Document flow

Document flow is a continuous process of document movement in an organization, covering the full document life cycle: from its creation (or receipt from an external source), registration in accounting logs, review by management, approval and transfer to the executor to execution control, signing, sending to the addressee and transfer to the archive for long-term (permanent) storage. Effective document flow is the foundation of managing any modern organization — it is through documents that all management decisions (orders, instructions), contractual relations with counterparties (contracts, additional agreements), financial and accounting operations (invoices, acts, waybills, UPD), personnel processes (hiring, dismissal, vacations, transfers), interaction with government bodies (reporting to FNS, SFR, Rosstat, licenses, permits) and internal regulations (instructions, policies, provisions) are formalized. The speed and quality of document processing directly affect the speed of management decision-making, the time of contract approval with counterparties, the timeliness of invoice payment and, ultimately, the competitiveness of business and its ability to quickly adapt to market changes. The implementation of an electronic document flow system (EDF) allows automating these processes, reducing document processing time by 3-10 times, completely eliminating the risk of document loss, ensuring full transparency and controllability of all stages of document movement (who, when and at what stage), as well as significantly reducing costs for printing, paper, stationery, office equipment maintenance and courier delivery. The SKIF-BP platform from the Fintech company provides powerful tools for automating document flow and managing business processes (BPM 2.0), allowing configuring approval routes of any complexity (sequential, parallel, free, conditional routes with branching), integrating with external systems (1C, bank-client, CRM, SMEV, EDF operators) and ensuring the legal significance of electronic documents using certified CIPF.

Types and classification of document flow

Document flow is divided into internal (document movement within an organization) and external (document exchange with external counterparties — B2B, government bodies — B2G, banks and other organizations). By functional feature, many types of document flow are distinguished. Management document flow (organizational and administrative documentation): orders for core activities, instructions, meeting minutes, decisions, service and memo notes, instructions, provisions. HR document flow: employment contracts and additional agreements to them, employee applications (for vacation, dismissal, transfer), vacation schedules, staffing table, orders on personnel (about hiring, dismissal, transfer, promotion), T-2 personal cards, personal accounts. Accounting and financial document flow: invoices for payment, acts of completed works (rendered services), goods waybills (TORG-12), universal transfer documents (UPD), universal correction documents (UCD), invoices, payment orders, advance reports, reconciliation acts of mutual settlements, loan and credit agreements. Contract document flow (Contract Management): contracts and agreements for the supply of goods, performance of works, provision of services, additional agreements, specifications, protocols of disagreements, price agreement protocols, claims and complaints. Technical and project document flow: technical specifications, project and working documentation, drawings (CAD), regulations, operating instructions, commissioning acts. Warehouse and production document flow: acts of acceptance and transfer of inventory items, inventory lists, demand-waybills (M-11), limit-fence cards (M-8), material reports. Each of these types has its own specifics: different approval routes (number, composition of participants, sequence, parallelism), different storage period requirements (from 1 year to 75 years inclusive and permanently), different composition of mandatory document attributes, different confidentiality level (open, confidential, "secret") and legal significance requirements. Modern EDF systems that support the big data technology are able to efficiently process millions of documents, providing fast content search, full-text search taking into account the morphology of the Russian language and instant access to archival data.

Electronic document flow (EDF) and its legal significance

Electronic document flow (EDF) is the exchange of legally significant electronic documents (invoices, acts, goods waybills, contracts, UPD) between participants through secure communication channels using an electronic signature (ES). In Russia, EDF is regulated by Federal Law No. 63-FZ "On Electronic Signature", as well as orders of the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Finance and the FNS of Russia regulating formats (XML, PDF/A) and the procedure for document exchange. The main advantages of EDF: a radical reduction of costs for printing, paper and delivery (courier service, Russian Post), a cardinal acceleration of document exchange (delivery happens in seconds, not days and weeks), complete elimination of the risk of document loss in transit, automatic control of contractual deadlines (reminders about expiration, payment delays), automatic verification of the authenticity of the electronic signature of each incoming document, seamless integration with 1C, SAP, Oracle and other accounting systems without manual data entry. For exchange with counterparties, organizations can connect to certified commercial EDF operators (Kontur.EDO, TENSOR SBIS, Diadoc, EDO Light) or use direct integration between systems through a roaming system — agreements between operators on barrier-free document exchange. The choice of one or several operators depends on the share of counterparties already connected to each operator, industry requirements, integration capabilities and budget. When designing and implementing an EDF system, the Fintech company offers a professional design service, which includes a detailed analysis of the customer's existing business processes, identification of bottlenecks and "throats", development of the target solution architecture, selection of the optimal platform (based on SKIF-BP or another), as well as preparation of a detailed technical specification for implementation taking into account all EDF requirements, legal significance and integration with 1C and other systems.

Stages of implementing an electronic document flow system

EDF implementation is a comprehensive project that includes several mandatory stages. Survey and analysis (business process audit): studying the existing paper document flow and its volumes, identifying bottlenecks, formalizing approval routes ("who, in what sequence, with what deadlines"), interviews with managers and key users. Design: development of the EDF architecture, configuration of document types (document cards, set of attributes, file templates), directories (counterparties, case nomenclature, employees, document types), configuration of movement routes (sequential, parallel, free, conditional with branching), role model of access rights, as well as design of integration interfaces with external systems (1C, CRM, ERP, accounting, SMEV, EDF operators). Development and configuration: fine-tuning the system to the agreed requirements, development of missing modules and reports, setting up integration, import of reference information (counterparties, nomenclature, employees) from existing systems. Testing: checking the correctness of passing all routes, functional testing, load testing to assess performance under peak loads (for example, during mass document distribution), acceptance tests together with the customer. Commissioning: deployment of the production circuit, migration of historical data (if necessary — scanning of the paper archive, recognition, verification and attributing), training of users (administrators, office staff, managers, executors), launch into industrial operation. Support (post-production): technical support of users (Service Desk), refinement of functionality based on accumulated requests, system version updates, regular audit of use and optimization of routes and regulations.

Choice of an EDF system and key criteria for an enterprise

When choosing a platform for electronic document flow, the following criteria must be considered. Functionality: support of all necessary document types and approval routes, built-in EDF, mobile access (iOS/Android), work with electronic signature (any UKEP), document versioning. Scalability: the possibility of growth from tens to hundreds of thousands of documents per day, from 10 to 10,000+ users, support of a branch structure (regional divisions). Performance: document loading (import) speed, search speed (response time for full-text search over millions of documents). Integration capabilities: availability of ready-made adapters for 1C (all standard configurations), ERP, CRM, SMEV, main EDF operators, CIPF (CryptoPro, ViPNet), scanners (configuration of scanning directly from the EDF). Security: detailed access differentiation (role model, document confidentiality, EDS), audit of all user actions, compliance with 152-FZ requirements (personal data) and CII (187-FZ), FSTEC certification. Total cost of ownership (TCO): license cost, implementation cost, support and update cost. The Fintech company helps customers go through all stages of EDF implementation: from the strategic choice of a platform (based on its own SKIF-BP development or integration with external EDF) to full-scale launch in all divisions and subsequent constant support. A competently designed and quality-implemented EDF pays off within 6-12 months by reducing document processing time, significantly reducing costs for consumables and delivery, eliminating fines for late reporting and significantly increasing the overall executive discipline of employees.