University of Kwazulu-Natal

How To Choose The Right Document Processing Software

Bonisiwe Shabane
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how to choose the right document processing software

Selecting the right document processing software is a high-stakes decision: employees waste an average of 30% of their time searching for and manually entering document data (The ECM Consultant). A misstep can leave your team mired in errors, slow down approvals, and result in missed deadlines. In this 2026 Buyer’s Guide, we’ll walk you through a proven three-step journey to ensure you choose the ideal solution for your organization: Follow these steps to streamline your search, eliminate guesswork, and invest in the document automation platform that drives real ROI. Xerox found that 46% of SMB employees waste time daily on inefficient paper-based document processes.** This highlights how poor software choices can result in significant daily operational costs. Along the way, we’ll also demonstrate how Parseur provides flexibility, accuracy, and ease of use for teams seeking automation without complexity.

Think about the amount of paperwork your company handles on a daily basis. It’s a lot, right? Efficient document management workflows can help you handle it all faster. In fact, studies show that advanced document processing solutions can boost productivity by 30%. This kind of technology can also reduce—or even eliminate—regulatory fees. Since a single compliance-related issue can cost your organization millions of dollars, this is a pretty big deal.

In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about document processing, from choosing the right software to maximizing its impact on your operations. Let’s go! The best document management tools do more than help users store and access documents. They have specific features that improve productivity, ensure compliance, and lead to better business outcomes. Let’s explore each of these features in greater detail: Your team likely uses one tool for cloud storage, another for sending documents for signing, and email for everything in between.

While each tool might be good at its one job, switching between them creates a disjointed and inefficient workflow. This is the reality of tool fatigue, and it slows everyone down. The best document management systems today are designed to solve this problem by bringing everything together. They combine file storage, templates, secure client communication, and e-signatures into a single, integrated platform. This creates a seamless experience where your team can manage the entire document lifecycle without ever leaving their central workspace. Think of a document management system (DMS) as a smart, central filing cabinet for all your team’s digital files.

It’s software designed to bring order to your documents, from client contracts and financial reports to project plans and important emails. Instead of files scattered across shared drives, inboxes, and individual computers, everything lives in one organized, secure place. At its core, a document management system helps you store, manage, and track your electronic files. This means no more digging through confusing folder structures to find what you need. A good DMS makes your documents searchable, so your team can pull up the right file in seconds. It’s about creating a single source of truth for all your important information.

Beyond simple storage, a DMS also tracks the history of every document. You can see who made changes, when they made them, and even revert to a previous version if needed. This feature prevents the classic headache of accidentally overwriting a colleague’s work or working from an outdated file. It ensures everyone is on the same page, literally. Security is another major component. A DMS gives you precise control over who can view, edit, or share specific documents.

You can set permissions to protect sensitive client data or confidential internal information, creating a clear audit trail of who has accessed what. This is essential for maintaining compliance and giving you peace of mind. Every year brings its share of changes, and in 2025, technology made its presence felt in every industry, including document creation. A recent report on document automation trends states, “The bedrock of this transformation is choosing the right document automation solution. One that handles your existing document types adapts to regulatory changes, and maintains robust security standards". Businesses are gravitating toward tools that take the hassle out of managing documents.

This isn’t just about the well-known pains of manual document creation anymore; it’s about the risks businesses face by delaying the shift to automation. At EDocGen, we want to help you make this change. Every morning, your finance team faces the same mountain: hundreds of invoices in different formats, purchase orders requiring manual data entry, and compliance documents that need processing before deadlines. Meanwhile, your operations team is tracking down missing shipping documents, manually reconciling data across platforms, and fielding urgent calls about delayed approvals. You've probably heard the pitch before: "Our document processing software will transform your workflows." Yet most solutions force you to rebuild your processes around rigid templates, require months of IT involvement, and still leave... Here's what vendors won't tell you: the problem isn't that you need more features—it's that you need software that works the way you do.

In this article, we’ll explain what document processing software should really do and how to choose the right one. With the help of AI, machine learning, and automation, modern IDP tools do more than just digitize documents - they interpret and act on them. Here’s a breakdown of the most important features to consider when comparing document automation tools. When you're evaluating document processing software, you're not just choosing a tool - you're setting the foundation for how your business handles information. Whether you’re looking to automate invoices, extract data from forms, or streamline compliance workflows, the right solution should reduce manual work, improve accuracy, and scale with your business. That’s where intelligent document processing (IDP) comes in.

With the help of AI, machine learning, and automation, modern IDP tools do more than just digitize documents - they interpret and act on them. But with so many options on the market, how do you know what to look for? Here’s a breakdown of the most important features and capabilities to consider when comparing document automation platforms. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the backbone of document digitization. It converts scanned images or PDFs into machine-readable text. Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) takes it further by handling handwriting and more complex fonts.

Finding yourself caught up and overwhelmed with the wide range of documents you encounter day to day? Well, you’re not alone, as a Smartsheet survey suggests that 60% of workers estimate they could save six or more hours a week if repetitive aspects of their jobs were automated. That’s almost a whole workday! Technological developments have now made it easier for you to streamline your document workflows, save time, and reduce errors by using the right document automation software to eliminate manual document handling. To help you determine which document automation solution is the best fit for your needs, we’ve compiled a list of the eleven best options on the market. Comparison of the Best Document Automation Software in 2026:

Document automation software is a technology that automates document creation, management, and processing. It eliminates manual intervention by using predefined templates and workflows to automate all document processes. Businesses generate and manage vast numbers of documents daily, making manual handling time-consuming and error-prone. Document processing software streamlines workflows, enhances accuracy, and boosts productivity through automation and intelligent data extraction. But with so many options available, how do you choose the right software? In this article, we will explore key features to consider when selecting the best document-processing software for your business.

Document processing software plays a crucial role in automating document workflows. Businesses in various industries, including finance, healthcare, and legal services, use these tools to: By using the right software, organizations can save time and resources while ensuring that their data remains accurate and easily accessible. When selecting a document processing solution, it is essential to evaluate its capabilities. Below are the must-have features that will help you make an informed decision.

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