Document Scanning for Mergers & Acquisitions

Merger and acquisition activity has continued to be brisk in the last several years in a number of diverse industries. M&A activity in the United States is expected to remain steady throughout 2017, according to KPMG’s recent M&A Market Pulse 2017 survey. Of the 94 respondents, 84% expect to initiate a deal in 2017 and almost 75% of those surveyed plan on doing multiple deals, a 10% jump from 2016.

One of the main advantages of M&A is synergy, which can be undermined if large volumes of important files are in paper. For the seller, due diligence can be streamlined if all invoices, personnel files, contracts, and other critical documents are digitized with document scanning services. For the buyer, document-intensive processes can be streamlined with workflow automation, e-forms and document management software. This blog explains how.

Due Diligence

Mergers and acquisitions typically involve a substantial amount of due diligence by the buyer. Before committing to the transaction, the buyer will want to ensure they know what they are buying and what obligations they are assuming, as well as the nature and extent of the target company’s contingent liabilities, problematic contracts, litigation risks, and intellectual property issues. This is particularly true in private company acquisitions, where the target company has not been subject to the scrutiny of the public markets, and where the buyer has little (if any) ability to obtain the information it requires from public sources.

Many small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) have not had the reason, scale, or budget to implement business process automation like document scanning or shared service models for distributed locations. Even in this day and age, they still rely to a large extent on paper documents. When in the process of a merger, the buyer is going to want access to such information as:

• Financial statements and invoices
• Technical documents, engineering drawings and intellectual property (e.g., patents, trademarks, proprietary software)
• Customer/sales information
• Material Contracts (e.g., loan and credit agreements, leases)
• Personnel files (e.g., employment agreements, benefits enrollment, change forms, vacation requests, continuing education and credentialing, etc.)
• Payroll records

Get Rid of the Paper

That’s a lot to cover, but we can help convert your cumbersome paper documents into electronic records quickly and efficiently, accessible via your file server or document management system, on your network or in the cloud. Plus, we’ll make them searchable with OCR technologies. Your M&A buyer will appreciate such benefits as:

• Instant Accessibility: find documents in seconds vs. hours or days
• Saving Space: no more need for file cabinets taking up valuable office space, plus it’ll be easier to purge documents whose retention policies have expired
• Reducing Risk and Labor: why deal with heavy folders filled with numerous easy-to-lose documents?
• Stricter Confidentiality: With electronic password access, you control who sees what

Workflow Automation

Following M&A, technology can streamline business workflows like AP invoice processing, new employee on-boarding and benefits enrollment and other document intensive processes. E-forms can help you ensure that information never gets trapped on paper in the first place. Workflow automation software can help ensure the right information gets to the right people for processing in as an expedient manner as possible. Document management software ensures that all information can be instantly found by employees and auditors.

Next Steps

We can help you prepare for a merger or acquisition, or to help you ensure synergy afterwards. To identify the right combination of document scanning and workflow automation for your organization, request a consultation today.

Contact us to learn more about our document scanning services and workflow automation solutions