Switching to electronic document management only looks like a big project until you break it into steps. In reality you can start in a single day, and a full rollout takes a few weeks. Here is a practical step-by-step checklist that will take you from paper to your first signed online document and beyond.
Step 1. Audit your paper processes
Before digitising anything, you need to understand what actually happens in your company. Walk through a document's real path and write down the answers to a few simple questions.
- Which documents do you create most often — contracts, acts, invoices, orders?
- Who prepares, approves and signs them?
- Where do delays occur: waiting for a signature, forwarding, searching the archive?
This audit reveals the bottlenecks and points to where to start. Don't try to cover everything at once.
Step 2. Get your QES keys
The Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) is the foundation of an electronic document's legal force. Make sure the people who will sign on behalf of the company (director, chief accountant, authorised managers) have valid keys from an accredited provider.
If you don't have keys yet, obtain them in advance. This doesn't require anything from the document workflow platform, but without them you can't sign the first document.
Step 3. Choose which documents to digitise first
There's no need to move everything online at once. Pick one or two document types with high volume and a simple route — that way you'll see results quickly and won't get lost.
| Candidates for the first stage | Why them |
|---|---|
| Acts of completed work | Many of the same kind, simple signature |
| Invoices | Frequently repeated, easy to templatise |
| Standard contracts | Noticeable time savings on forwarding |
For sole traders and small businesses this step is especially important — start with what hurts most. Read more about the specifics in our article on EDM for small business and sole traders.
Step 4. Set up the company, roles and routes
Create a company account and add employees. Here it's worth thinking through two things upfront:
- Roles and permissions — who views, who approves, who signs.
- Approval routes — the sequence in which a document is reviewed before signing.
A well-configured route removes chaos: the document moves to the next person on its own, with a notification. How to arrange this optimally is covered in the article on document approval routes.
Step 5. Onboard your counterparties
Document workflow makes sense when both sides take part. The good news: a counterparty doesn't have to have an account — you can send a document for external signing by link.
Let your key partners know you're moving to electronic exchange, and start with those already willing. The rest will follow once they see how convenient it is.
Step 6. Train the team
Technology only works when people use it. Run a short training session: show how to create, approve and sign a document. This is usually enough — signing happens right in the browser, with no plugins and no complicated instructions.
Assign someone people can turn to with questions in the first weeks. This removes the fear of "what if I do it wrong."
Step 7. Sign the first document
Don't put it off. Take a real document from the first stage and go through the whole path: create → approve → sign with QES → send to the counterparty → archive. The first successful cycle convinces the team better than any presentation.
Step 8. Measure the results
After a month, compare: how long signing now takes, how much you've saved on paper and forwarding, whether delays have dropped. These numbers will help you extend EDM to new document types and departments. For a full list of benefits, see our article on the benefits of paperless document flow.
How much it costs
The switch doesn't require large upfront investment. A pay-as-you-go model means you pay for actual signings rather than an abstract subscription — which is especially convenient at the start, when volumes are still small. Current terms are always on the pricing page.
Ready to work through this checklist in practice? Request a demo and we'll help tailor the switch to your processes, or get started today at portal.eobig.com.