A key aspect of a business's digital transformation lies in digitizing its document management workflows. Since every company will have a unique set of document creation automation workflows, you must get picky about the document automation features to ensure maximum return on investment.
For example, a small business may require automating 3–5 document types with a small monthly volume. However, an enterprise may seek scalable document automation software that manages thousands of documents while reducing costs.
To help you adopt document automation solutions, we have curated 15 essential document automation features across five major categories — templates, workflow automation, accessibility, security, and collaboration. You can use this document automation feature checklist irrespective of your business size, document type, and use case.
Create document templates
Creating document templates across your business operations is a basic step to kickstart document automation.
Make sure your chosen document automation software vendor provides below features to create custom document templates:
1. Dynamic fields
Pulls data from various sources like customer databases, product catalogs, or user inputs to dynamically update the document template. This feature is essential to generate documents that require personalized information, such as contracts, proposals, or invoices.
2. Conditional logic
It helps adapt document workflow based on user input or when specific conditions are met, thus avoiding manual adjustments. For example, document automation software can create custom sales contract document templates with different clauses or pricing tiers depending on the customer's location, industry, or purchase volume.
3. Template library
A mature document automation solutions provider will include a comprehensive document template library across use cases and industries. It reduces the time and effort required to create new documents while maintaining consistency across your business documentation.
DocsAutomator provides ready-to-use templates across invoicing, proposals, meeting notes, etc, and also helps custom design document templates as a service.
4. Template approval workflows
Template approval workflows allow designated approvers to review and sign off on new or updated templates before they can be used to generate documents. This feature helps maintain quality control and reduces the risk of errors or non-compliant documents.
Automated document assembly
An automated document assembly system helps streamline complex workflows that generate documents across multiple types at scale.
Here’s how automated document assembly flow works:
- Identifies relevant document templates as per business requirements.
- Pulls data and maps it to the template’s dynamic fields.
- Executes conditional logic to determine which content to include based on the data.
- Generates and assembles the completed document for further processing.
Key features to automate document assembly include:
5. Batch document generation
This feature is particularly beneficial for businesses that produce large volumes of documents quickly and accurately, such as invoices, contracts, reports, etc. An automated document assembly system will scale this process without increasing associated errors and costs.
6. Version controls
This feature helps track changes made to documents. It ensures that all edits are logged and previous versions are accessible. Advanced or industry-specific document automation software could include compliance features that ensure documents meet industry regulations and standards, reducing the risk of legal issues.
7. Integration capabilities
Integration with customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems enables seamless data transfer. This helps generate documents with accurate and up-to-date information. Many document automation solutions offer APIs for easy connection with other tailored applications. For example, DocsAutomator provides dedicated integrations with software like Airtable, ClickUp, Glide, Zapier, NoLoco, and API to connect custom apps of your choice.
Document formats and access
Once you generate the document, your different operational workflows may require different document formats. It enhances accessibility and team collaboration while also maintaining brand consistency.
Hence, the kind of output formats supported by your document automation software vendor becomes important — consider the key features below:
8. Document formats provided
Document automation systems should support a wide range of output formats, including PDF, Word, Excel, HTML, and more. Check if it allows exporting, sharing, and editing across these formats to generate documents tailored to specific use cases.
9. Dynamic formatting
Dynamic formatting enables automatic adjustment of documents based on the output format. For example, a document generated for print may require a different layout than one intended for digital distribution. This feature ensures that documents are optimized for their intended use by enhancing readability and professionalism.
10. Mobile and offline access
Document automation platforms with mobile access allow users to create, edit, and manage documents directly from their smartphones or tablets. Offline access further helps access and work on documents without an internet connection. This feature is particularly beneficial for:
- Sales teams who need to generate proposals or contracts while meeting with clients
- Field service technicians who require access to manuals or work orders while on-site
- Executives who need to review and approve documents while traveling
11. Language translations
If you run a global business, you may require document translation features to increase the accessibility of your generated document. Manual translation services are expensive, especially for high document volumes. Automated systems provide a cost-effective alternative, particularly for documents that do not require high levels of accuracy.
Document security
A robust document automation system must have comprehensive security features to safeguard sensitive information. This becomes more important if you’re an enterprise or involved in a regulatory-governed industry like healthcare or finance.
Here are must-have document security features for headache-free automation:
12. Role-based access control
Strict access controls help safeguard sensitive documents from unauthorized access. Check if your document automation software allows defining user roles and permissions to ensure only authorized personnel can view, edit, or share specific documents. This also helps streamline collaboration and define a hierarchy among team members.
13. Secure file sharing
Document automation software with secure file-sharing features allows users to send documents without compromising security. Features such as end-to-end encryption, password protection, redaction of sensitive information, and secure links help ensure that only intended recipients access these sensitive documents.
For example, Docs Automator allows you to use conditional logic to hide or show values.
Document collaboration
Having document automation features that support real-time collaboration helps improve the team’s productivity. Multiple people can work on the same document, helping speed up the document creation process. It also ensures everyone has access to the most current version of the document.
Here are some document collaboration features to explore:
14. Comments and notifications
Commenting within documents is a commonly available feature today that enables team members to address specific sections or issues without needing to navigate through lengthy email threads. When you tag team members in comments, it’s useful to notify the concerned person using the alerts feature.
15. Single source of truth
A document automation software stores all created documents in a centralized location. Team members can easily find and access the required files without searching through multiple folders or systems. This further reduces the risk of working with outdated or incorrect documents.
Here’s a document automation tool that does it all
DocsAutomator provides a cost-effective document automation tool that uses data from your existing apps to create dynamic Google Docs or PDFs. You can create unlimited pages with no restrictions on content size and conditional styling.
Get started with 20 free documents per month — Sign up for DocsAutomator
