the document electronically or to lose it. The fact of timely receipt of the document in the electronic system is recorded automatically; this data can be used in the event of a dispute, even in court.

Also, information on documents signed from two parties is automatically transmitted to the tax authorities, which reduces the likelihood of accounting errors, lost paper copies or not including a transaction in the report, which excludes future penalties and other tax issues related to human so common in the case of using paper workflow.

With paper workflow, it is difficult for the head of the company to control the timeliness of receipt of each document. Most often, these issues are resolved at the level of accountants, couriers, sales managers. As a result, it’s not always paper originals that come to an accountant before the end of the reporting period. And this in the case of verification can lead to fines and other troubles.

With electronic document flow:

• The original document is delivered instantly. No need for mail, courier or manager assistance. No delays and related problems.
• The head of the company can check at any time exactly when the document was sent and received. And in the case of problems associated with the lack of important documentation, employees do not have the opportunity to shift responsibility for their mistakes to the “poor performance of mail” and other external factors. This is understood by the employees themselves. Therefore, delays and problems with sending / receiving documents after the introduction of this system become extremely rare.

In order to realize cooperation through electronic document circulation, it is necessary that both parties use the software connected to any workflow platform. Or, alternatively, one or both parties can work directly in the service of sending and receiving documents.

Electronic signature

For the organization of electronic exchange of documents requires a high degree of security and protection. All electronic document management services use a secure connection, data encryption, and an electronic digital signature is used to confirm the authenticity of the document being sent.

A digital signature is a special “electronic key” that creates a unique digital code using mathematical processing of user certificate data and an electronic document. To verify and confirm the signature using public certificates. And for generation (signing) - a personal confidential "key" of the user.

Sites (services) of document flow

Today there is a wide range of sites providing document management services. These are Directum, ELMA, DocsVision, WSS Docs, E-com, Diadok and many others. All of them perform approximately the same functions:

• Receive electronic document from the user.
• Sending to the addressee in his account or transfer to the specified system, if the recipient works with another service.
• Fixing data on the document and sending.

When choosing a system for your company, the most important thing to consider is the preferences of your customers. Here it is important that you either work in the same system as the client that is important for you, or it must be possible in the service to integrate (exchange data) between your system and the similar platform that your client uses.

In some cases, you will be able to convince the buyer to start working with a convenient site. But very often, especially in the case of the start of cooperation with large retail chains and enterprises, they have already made their choice a long time ago, and one of the conditions for cooperation is the possibility of working with a specific electronic document management platform.

EEDO and EDI systems: what is the difference?

When choosing a workflow system, many users also encounter systems that do not position themselves as VEDO, i.e. “Electronic document circulation”, but as EDI (document circulation for retail).

EDI systems are a special case of electronic document circulation. They are focused on data exchange with trading partners or units of the trading network. If, in the general case, through the circulation of documents, any types of legally relevant documents are carried out, then an operational exchange of commercial information between organizations, including legally relevant documents, necessary for trading operations is implemented.

Regular electronic document management allows the use of any type of document in any format convenient for the parties. When using EDI a list of possible documents, their format is strictly regulated. There is no possibility to form and transfer the document in the internal format of the company or not directly related to trading operations. How EDI works, why it is used only in trade, and what are its advantages, I will tell in one of the following articles.

Integration with 1C and other accounting systems

For effective work of electronic document management it is very important that the chosen site supports integration with your accounting system.

Why do you need it:

• Employees of the company create documents in the accounting system of the enterprise;
• After formation, the document is automatically transferred within the system to the manager or accountant for signature;
• The document checked and confirmed by the manager must be transferred without distortion and manual data entry, i.e. additional time and possible errors in the electronic document management service;
• With proper implementation, data transfer occurs automatically. After clicking the “Send Document” button, it is transformed into the form required for the electronic document management system and is sent to the service where the document is recorded and sent to the recipient.

It is very important that under your accounting system there is a ready-made solution on the service side, on the basis of which your specialists will be able to implement the necessary add-in for the accounting program. If there is no such solution, then it is better not to try to implement it on your own, this is a very laborious and complicated process. In the workflow services, a digital signature and complex encryption systems are used. Therefore, there are no guarantees that even after all the efforts of programmers you will get the desired result. It is better to choose another site where you will find the appropriate integration option.

Service cost

Workflow services usually offer connection to the service for free. And for sending documents charged. In some cases it will be a fixed price for each document sent. Somewhere you can buy services in packages, i.e. one amount - for 100 documents, another - for 1000 per month, etc.

This issue should also be approached wisely. On the one hand, the larger package you choose, the lower the cost of sending a single document. On the other hand, there is no point in paying for documents that do not exceed 100 documents per month to pay for a package of 300, 500 or 1000 documents.

Frequently asked Questions

Do all documents need to be sent through the electronic system?

Not. With the help of electronic document management, you will send only those documents that are most conveniently sent in this way. Usually these are acts of work performed, tax invoices, sometimes contracts, etc. It all depends on your needs and convenience.

Payment of sending is made for the document or page?

You pay, and the system records the sending of the document. Even if your document has many pages, it is considered as one unit for payment.

How safe is it?

Electronic document management is completely safe. Moreover, the service providing the service is responsible for ensuring security. For this, a digital signature, data encryption, a secure communication channel are used. The security level is about the same as in the bank-client services that you are used to.

If we have 1C installed, will all users be able to access the electronic document management?

Not. In addition to restricting access rights in the accounting system itself, to work with electronic documents, the connection is limited to one session on one computer. Access from another computer will require a connection from scratch with all passwords and other security methods.

Is it possible to use electronic document management without an electronic signature and connection to paid services?

Not. The signature and application of the document management service that has passed the state certification is necessary for your workflow to become legally binding. You can, of course, send documents without electronic signatures by any means to any channel to your customers. But they are not considered document flow. This is nothing more than a copy for review. In this case, you will need to confirm them always with paper originals.

Is it so difficult to use electronic document management?

Difficulties can arise only at the stage of connection. But to address this issue usually attract experts. The process of use is simple and convenient. The manager (person in charge) checks the document, presses the "sign" and "send" button. Those. sending documents becomes much easier than even when exchanging scans by email.

And what if my client does not use the site that I use?

You have two options. You can connect the contractor to your site, for example, at your expense. Or you can find out if there is a possibility of integration between your electronic document management systems. If yes, just use this service. Then the document will be transmitted according to the scheme: from you - to your system - then to the recipient's system - and, finally, personally to the recipient. This will not affect the speed of receiving a document or the complexity of using the system.

Update: After much deliberation, I decided to introduce the term VEDO (external electronic document management), as EDT is a more comprehensive concept.