Electronic document management system features
ARKWORKS DELIVERS THE BEST DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FEATURES
These, and other ArkWorks features, will enhance the way you do business and make document management easy and efficient.
Add notes to files for quick and easy reference.
For documents stored in ArkWorks in their native format, you have the ability to "check out" the document and edit in it its native application (i.e., Word, Excel, etc.)
ArkWorks' flexible filing system allows you to organize documents according to your own unique method.
Quickly locate documents by name, SSN/EIN, document type, date, address or customizable search keys. Reduce the amount of time it takes to find old documents by archiving them in ArkWorks. Use the Drawer Index Tab to navigate your way to a document.
If browsing for a document is not fast enough, click the Search tab. Enter the search terms and click Go. The resulting list will display all documents matching the search term.
ArkWorks comes equipped with the ability to easily email archived documents, further streamlining your paperless office.
Can't remember who made changes to a file? Track every incidence an employee touches a file with our extensive audit trails.
ArkWorks has a sophisticated security system that compresses and secures files with a 128-bit encrypted password. Select from four predefined security groups or customize your own. Our audit trail feature adds an additional layer of security.
Integration with TaxWorks and 1040Works
The ArkWorks program is fully integrateable with TaxWorks and 1040Works professional tax preparation software packages.
Back up your data to an offsite storage facility to protect it from your hard drive crashing, computer failure, or from natural disaster. Click here for more details.
PDF annotations and highlights
ArkWorks allows you to digitally highlight, attach sticky notes or write directly on the document. Use the Edit and Annotate tool to add notes or details to any PDF file in ArkWorks. A variety of colors allows multiple editors, and blackouts or whiteouts prevents prying eyes from accessing sensitive data. Annotations can be displayed or hidden when printing or emailing documents.
A built in recycle bin safeguards you from permanently deleting files.
It is critical to determine how long to keep, or retain, a document. ArkWorks manages retention by applying a maturity date to each document. When the document's maturity date is reached, ArkWorks will prompt you for action. Choose to delete the document, assign a new maturity date, remove the maturity date or burn the document to a CD for permanent archival. Set automatic reminder periods so you can deal with mature documents when it is convenient.
DOCUMENT STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SOFTWARE
ArkWorks is a digital, state-of-the-art filing and archival system designed for professional offices. ArkWorks dramatically reduces filing and retrieval time as well as office expenses. Instead of filing and retrieving paper documents from multiple file cabinets, ArkWorks lets you file, search, and retrieve documents from your computer – all within a matter of seconds. Imagine your office with no more clutter, misplaced documents or labor-intensive filing of documents. Now you can have a paperless office. Let ArkWorks search through cabinets, drawers, and folders to find the documents you need.
USE YOUR OWN FILING SYSTEM
Everyone has their own way of filing documents. You know where your documents are because you know how to look for them. Don’t change the organization of your filing system, just change where things are stored. Instead of storing loose sheets of paper in a filing cabinet drawer, store an image of the document in a virtual drawer in your electronic filing cabinet. Reproduce your existing file structure using ArkWorks. You can predefine the structure of each drawer and modify the drawers as needed. To define your custom cabinet, select New Cabinet from the File menu. In the Cabinet Type box, select Custom. Check the box to use repeating subfolders if you want each drawer to use the same structure.
ArkWorks also offers predefined cabinet structures for those needing help when moving to the paperless office environment. Rely on our templates when setting up your filing system. Modify the templates and make them your own. On the New Cabinet screen, select one of the predefined Cabinet Types.
If you already have an organized file structure located on your network or local hard drive, ArkWorks allows you to import an existing Windows directory. This will create the drawer and folder structure within ArkWorks, eliminating the hassle of refiling your documents. Access this feature by selecting Import Existing Directory from the Tools menu.
SCAN ANY PAPER DOCUMENT
Getting a document into ArkWorks is as easy as placing a document on your scanner and clicking the Scan button. Scan your documents and save them directly to PDF, or scan them to an inbox to work on later. Use the Scan Quick Set feature to define your most common scan jobs (i.e., letter duplex vs. legal simplex). ArkWorks will automatically detect your scanner’s capabilities and features and provide you with various options. ArkWorks supports automatic form feed, single pass duplex scanning, various resolutions, color depths, and paper sizes. ArkWorks also supports most TWAIN-compliant scanners. Reference the Recommended Scanners section for more information.
If you have various document sizes, scan them to the default inbox and then arrange them in the order you want. Scan documents that are printed on both sides of the paper. Create multiple inboxes to easily separate scan jobs for later archiving. Click the Inbox button to access scanned documents.
If you save the scanned document directly to PDF, the Save Dialog box will appear. If you are in the correct folder when you click Scan, assign the document a name and click the Save button. Click the Change button to change the cabinet or drawer of a saved document. The Save Document screen lets you establish where you can specify the name and folder for documents that will be the same for each drawer in a cabinet. For example, save your tax clients’ W-2s in their associated tax year folder. Select the W-2 document quick set, and verify that the scanned W-2 is being saved to the correct drawer. Click the Save button. Each cabinet maintains its own document quick set list. This way your personal cabinet will not display your tax cabinet’s documents.
IMPORT ANY ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT
In a paperless office environment you may have several documents that are already in an electronic format. These documents can be converted to PDF or stored in their native format. To import electronic documents, click the Import button and browse to the document. Click the Open button on the Select Document to Capture screen and then use the Save Document window to file the document. Alternatively, you can drag and drop documents from the Windows desktop, Windows Explorer, or attachments to emails in Microsoft Outlook. Drag and drop multiple files into ArkWorks or save each file individually.
PRINT FROM ANY SOFTWARE APPLICATION
Some applications do not lend themselves to saving electronic copies outside of their system. However, most applications should allow you to print their output to a Windows-based printer. For this reason, ArkWorks includes a print driver that will take the data and convert it to a readable PDF document. When you print to the ArkWorks print driver, the ArkWorks Save Document window will appear. This allows you to save the document to the appropriate cabinet, drawer, and folder. Refer to the software application’s reference materials for instructions on changing the print driver.
INTEGRATES WITH TAXWORKS PROFESSIONAL TAX SOFTARE
ArkWorks was originally created to work hand-in-hand with TaxWorks Professional Tax Software. The link between the two applications makes it easy to move from a paper-based office to a paperless office. With TaxWorks’ Advanced Form Delivery, you can indicate ArkWorks as the print set you want to save. In ArkWorks, select Customize from the Tools menu. Under the Import Settings section indicate the cabinet TaxWorks should save the tax returns to. Using TaxWorks’ Advanced Form defaults, you can print the client’s signature copy, email a PDF copy, and save a copy of the tax return to ArkWorks with one click. Then scan supporting documents and save a copy to the client’s drawer for future reference. Use ArkWorks’ Burn to CD feature to create a CD containing an electronic copy of all tax documents.
FIND YOUR DOCUMENTS QUICKLY
An important aspect of any business is prompt customer service. Many times customers call with questions on documents that must be retrieved from a filing cabinet. If the document is old, it may be archived offsite. Reduce the amount of time it takes to find old documents by archiving them to ArkWorks. Our advanced search engine can quickly find any document. Use the Drawer Index to filter and navigate your way to documents. Once the proper drawer is selected, navigate to the document, or view a list of all documents in that drawer.
If browsing for a document is not fast enough, or if you don’t know which document you are looking for, click the Search tab. Enter your search terms and click the Go button. The resulting list will comprise any document matching the search term by name, properties, or search keys.
SECURE YOUR DOCUMENTS
ArkWorks allows you to lock digital cabinets, drawers, and folders to keep unwanted visitors out. Each ArkWorks document is compressed and secured with a 128-bit system-generated password. This means that someone snooping on your computer will not be able to browse the ArkWorks storage area and open files. Files must be opened in ArkWorks to be accessed.
ArkWorks is loaded with four predefined security levels. Users added to the Administrator group have full control over the software. Users in the Primary group are able to do everything except administrative tasks. Basic users can add and view most documents, but cannot modify the filing system. Restricted users can only add documents. You can also set up custom security groups and add extra security to cabinets, drawers, and folders. This allows you to define who can see specific documents based on user groups or individual users. Users that do not have access to view documents in a secure cabinet, drawer, or folder will not be able to see files in the restricted storage area. Access the security features by selecting Turn Security On from the Tools menu. Create a Login and Password. Then select Security from the Tools menu to add users, modify groups, or set cabinet level security. To secure a drawer or folder, right click and select Secure from the pop-up menu.
An additional security tool included with ArkWorks is our Audit Trail feature. This feature is turned on by default. The Audit Trail records the history of a document from the time it is added to ArkWorks, any time it is viewed, to its deletion. To view the Audit Trail of a document right click on the document and select Audits from the pop-up menu.
MANAGE YOUR DOCUMENTS
How much time do you spend going through filing cabinets and folders, looking for documents you no longer need? When a document is added to ArkWorks, a maturity date can be set. You determine on a document-by-document basis what the maturity date should be, or if one is needed. When a document’s maturity date is reached, ArkWorks will prompt you for action. Select the documents that you want to delete, assign a new maturity date, remove the maturity date, or burn the documents to a CD to permanently archive and then delete them. You can also set an automatic reminder period so that you only deal with the mature documents when it is convenient. Select Manage Expired Documents from the Tools menu to view the documents that have matured.
ANNOTATE AND EDIT YOUR DOCUMENTS
One advantage of having a hard copy is the ability to write or highlight directly on the document. ArkWorks allows you to do these functions digitally. Using the ArkWorks Edit and Annotate tool, you can add annotations to any PDF file in ArkWorks, essentially adding notes to a document. You can choose from a variety of colors to highlight the document. To secure sensitive information to prying eyes, blackout or whiteout data on the document. ArkWorks also allows you to add additional text anywhere in the document. When you print or e-mail the document, you can include or exclude the mark-ups. To access the Edit and Annotate tool, select the document and click the Edit and Annotate button above the document preview.
For documents stored in their native formats inside ArkWorks, you have the ability to check out the document and edit it in the native application. For example, if you have stored a Microsoft Word document in ArkWorks, you can right click on the document and select Check Out from the pop-up menu. Indicate where you want to place the file. You can even have ArkWorks open the document for editing when it is checked out. Use Word to make any changes and then save the document by selecting the Save option from the File menu in Word. Close Word and return to ArkWorks. Right click on the document again and you can choose to Check In the whole document or Undo Check Out, leaving the document in ArkWorks the way it was before it was checked out.
E-MAIL ANY DOCUMENT
A client will often request a copy of a document that you have on file. ArkWorks removes the pain associated with finding documents through ArkWorks’ search features. These features allow you to e-mail a document with a click of a button. If you are using Microsoft Outlook, ArkWorks will use the Outlook interface to send the e-mail. If you are not using Outlook, ArkWorks will send the e-mail directly, using your provided SMTP server information. Set your e-mail options by selecting Customize from the Tools menu. Send the document by right clicking on it and selecting E-mail.
BURN DOCUMENTS DIRECTLY TO CD
ArkWorks allows you to take any document and burn it to a CD. This makes it possible for you to provide a client with a CD with all of their documents organized in a folder structure that matches your file system used in ArkWorks. Click the Burn CD button to open the Burn CD pane. Drag and drop individual files, entire folders, or entire drawers into the Burn CD pane to prepare them for burning. When all of the documents you want on the CD appear, click the Burn button. Select the appropriate CD Recorder and the desired Burn Options on the Burn to CD screen.
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Operating System - Windows XP, Windows 2000
Processor - Intel Pentium III (or equivalent), 1.0 GHz
RAM - 256 MB
CD-ROM - Available
Hard Drive - Workstation Only: 200 MB; Server Only: 280 MB; Stand Alone: 360 MB (500 MB required during installation). Extra space is required for document storage on the server or a stand alone machine.
RECOMMENDED SCANNERS
AFFORDABLE PRICE
ArkWorks is regularly priced at $1,295, but we are currently offering a special. You can purchase ArkWorks for $995! Call today and speak with one of our knowledgeable representatives for suggestions on how to implement ArkWorks as part of your document management strategy.
