Digitisation of Business Documents

Digitisation: beyond signature

Digitisation refers to the complete replacement of paper documents and processes with their digital equivalents. It encompasses the digitisation of existing archives, native creation of electronic documents, signature and archiving with evidential value.

Electronic signature is often the entry point, but digitisation goes far beyond.

Typical scope

• Commercial flows: quotations, purchase orders, contracts, invoices

• HR flows: contracts, amendments, payslips, leave records

• Procurement flows: requests, orders, supplier invoices

• Financial flows: mandates, transfer orders

• Internal document flows: memos, procedures

The 4 steps of a digitisation project

1. Map paper flows

List all documents your company issues or receives, their volume, stakeholders, and lifecycle.

2. Prioritise by ROI

Start with high-volume, high-friction flows: commercial, HR, procurement as priority.

3. Choose the tools

• electronic signature

• ECM (Electronic Content Management) for filing

• electronic invoicing (progressively mandatory)

• archiving with evidential value

4. Roll out progressively

Pilot each flow separately: testing, training, generalisation, ROI measurement.

Electronic invoicing: the obligation

Since 2024, electronic invoicing is progressively becoming mandatory in B2B in France. Timeline:

• large companies and mid-caps: 2026

• SMEs and micro-enterprises: 2027

Anticipate this deadline by digitising your invoicing flows now.

Measurable benefits

• Time savings: 30-50% on administrative processes

• Cost reduction: 50-80% on paper flows

• Traceability: each document time-stamped and traceable

• Compliance: automatic legal archiving

• CSR: reduced carbon footprint

Retention obligations

Even when digitised, documents must be retained according to legal periods:

• 10 years for commercial contracts

• 6 years for tax documents

• 5 years for employment contracts after termination

See retention of signed documents.

Common mistakes

• Wanting to digitise everything at once

• Not training teams

• Choosing tools that do not interface with each other

• Forgetting archiving with evidential value

• Scanning without OCR (documents not retrievable)

Use case: industrial SME

An SME of 120 people with 50 years of paper archives digitised in 18 months:

• months 1-3: electronic signature (HR + commercial contracts)

• months 4-6: customer invoice digitisation

• months 7-12: ECM and internal workflows

• months 13-18: digitisation of historical archives

Result: offices freed up 200 m² of archive space, 2 FTEs redeployed, 2027 tax compliance anticipated.

How Certyneo helps you

Certyneo natively covers the "electronic signature + archiving with evidential value" component of any digitisation project. Integrations with common ECM (Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox), API for complex automations.

Discover the Certyneo electronic signature solution

FAQ

Is electronic invoicing mandatory?

Yes, progressively from 2026 (large companies) to 2027 (micro/SMEs).

Do I need to scan all paper archives?

No, prioritise active documents (last 10 years). The rest can be physically archived.

What cost for an SME?

Varies by scope: €5,000 to €50,000 for a complete project.

Expected ROI?

Generally 1 to 2 years.

Risk of losing documents?

No if archiving is with evidential value and redundant.

Conclusion

Digitisation is a structuring transformation project. Start with signature (quick gain), then expand. ROI is measurable within the first few months.

Try Certyneo to send, sign and track your documents online simply, quickly and securely.