A chef plates up a dish in a restaurant kitchen in Bruges on March 29, 2012
Canadian businesses are being encouraged to embrace modern digital payment systems to stay globally competitive.
A report released in 2012 by the federal Task Force for the Payments System Review, titled Moving Canada into the Digital Age, says productivity gains from a "thoroughly modernized payments system" could save the Canadian economy as much as 2 per cent of GDP, or about $32-billion in annual savings.
"A failure to act now will not only result in a loss of these benefits, but will also trap our economy in a less productive and more costly payments system," the report said at the time, arguing that digital payments are safer, create more choice, efficiency and convenience for consumers, businesses and governments.
Two years later, Gabrielle Loren, an accountant and partner with Loren, Nancke & Co in the Vancouver area, says age and old habits continue to prevent many business owners from going fully digital.
"There is something about paper and the more mature generation. There's the gratification of seeing that stack of paper, especially for a small business that are just starting out," Loren says. "However, the reality is, we're in an electronic society."
She says many of her clients still want paper records, especially if Canada Revenue Agency comes calling, looking for copies of receipts.
"Until everyone gets computerized, we are going to be having industries – or at least pockets within industries - that can't work without paper," Ms. Loren says.
Like many small businesses, the Fresh restaurant chain in downtown Toronto uses a mix of paper and digital to run its daily operations.
When a customer asks for a green goddess bowl with a lucky charm smoothie, the server writes down the order on a notepad and inputs it into a computer, which then spits out the information on a paper chit at the bar and in the kitchen.
When the meal is done, the (hopefully) satisfied customer paying with a credit or debit card uses a point-of-sale machine passed to them by a server. Their receipt is printed.
The invoices that come with the ingredients delivered daily still come itemized on paper invoices. Some vendors are paid by direct deposit, others by cheque.
"There are some things that can be done electronically … but there are also some traditions in the restaurant business," says Fresh's business manager, partner and co-founder Barry Alper.
While more companies are expanding their digital footprint, some businesses – especially smaller ones — don't plan to go paperless any time soon. That's despite arguments that going digital can help to increase productivity and save money in the long run.
Fresh has been around for about 20 years and although technology has changed some parts of the business, Alper can't picture a day when the cooks use computers to go through the stacks of supplies that regularly pass through his four downtown restaurants.
"It's cooking, it's more hands on than other businesses," Alper says. "You feel closer to the items when you have paper invoices spread out on a table."
Alper, a professional accountant who also does some consulting, has worked with a few restaurants that moved to a cloud-based platform for invoicing, only to return to the paper system. And unlike Apple stores or other businesses that e-mail receipts to customers, Alper says he believes many of his customers prefer a paper copy.
"In the restaurant environment you're always so close to the customer and everything is tactile and about customer service and interaction," Alper says. "I can't imagine ever going fully electronic in our business."
Garth Whyte, president and chief executive of Restaurants Canada, the association representing Canadian food-service businesses, says the growing local food movement will likely prevent the industry from moving rapidly toward digital invoicing. Many local farmers have small operations and little desire or resources to invest in computer systems to track their sales.
"It's a hybrid between paper and high-tech," Whyte says. "Businesses will use whatever works best for them."
The restaurant business and a few other small mom-and-pop retailers can still get away with paper invoicing, but others that deal with large corporations may have no choice but to go paperless, says Sunil Mistry, a partner at KPMG Enterprise.
"Some companies won't deal with paper invoicing. It's all done through electronic transfer," Mistry says, citing efficiency and some wariness companies have about handling cheques and invoices that can be altered or lost in the mail.
While electronic systems aren't fraud-proof either, as we've seen with recent data breaches at companies such as Target and Home Depot, Mistry says more businesses are trusting of cloud-based software packages that make it easier to track invoices and payments.
Trish Tacoma, owner of the Smoking Lily clothing line, with three stores in B.C. and an active social media presence, says she plans to stick with paper invoicing for the foreseeable future.
"I like the simplicity of handwritten invoice," says Ms. Tacoma. "If it isn't broken, why fix it."
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