LaserFiche Document Imaging has completed its 20,000th installation, linking the New York City operations of the Bank of China, the nation’s largest foreign exchange financial institution and second largest bank in the world. Bank officials selected the system to share records between its New York Midtown and Chinatown offices after recently completing a successful installation at its Los Angeles office.

The installation of LaserFiche was significantly improved our ability to provide expedited service to our customers,” said Chengwen Zhuo, manager of the Bank of China’s accounting operations in New York. “With LaserFiche, important documents such as letters of credit, contracts, vouchers and checks are scanned and stored as electronic images on our secure network, giving authorized employees immediate access to the information.

In the past, critical documents were stored in file cabinets accessible to only two employees. Long delays could occur as information requests were processed, holding up the execution of important transactions. And messengers were often necessary to transport documents between offices.

According to Zhuo, bank employees learned the LaserFiche system quickly due to LaserFiche’s intuitive interface. Now, employees needing access to information to process transactions have access to it on their computer desktop.

Zhuo credited the excellent service of LaserFiche value-added reseller AMI Paperless of Los Angeles for learning the New York offices’ needs and developing priorities for implementation. He said training sessions conducted by AMI were highly efficient and looks forward to evaluating additional LaserFiche modules to deal with other challenges.

George Bandarian, Executive Vice President for AMI says “Bank of China has reduced paper and linked their Accounting, General Management Office, Clearing, and Loan departments throughout the nation. They are an exciting and forward thinking company to be partnered with.”

The New York installation follows the successful implementation of LaserFiche at the Bank of China’s west cost offices. Bank of China Los Angeles accounting manager Happy Liu said LaserFiche was selected for its ease of use and ability to meeting rigid banking compliance standards. He praised the excellent service provided by system integrator AMI of Los Angeles.

“ From the beginning, we have collaborated with our customers and resellers to make LaserFiche the document imaging software people love to use,” said Nien-Ling Wacker, president and CEO. “The installation by Bank of China, a global financial leader, is gratifying since it shows our efforts are being well-received in the marketplace.”

More than 30 Southern California tax accounting firms have made a remarkable change in their ways of doing business by digitizing all client records and eliminating their filing cabinets in the process. Yes, it’s completely legal, saves them money and greatly improves their ability to serve clients.

AMI Paperless, a Los Angeles-based systems integrator, has been implementing this revolution for the past year. AMI uses LaserFiche Document Imaging software to convert tax records and client files to electronic files which are archived in the accounting firms’ servers and are instantly accessible to their accountants via secure internet connections in their offices, at home or on-site at the client’s place of business.

Once a paperless office is in place, these firms can then maintain digital files according to the industry’s best practices. And the system is guaranteed to grow and prosper along with the firm: non-proprietary images are accessible with any software, and additional tools for remote internet connectivity and automated capture are available as firms grow larger and need to process thousands of documents per day.

“Accountants recognize the value of going paperless immediately; gaining instant access to any document, anytime, anywhere,” said George Bandarian, Executive Vice President for AMI Paperless. “They know that the IRS accepts electronic images stored in LaserFiche’s secure database as the equivalent of paper. With new laws requiring e-filing tax returns, LaserFiche fits very nicely in creating a true paperless office and integrates with tax software, like Lacerte or ProSystems.”

Firms also appreciate the ability to save storage costs, particularly in Southern California’s pricey real estate environment.

” We will be eliminating 360 square feet of office space previously occupied by file cabinets when our lease renews next month. That will save us over $800 per month in rent expense” said Tom Jemison, Enrolled Agent and Certified Financial Planner for Newhall-based Taxatron, Inc. “And when a long-term office assistant left the firm to work with her husband, we made the decision to do without a replacement since LaserFiche has automated so many very time-consuming office tasks. That took another $40,000 expenditure from our 2004 budget”.

Jemison also noted the sense of security he felt last month as the Simi Valley fires drew a perilous 200 yards from Taxatron’s offices. “Tax and financial planning offices take a lot of comfort from having paper backups for all critical information – until a fire approaches the building. We had to seriously discuss what to remove from the building, and it was a real relief to know that our 24 filing cabinets worth of critical client papers were already backed up to digital tape and CDs, and stored safely off site on the other side of our valley”.

Pasadena-based Hinton, Kreditor, Gronroos, LLP, is home to the tax records of 1,000 clients, each of whom have a unique digital folder in LaserFiche with their entire tax history. In the event of an audit, pulling tax returns from the last seven years is as easy as a couple of points and a couple of clicks. In addition to a staff well-seasoned in tax preparation, HKG clients have the luxury of instant answers if the IRS ever has a question.

“We were running out of cabinets in the file room, and things weren’t very organized there, anyway,” said Office Manager Lori Sheridan. “Still, we didn’t have a lot of time to implement a new system. Fortunately, AMI’s implementation and training period had the system up and running within a week. By our first tax season with LaserFiche, the entire office was comfortable with the product.”

The accounting industry joins thousands of banks, credit unions, and other financial planning institutions to embrace LaserFiche. The company’s just-announced Records Management edition will offer IT managers powerful reporting and archiving tools designed for enterprise e-mail, electronic and physical record-tracking.

“LaserFiche resellers like AMI Paperless have the great ability to introduce our records management technology to client-focused professions,” said Chris Wacker, LaserFiche senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Busy accountants appreciate the fact that LaserFiche comes equipped to stand up to IRS and SEC regulations, as well as independent consultants’ security protocols. They can give their clients more individual attention without worrying about how they’re going to store records or how they’re going to find them.”

Founded in 1968, AMI (www.amipaperless.com) offers clients a competitive advantage by providing instant access to any document, anytime, anywhere. A full scale service bureau is available for clients’ business process outsourcing needs, as well as a system integration & consulting team for in-house solutions.

Did you know that 10% of all paper documents get lost or mis-filed? 70% of today’s businesses would fail within 3 weeks if they suffered a catastrophic loss of paper-based records? Consider the catastrophic paper loss in tragedies such as those in Haiti, Chile, Katrina, and on 9/11?

The average document gets copied 19 times! Where do all those copies go?

Paper risks include disasters, lost documents, stolen photocopies, litigation and compliance.

What’s the solution?

Document Management Solutions

What’s the first step?

Document Scanning Steps

AMI offers in-house scanning right on your business site or outsourced scanning on our site.