What a document scanning quote should include.
A per-page price only helps if you know what counts as a page and what happens around the scan. Give every Denver provider the same sample and ask for the same finished result. Then compare the scope, and the total.
Describe the starting pile
Tell each provider how the records are stored, whether anyone has sorted them and what else is mixed in. Mention double-sided sheets, little receipts, oversized pages, staples, sticky notes and anything damaged. Ask how each of those changes the prep work and the quote. A box count on its own tells them nothing about the work.
Separate scanning from preparation
Ask whether the quote covers pulling staples, unfolding pages, keeping the records in order and handing the originals back in groups you can use. Ask whether a billable page means a sheet of paper or one scanned side. Ask how blank pages are counted, and what minimums and extras apply.
Ask what searchable actually means
OCR reads the printed words in an image and turns them into text you can search. Indexing is different. It tags a record with useful fields like customer, job and date. If you need both, ask for both. And ask how they handle handwriting, faint print and rough originals.
Ask for a sample. Search it for a phrase you know is in there. Open a record by its identifier. Check that a document with several pages stays together. A sample your team can try beats a promise that the files will be searchable.
Compare the same finished job.
One quote might get you a folder of PDFs. Another might include sorting, indexing and filing. Neither total tells you much until you know who is doing the work that is left over.
Print this scanning quote request
Send every provider the same questions. Leave room for answers and ask them to put what is included and what is not in writing.
Use your browser’s Print command to print this guide or save a PDF. The worksheet starts on a fresh page.
What kind of records, what condition and roughly how many ____________________
File format we need and how documents should be grouped ____________________
Index fields and an example file name ____________________
Where the files are going, folder or system ____________________
Who is allowed to handle or see the records ____________________
Date we need them back and what to do with the paper ____________________
- □ What is the billable unit, and how is the final count confirmed?
- □ What prep, pickup and return work is included?
- □ Are OCR and indexing included, and which fields get captured?
- □ How do you check for missing, unreadable, rotated or out-of-order pages?
- □ How are errors reported and fixed?
- □ How are the files handed over, and what happens to any temporary copies?
- □ Who files the finished records into our working system?
- □ What happens to the originals, and who has to approve any destruction?
- □ Which extras, minimums and changes could move the total?
Decide who owns the filing afterward
If you already know where every record belongs, a scanning bureau may be all you need. If the records need sorting, an index and one agreed way to file new paperwork, put that work in the scope. GITD organizes records on site, and scanning and indexing of the agreed files is part of that. We are not a per-page scan bureau.
Want a hand with the next step?
Paper records organization and digitization. Get It Together, Denver does the organizing on site. Innovation Theory does the technical work, including AI and automation. Packages start at $5,000. The first step is a free video walk-through. Use it to work out where help would actually be useful.
Rather talk it through?
Call (303) 900-8931 or send a text. Tell us what’s piling up. That’s enough to start.