Receipts are vital to successfully running a business. You need receipts to track your purchases and expenses. Your clients need receipts for their tax purposes and to manage their finances. Paper receipts have been around a long time, so many people are used to them and may even be resistant to moving away from them.

Thanks to technology, paper receipts are becoming more a thing of the past. There are environmental reasons for the move. Paper receipts require millions of trees and billions of gallons of water to produce, and they emit carbon dioxide (CO2), so going paperless can be a good thing for the environment.

Here are more reasons why your business should consider eliminating paper receipts.

1. Decreased costs

Receipts eat into your profits. It costs money to buy the paper and the ink–more than it costs to have an email receipt emailed to clients. Your business saves money by not printing receipts for every customer and instead having the receipts emailed.

On a per-unit basis, receipts might not seem like a big cost, but over the course of a year or a few years, they can add up to thousands of dollars.

2. Increased efficiency

It takes time to print out the receipts, change the printer paper and otherwise ensure the receipt printer is working properly. Meanwhile, your customers and clients are waiting for their receipt to be printed out as the line behind them grows longer.

Beyond that, how often does a client contact you because they’ve lost their receipt and need a copy? Emailing receipts allows the customer to store the receipt in their email, rather than searching for a piece of paper they might have lost or filed in the wrong spot. Your team saves time by not having to reprint those missing receipts.

Additionally, with digital receipts your online system efficiently generates better, more accurate reports. Consider how easy it would be for employees to take a photo of their expenses on their smartphone and have their expense report auto populated, rather than filling it out manually. Or have the system automatically tell you how much you’ve spent so far this year on office supplies, without you adding up each receipt.

Shredding receipts also takes up an enormous amount of time that could be better spent in other tasks. Having your receipts online saves you the time and hassle of shredding, and keeps client information confidential.

3. Digital receipts are easier to share

If you have someone doing your bookkeeping or accounting for you, it’s easy to email your digital receipts to that person, rather than having to store them and then mail them or deliver them in person. There’s also no risk that the receipt will be crumpled, torn or otherwise unreadable.

4. Additional marketing opportunities

Although you can include some marketing with a printed receipt–maybe a coupon or a link to your website–digital receipts give many more marketing opportunities. An e-receipt gives you the chance to share individualised product recommendations or new promotions. They also enable you to grow your email list and accumulate customer data, allowing you to follow up with clients and customers.

Final Thoughts

Even though many people are used to paper receipts, there are many good reasons for your business to switch to digital receipts. There are environmental benefits and practical reasons that can have a positive impact on your business.