
When a business grows, data grows. And in this fast-paced digital economy, the need for automation to manage heaps of data arises. This article aims to identify the direct costs of manual data entry and the most common challenges it presents.
The price in dollars
Manual data entry is commonplace in business growth, especially for startups and small businesses. It is an easy solution and does not require expensive software or systems. But over time, it becomes less scalable and cost-effective. Taking into account the cost to pay someone to input sales, inventory, and tax manually, then spending an average of 10 hours a week to reconcile all of these shows how it is so hard for them. Factoring in the cost of wages makes you ask if the productivity delivered by the staff has justified the outlay.
The impact of human error
According to an IBM estimate in 2016, bad data cost businesses in the US alone a whopping $3.1 trillion annually. An Experian survey found that no fewer than 95% have seen poor-quality data undermine their businesses’ performance, and human error is deemed the leading culprit behind data problems.
A report from global analyst firm IDC in 2008 estimated that the cost of human error costs businesses in the US and UK 18 billion dollars for each economy. Adding the estimated expenses of errors to our previous example, the costs continue to climb.
The cost of delay
Entering information manually into multiple systems takes a lot of time. You spend much time waiting for information to be updated at different stages.
Now think about the impact on your ability to decide about fulfilling new orders or ordering new inventory. With up-to-date, accurate information, the result could be a gain in revenue and a loss of face with your client.
Companies produce and receive high volumes of sales documents, invoices, receipts, etc., and manually keying data into multiple systems requires much time and effort.
Waiting for information to be updated at different stages in the process takes a lot of time, and
without this up-to-date and accurate information could result in a loss of revenue and cost you a lot.
The cost of insufficient data
Data errors can have a severe impact not just on businesses but also the society at large. These errors mostly share the same factors they are all rooted in – document reading, processing, analysis, and data capture. Another point to mention is that before these mistakes, workers were already worn repeating the same operations. And in most situations, data was filled out manually.
A repetitive work routine is bad for business and causes employees to quit due to inefficient business processes. This is why organizations unceasingly improve data processes to achieve the accuracy and reliability of the data that makes the economy run.

Ways to Minimize Your Manual Data Entry Cost
Automating data processes is the most sought-after and widely used remedy to reduce data errors.
Offshore Business Processing offers superior data entry services leveraging the latest technology and hires experienced data entry experts to help our clients streamline and optimize their business operations. As a data entry service provider, OBP assists you with all your data entry outsourcing needs. Whether it be company payroll, shipping records, or other operations-crucial data, our professionals will help you manage your data while allowing you to focus on the core business tasks.
Using the latest technology, our data entry specialists enter data accurately the first time, every time – from preparing, compiling, and sorting documents to scanning images and documents for fast data entry.
Contact us today to learn how our top-notch data entry services can help optimize your business operations and provide accurate data results.
