The Cost of Manual Processes: Why Automatic Document Generation Makes Financial Sense

Summary: As global economic challenges persist in 2024, it’s important for the financial sector to make the most of every dollar. Document generation technology can help financial institutions create large volumes of documents faster, which prevents costly errors and saves time, money, and resources.

Inflation. Record interest rate surges. Geopolitical tensions. Low GDP growth. It’s safe to say that 2023 was a year of global economic stresses, and that every industry felt the impact. As we embark on a new year, many of those challenges have the potential to continue, underscoring the importance of stretching every dollar as far as possible. And if there’s any industry that knows the value of a dollar, it’s the finance sector.

There are many areas where financial institutions can make relatively simple changes to see cost savings. One is documentation. From mortgage applications to multibillion-dollar M&A deals, documents are the driving force of the financial sector. However, the process of generating documents manually is time-consuming, resource-intensive, and prone to costly errors.

Document generation tools like those from Apryse are capable of creating large volumes of complex documents quickly and securely, which can help financial institutions and fintech companies save time, money, and resources, keep up with regulatory changes, improve data privacy, and boost customer trust.

Let’s explore why document generation solutions for the finance sector make cents... er, sense.

In a single sentence, document generation is an automated process for using templates and predefined data to create documents. You can use tools like the Apryse SDK (Software Development Kit) to make this process more efficient, scalable, cost-effective, and fast.

It’s important to consider the type and complexity of the documents you commonly use when choosing a document generation tool.

For example, if you need to generate simpler, repetitive documents like invoices or statements, you can do that in almost any web browser with Apryse WebViewer.

To try out WebViewer’s document generation features, head over to the demo. Or, if you’d like to see an overview of WebViewer in action, you can watch this video:

Alternatively, if you’re creating large volumes of documents, reports, and presentations using templates with complex logic, Fluent by Apryse might be a better choice. Fluent enables developers to quickly create and manage advanced, well-formatted reports, while also cutting down on development time and resources.

Here are some commonly used financial documents you can automatically generate using Apryse solutions.

Now that you’re more familiar with document generation, it’s time to get into the all-important question: How can this technology help save money?

How many work hours could you save if you were able generate the same (or larger) volume of contracts, statements, reports, tax forms, or insurance claim paperwork in a fraction of the time with fewer resources?

Manually creating documentation templates, especially complex ones, usually requires many developer hours. Manual generation processes can quickly become unsustainable from a cost standpoint, both because developer time is valuable and because necessary changes to templates can balloon into an unfeasibly large workload.

Once the initial setup is complete, tools like Fluent by Apryse enable anyone with experience in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint to update a template. This means developer resources can be put towards higher-value projects. Fluent also enables financial institutions to scale up document generation without scaling up the number of people needed to create those documents.

Learn how First Business Bank partnered with Apryse to fast-track document generation.

Speaking of operational efficiency, data errors and rework due to employee mistakes can also be costly. According to an IBM estimate, bad data costs approximately $3 billion per year in the US alone. This can happen due to manual errors like misplaced decimal points, transposed digits, or failure to record activity in a ledger. Bad data can also come from poorly integrated tech systems that need human intervention to support the proper flow of information. Tracking down and fixing these errors often requires a lot of time and resources. If left unchecked, mistakes in financial documents can also have more serious consequences like fines and penalties from government agencies.

Using document generation technology to automate the process significantly reduces the likelihood of human-caused errors in financial reporting and documents like tax forms. This means less time spent on rework, better data integrity, and a lower chance of fines or penalties.

Learn how Apryse IDP helps unlock data and minimize errors. Read the blog post.

It’s no secret that data breaches cost big bucks. One of the most notorious examples of this is the Equifax breach in 2017. Hackers initially gained access to Equifax’s systems via a consumer complaint portal. From there, they could access other servers where usernames and passwords were stored in plain text, which enabled them to gain entry to more systems.

In total, private data on 147 million customers was exposed. This resulted in up to US$700 million in fines, and a further $1.4 billion in security upgrades after the fact. Not to mention the incalculable damage to customer trust.

Document generation tools like Apryse WebViewer reduce the likelihood of security weaknesses caused by manual processes. In addition, you can deploy on your own infrastructure with no outside dependencies, meaning the data doesn’t leave your platform. This helps eliminate potential vulnerabilities.

There are also several global regulatory rulebooks in play that govern the way personal data is collected, stored, and used. These include the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Brazil’s General Data Protection Law, and Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information. Using secure document generation technology can help prevent fines due to non-compliance with data privacy laws.

For more technical details on Apryse WebViewer security, check out our developer documentation.

Once you have a customer, you’ll want them to stick around. Acquiring a new customer can cost five to seven times as much as retaining one, so consistently providing a great experience is essential. Using document processing technology to increase operational efficiency while maintaining high data privacy standards enables you to provide faster service and inspire trust among your customers. These can be key factors in a customer’s decision to stay with a financial institution or buy additional products and services.

As economic challenges persist and fintech companies continue to innovate, it seems clear: The future of finance is largely automated.

If you’re ready to add automatic document processing capabilities to your cost-saving toolkit, start your 30-day trial today, or feel free to get in touch with our team. To learn more about our full suite of solutions for the financial services sector, download our free eBook.