Electronic document distribution saves time.

We all have stories to tell, and over the past 1,000+ years, the traditional written method for delivering these stories was to put them on paper. While Gutenberg invented the printing press with movable type in 1436, the earliest known printed book came from China in 868. A lot of paper has been distributed--and trashed--since then.

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Fast-forward to the 21st Century. Computer technology enables users to communicate in efficient, cost-effective ways without using paper. Credit card companies, banks and vendors of all sizes ask customers to receive "electronic billing" and other online notices. I write one or two checks per month, but the majority of my bills are paid through online banking. Even Hallmark has embraced the electronic delivery of greetings for birthdays to get well wishes.

The variety of distribution alternatives provides an opportunity to save time, trees and money. Five key benefits of electronic distribution include:

1. Flexibility in design not having to use stock paper sizes.

2. Reduced costs. No ink, paper or postage is needed.

3. Increase design flexibility. The user can incorporate inexpensive color and images, and the document does not have to meet U.S. postal size standards.

4. Reduced delivery time as printing and traditional mailings are eliminated.

5. Targeted delivery, along with confirmation, eliminates the worries about documents getting "lost" in the mail room.

Electronic Document Tools

Word Processing software (Microsoft Word, Corel, WordPerfect) creates a file that can be electronically sent by e-mail. No paper is necessary and "standard" templates can be used. However, this method presents four drawbacks:

1. You are not guaranteed that the receiver of the document can actually open and read it. There are compatibility issues across vendor packages, even within a vendor's family with respect to software versions. Backward compatibility is not usually a problem; however, forward compatibility is difficult for users who do not purchase new versions of software.

2. Electronic storage requirements can be high for letters with embedded graphics and images.

3. The user can easily change the document once it is received.

4. The user may have your electronic signature for his or her own use if a graphic is embedded in a document containing your signature.

Publishing software (MS Publisher, Adobe products, Quark) allows users to create fancy layouts, insert images, resize and emphasize text. However, this alternative has the same drawbacks as word processing, and you must learn how to use the publishing software.

When paper is sent, the reader sees the document as you created it, but this is not always the case with electronic documents. One way to lock-in the document look and content is to create and distribute your documents in a PDF file (Portable Document Format) and specify through a command that the file cannot be changed or altered. The most common software for this is Adobe's software product, Acrobat Reader. It is free to everyone as an Internet download. The full Acrobat program is needed to create PDF files.

To create PDFs, you can buy the software in a store or on the Web. Install it on your computer as you would any other software package. Once installed, an additional printer selection is available called the Acrobat Distiller. Printing your document to the Distiller produces a PDF file rather than a paper document. A word of caution is required: while PDF files are more secure than the other alternatives, commercial software applications exist that enable the conversion of the PDF to a text or Word document. However, as long as we understand the risks, we can weigh them against the benefits.

Electronic documents are today's vehicles for saving time and money. There are few technologies with a lower cost of entry that provide a higher return on their use than the electronic distribution of documents.

Websites providing more information on creating PDF documents include www.adlibsys.com, www.adobe.com, www.eprintdriver.com, www.neevia.com, www.pdfmachine.com and www.win2pdf.com.

Richard K. Oppenheim, CPA, CITP, is president of Oppenheim Business Group in Evergreen, Colo. Contact him at [e-mail].