Avoiding errors and sloppiness in documents might sound a prosaic issue but the cumulative costs can hit a company's bottom line - no small matter amid rising regulatory burdens in the wealth management industry.

In this era of ever-mounting compliance burdens, it is foolish to lose money through what can be chalked up to sloppy paperwork, inaccurate filing and record-keeping. Such matters might seem so prosaic that they don’t draw the attention they deserve. It is so much more diverting to read about the latest snazzy ideas around fintech, Artificial Intelligence or mobile technology. But basic processes add up if not managed correctly. 

With this in mind, Kevin Laraia, who is chief strategy officer at Docuspace Technologies, explores the problem of when documents are deemed to be “not in good order”. The editors of this news service are pleased to share these insights with readers; those who want to respond can email tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com

Wasted time is money lost. What's more, most people are very busy and find that there simply aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything, producing unnecessary stress, frustration and lack of productivity. Time is often wasted correcting forms that could have been correct in the first place. This is why it's so frustrating when a document is returned because of missing or inaccurate information, which simply must be supplied.

We've found that not-in-good order rates for the average company can be as high as 35 percent of their paperwork, which is an incredibly inefficient way to spend a workday. So, what are some important rates you will want to avoid?

Incomplete/missing forms
Let's face it: Filling out paperwork is boring. While the end goal might be new business, actually completing the documents to get to that stage is tedious to say the least. Therefore, it's not surprising that many employees - particularly in financial services firms - miss some steps or make mistakes when they plug client information into a form.

While employees make honest mistakes, they have consequences. Even a single blank space can force someone to send a document back to you. 

Additionally, outdated forms are a problem. Often advisors use outdated or expired forms, not knowing that there are newer versions. They do thorough work of getting them filled out and signed (often taking days or weeks to do so) only to have them rejected by the product sponsor. It’s embarrassing for the advisor to go back to their client for new signatures.

Incorrect information
It's also easy to accidentally enter the wrong information when filling out a document. Again, while this is a simple misstep, having it happen often enough can wreak havoc on your organization's productivity and imperil client satisfaction.

Of course, this problem can also be solved through a robust automated system which can make it far less likely that you'll enter invalid information and get the data right the first time. That way you won't have to worry about correcting it when completing future documents for the same client.

Illegible handwriting/signatures
Considering how handwriting has become a rarity, it's understandable that one of the biggest problems facing document processing is the chicken scratch that substitutes for penmanship these days. This is especially true of signatures, as it's vitally important that these match up and are legible.

This is simply another reason why organizations should look into a digital processing solution for all their document needs. In fact, a study from MarketsandMarkets found that the electronic signature market is expected to hit $2.02 billion by 2020. Processing wet signatures is arduous, and people are clearly moving away from this practice for good reason. An electronic signature tool baked into a straight-through-processing system can help you rest assured that your digital one won't result in a not-in-good order issue.

Because overall, reducing these rates will increase your productivity and enhance employee morale and client satisfaction which are all good news for your bottom line.

About the author: 

Kevin Laraia brings more than 25 years of broker-dealer executive leadership experience to the team, and leads Docupace’s business development, corporate strategy and initiatives. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and served six years as Captain in the US Air Force.