What are the pros and cons of PandaDoc? In this article, we’ll take a closer look at one of the most widely used DMS today. Here’s a quick look at its main strengths:
- Robust document creator
- CPQ functionality
- Workflow automation
- Document tracking
- e-Signature technology
- Collaboration features
- Powerful analytics
- Industry-grade security
Document management software or system (DMS) is used by organizations and businesses to manage, track and store electronic documents and electronic images of information based on paper. Today’s cloud-hosted or web-based document management software allows you to create, manage, and store your documents online, allowing you anytime, anywhere access to send, retrieve and work on your documents with an internet connected device.
The advantages of using document management software, especially online platforms, include:
- Better collaboration and faster communication among individuals and teams
- Keeping everyone concerned on the loop with regards to projects and tasks.
The software usually carries automation features to streamline and simplify processes and tasks to boost efficiency as well as productivity.
Credits: Croc.ru
Every office, business, company and organization creates and handles documents, and many still use the paper-based system. Millions of tons of paper are consumed everyday worldwide for documents and files. Imagine the number of trees that need to be cut down to fill the world’s business paper requirements. Traditional managing and filing of paper documents is not only costly and wasteful but also generally inefficient. Consider the following facts and figures from Ademero.com:
- On average, half of knowledge workers’ time is spent creating and preparing documents.
- Up to $700 is spent on labor just for searching and replacing documents.
- It costs $20 to file and store a single document.
- And much more – $120 – to find and/or replace misfiled documents.
Meanwhile, other studies point to the importance of having a DMS:
- E-Signatures save an estimated $20 per document and reduce turnaround times by 80%. (Business.com)
- An IDC study reported a 5-year ROI of 404% for DMS implementations with half of the organizations realizing payback as early as six months. (Datamaxtexas.com)
- Estimated savings from $1 to $5 per document were realized after DMS implementation. (EDI Group)
PandaDoc and Digital Document Management
PandaDoc is a cloud-based document management software designed to create, send, track, and eSign documents from one integrated platform. Touted as a complete digital document solution capable of quickly producing organizational and business documents, it is ideal for use by your sales and marketing teams, finance, legal, and HR departments. PandaDoc also integrates with third-party apps such as CRM, CMS, accounting, help desk, online storage, payment gateways, and sales and marketing tools, allowing you to import crucial data from other systems and transfer them to the document you’re working at PandaDoc. You can also try it out on your own and sign up for PandaDoc free trial here.
PandaDoc
Try out PandaDoc with their free trial
With nearly two dozen core features, the all-around customizable solution brings with it several capabilities meant to boost efficiency, increase productivity, reduce manual errors, automate workflows, streamline processes, and foster collaboration, among others. Its simplicity and ease of use with drag-and-drop and single click operation ensures that even non-tech personnel can use it. PandaDoc will provide you all the tools you need if you are looking to easily create, control, and organize your documents through a paperless, digital solution.
On the strength of its ease of use, intuitive features, powerful functionalities, and value for money, PandaDoc is ranked among our top 10 sales proposal automation software products. In addition, it is one of our leading products when it comes to document management, e-signature, and collaboration solutions.
PandoDoc’s key features
- Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ)
- Cost & Margin Calculation
- Contract Lifecycle Management
- Electronic Signatures
- Payments
- Multiple Workspaces
- Roles Management
- User Management
- Content & Image Libraries
- Content Locking
- Branding
- Approvals
- Audit Trail
- Document Builder
- Document Analytics
- Document Themes
- Document Access Code
- Document Forwarding
- Document Sender Selection
- Document Auto Numbering
- Auto Reminders
- Expiration
- Template Embedding
- Webhooks
We have gone over in detail this DMS platform and have come up with the pros and cons of PandaDoc. As always, this type of article is meant to provide you comprehensive information on the product’s functionality, benefits and downsides. With this write-up on the pros and cons of PandaDoc you’ll learn all the essentials about the software and determine if it is a good fit for your business.
PandaDoc Pros and Cons
Let’s walk you through the myriad benefits to be had from this DMS, along with the issues it can improve on for a fuller user experience.
Robust document creator
The heart of PandaDoc is its document generation feature which comes with an editor, drag-and-drop functionality, preset content blocks, and pre-built templates for documents such as business plans, contracts, quotes, invoices, receipts, proposals, and many more. You can enter information manually or you can import information from your CRM and put it in predefined fields. Although PandaDocs already integrate with over half a dozen leading CRM applications, it could do well to add more third-party CRMs to its fold per users’ feedback. Meanwhile, the content blocks allow you to incorporate elements to your document by type such as text, images, video clips, dynamic pricing tables, and forms. It speeds up your document creation process while ensuring accuracy in information input.
Configure, price, quote
This CPQ functionality lets you create quotes based on a pricing table and form, giving you options for the items that you put in your proposal or quote. This gives you utmost flexibility by having options to lock in items in your quote or have other items open for modifications by your client. When the client has entered or changed items, PandaDoc automatically calculates tax and discounts and the client can view in real time the changes in the final quote for acceptance or approval. You’ll also get to know your profits for each item in your quote and from the whole sale. What you gain from this streamlined and automated process is more accurate entries, faster sales and close rates, as well as better profitability.
Automate your workflows
Aside from the automated CPQ, you get features for auto document numbering with unique numbers on an applied sequence, automatic reminders from a set schedule, automated internal workflow to have documents sent for approval before they’re sent out to a recipient; adjust and set default roles or create new ones to determine the level of access a team member has to your account’s data; and likewise set and adjust the expiration date for any document you and your team members send. These are but some of the things you can set and let the system automatically perform, drastically simplifying and reducing workflow times.
Track your documents
Never lose or miss your documents because looking for them, which you’ve learned in the first section, is a costly undertaking. Aside from having an audit trail that logs every detail of your document progress from creation to completion, PandaDoc gives you unique auto document numbering so you can keep tab of them and their progress as they go through channel stages. This is most useful for your sales and marketing team who have to monitor the stages of their proposals in the customer lifecyle, or to your HR teams who have to keep an eye on recruitment documents from a job candidate who filled out your application form, then the work contract when hired, and the onboarding and training documents.
Tons of templates
The document creator is supported by dozens of templates for just about every business and legal document. There are templates for business proposals of all kinds (marketing, sponsorship, recruitment, etc); invoices (tax, rental, proforma); quotes (job, service, price); receipts (sales, deposit, hotel); agreements (financial, stock purchase, prenuptial); business plans (startup, bakery, restaurant); standard documents; tax forms; contracts; and many others. All of these can be customized to suit your business type, branding and other requirements. You’ll also have content and image libraries so you can store reusable content to enable quick creation of documents. While there are reports of initial difficulties when editing templates, these are isolated to first time users familiarizing themselves with the platform.
E-Signature technology
PandoDoc’s e-Signature feature further accelerates getting your documents signed and approved by concerned individuals. It gets rid of the time consuming and cost intensive way of physically delivering documents for review, approval and signature, and having them returned to you. Even with the commonly used process of attaching documents via email, having the documents printed, signed, and scanned as a digital file to be sent back to you will entail some time. Welcome to the digital age of document approval and signing with e-Signatures that are legally binding. It’s worth reiterating what we’ve mentioned earlier from a study that e-Signatures save an estimated $20 per document and reduce turnaround times by 80%.
Designed for collaboration
Aside from letting you manage your teams, content, workflows and access permissions separately using multiple workspaces, PandaDoc enables you and all others concerned to work on your documents together to further hasten completion time. It enables real-time commenting and discussion on your proposal. The comment stream is especially useful when your document or proposal entails negotiation with a client or supplier. Changes to the document can be done or commented on in real-time with your original document/proposal kept on hand for easy reference. The collaborative feature ensures that everyone is on the same page, can have their say, and any document modification instantly reflected for faster agreement and quicker approval.
Access documents anytime anywhere
The cloud-hosted, web-based platform affords you convenience to access your documents at any time from any location as long as you have an internet connected device. It is compatible and responsive with any screen sizes. PandaDoc provides you a centralized cloud repository for your digital documents aside from being able to integrate with online storage systems, allowing you to access and view your documents files from your home, in the office, or on the go. It would have helped if there was a robust search function with detailed filters to facilitate finding documents.
Reinforce your brand
You can carry your brand along by adding your own logo and customer footer to the emails that deliver the documents you created. It is easy to add your corporate name, logo, colors and other elements through the use of PandaDoc’s theme catalog and editor to ensure consistent branding for every sent document. You’ll get to create polished, professional-looking documents that display your brand and business all the time.
Powerful analytics
The advanced analytics the solution provides enables you not only to track where your documents are but also informs you of what happens with them when sent or emailed to your recipients. Real-time analytics lets you know how much time your recipient spent on each page and section of your document, giving you insights on how your recipients, whether they be customers, clients, or suppliers, react with your document. You’ll be able to understand their behavior and immediately react accordingly such as adjusting your documents’ design or content to make them more engaging. This is advantageous to sales and marketing teams sending out proposals to prospects. Your team will be able to respond quickly and correctly to the behavior of recipients in order to suit their preferences and requirements.
Industry standard security
PandaDoc leaves no stone unturned when it comes to ensuring the reliability of its system and safeguarding your documents in the cloud. It performs regular patches and maintenance of its servers and networks; uses AES-128 encryption for your document data; leverages industry standard programming methods; employs encrypted automated backups; utilizes dedicated system monitoring and alerting; undertakes web app security testing; and applies multi-tiered application architecture, among others. You are guaranteed enterprise grade security features and protocols with PandaDoc.
Now that you have a general overview of what PandaDoc is capable of you might want to try it out on your own. You can easily do that and sign up for PandaDoc free trial here.
Why is FinancesOnline free?
Leave a comment!