Business Documents: Definition, Types, Benefits & Steps to Create Them!

“If you didn’t document it, you didn’t do it!”

Think about the daily workings of your business.

You are most likely dealing with numerous documents, communicating with colleagues, prospects, suppliers, and more. But where’s the proof?

Introducing: Business Documents!

If you don’t already know, business documents are a prerequisite for any business.

Good documentation tells the story of your business – why you started it, where you currently are, and where you are headed.

Business documents not only have face value in terms of making processes easier, but they also help with legal and financial matters.

So how do you get started on making these documents? We will tell you all about it! But before we get into the details of creating a business document – let’s understand its definition.

What are Business Documents? (Definition)

Business documents refer to all the files, documents, papers, books, reports, records, letters, etc. related to the business.

Simply put, business documents are all the documents that pertain to the activities that take place in a business.

They can be financial transactions, customer data, agreements, meeting minutes, or any other internal or external written communication, The list is never-ending.

A girl managing business documents with the help of a folder

Let’s take a look at some of the most widely used types of business documents…

Types of Business Documents You Can Create!

1. Financial Agreement

Financial agreements are business documents that help you evaluate the performance of your business. They also help in filing taxes and creating new budgeting plans.

No matter what business you’re in, your finances must always be up to date. Whether you’re losing money or generating huge profits, all of these must be recorded in your financial agreements.

Some types of financial agreements are:

Profit & Loss Statement
Income Statements
Payroll Reports
Balance Sheet

2. Business Reports

Business reports are documents that evaluate certain aspects of your business and use this data to help you make better-informed decisions. It may include, sales figures, graphs, case studies, and other forms of data.

Simply, a business report comes in handy to draw conclusions about problems or issues and provide actionable recommendations for the future.

Especially when eyeing a new partnership or looking for ways to bag new investors, business reports are your perfect go-to.

3. Company Bylaws

If you’ve stepped into the world of business, it goes without saying that you’ll be dealing with a hefty amount of legal documents.

This is why a company bylaw is a must-have for any business.

Company bylaws are business documents that establish clear and concise regulations or rules that the company creates for smooth operations.

It’s also a great document for dispute redressal within an organization and it provides a precise demarcation of individual roles and responsibilities.

4. Employment Agreement

It’s safe to say that no business could thrive all alone, and thus you’ll have to hire employees.

An employment agreement is a business document that any new employee would have to sign when they’re hired. It covers the company’s expectations of an employee, the terms of the job, the position, the job description, and the company’s obligations.

An employee reading employment agreement

Another must-have for firms, as it safeguards not only the employee’s interest but also that of the business.

5. Meeting Minutes Document

Every corporation undertakes several meetings throughout its run. So every time one such major meeting happens, it would be wise to maintain a meeting minutes document.

Simply, this business document records all the things discussed in a meeting, the number of attendees, the topics of discussion, next steps, and more. This is very beneficial for not only future references but also it can be sent to members who couldn’t attend the meetings to keep them updated.

These are just some, out of myriad types of business documents, but now that you get the gist, let’s jump straight into understanding why you need business documents

whatsoever.

Why Are Business Documents Important? (Benefits)

1. Safeguards Business Integrity

When you create accurate and sound business documents that cover your operations from head to toe, your business becomes less prone to falling apart.

Business documents will cover everything, even the tiniest of details, and presents a healthy overview of your business. This way, your business can assure its reputation and integrity to customers, investors, and potentially regulators.

2. Unravels New Opportunities

Good documentation tells a captivating story of your business from how it started from the ground up, and where it is going.

Especially when you’re looking for new investors, spotless documentation of your growth, your achievements, and more is a great way to impress them.

And not to forget – every new opportunity you sign up for, starts with a business document (contract)!

3. Smooth Corporate Governance

Business documents like company bylaws clearly outline the rules and regulations of your business.

These documents are a great way to ensure that employees, managers, and everyone in the firm are aware of these expectations.

When they know better, they’ll do better! This way, business documents pave the way for smooth and effective corporate governance.

So without further ado – let’s learn how to create an effective business document for your firm in 5 simple steps!

How To Create Business Documents? (Step-By-Step)

Step 1. Identify the Need for the Document

Every business document serves a different purpose in your firm. Identifying this purpose is pivotal if you want to make the document effective.

So your first and foremost step would be to recognize the need and purpose of the document. Use this purpose as a beacon in your writing process so that you don’t stray away from it.

If during your writing process, you feel like the focus of the document has changed, you can make needed revisions.

Make sure that the readers are aware from the get-go why reading and understanding this document is beneficial.

Step 2. Find out Who’s Your Reader?

Now that you know why you need this business document, identify who will be reading it. The readers can be varied, from your employees, managers, investors, customers, to a specific department.

Once identified, set an appropriate tone throughout the document, whether it needs to be authoritative or informal.

When you know who your audience is, you can address them better and derive the action you need from them.

Step 3. Create An Outline

With all the basics right in their places, it’s now time to create an outline.

You need to understand that this is not just another diary or blog, a business document needs to be carefully and intricately structured.

Start by generating ideas, how you want the document to look, and then organize these ideas in a cohesive structure. For lengthy documents, use headings and subheadings to indicate the sections of your document.

It may seem overwhelming at first but once you have a clear outline drawn, your writing process might just get a lot easier!

Step 4. Keep It Concise

Now you can get started with your writing. Make sure you keep it as crisp and concise as possible.

Avoid unnecessary jargons that may confuse the reader and stay away from too much use of industry lingo. You need to dive straight to the point and make your document easily perceivable.

Research states that an average person’s attention span is only about eight seconds.

We’re not saying that your document needs to be so short that the reader can finish it within 8 seconds. It’s just not possible. But the crisper your writing, the sweeter!

Use bullet points, tables, and other data, to keep your document exciting. The more organized your content feels, the easier it is to use and understand.

Step 5. Proofread

Last but not the least, proofreading is a MUST!

Use a spell checker and grammar checker tools and look out for wrong spelling and grammar mistakes. If possible, review it the next day with a fresh perspective. All in all, this extra effort will surely be worth it!

And just like that – your business documents are ready!

Creating business documents can be time-consuming and can often end up being sloppy and inconsistent if you don’t pay proper attention to them.

We have the perfect platform to help you create consistent, new-age business documents across your team and organization – Bit.ai.

Let’s dive and show you how Bit.ai can help your company create impressive modern business documents:

Create Documents of Your Dreams with Bit.ai

Bit.ai is a next-generation remote collaboration and documentation tool, which will be your savior when creating business documents!

How? Well, let us tell you…

Bit docs enable you to weave together any type of digital content inside of your documents so that your communication is clear and impressive. Design automation follows you as you create headers, enter spaces, add interactive widgets, and much more. Complete your work faster by getting jump-started with one of Bit.ai’s interactive business document templates!

And in case you didn’t know – document challenges account for 21.3% productivity loss.

But with Bit.ai, you can wave these worries goodbye!

Let’s dive a little deeper as to how you can create robust business documents with Bit…

1. Say Hello to Powerful Templates

It’s like your whole process of creating a business document just got a lot easier.

Bit offers you a varied range of intuitive and mighty templates, name the template you need and Bit most definitely has it. Search through various categories and professional roles to find the template you need to get jump-started.

Each template provides you with a beautifully designed document and helpful outline so that you can focus on adding your work to your business document. Just fill in all the details, and customize it to your specific needs.

2. Amp up the Oomph Factor

Visuals increase the desire to read any content by 80% – and with Bit, you can crank up the dial to make your business documents super appealing.

Be it images, GIFs, videos, rich embeds, file attachments, or any other kind of media. Bit’s 100+ rich media integrations let you add anything and everything by just pasting the shareable link in the document. For example insert Google Sheets, Typeform surveys, Tableau charts, YouTube videos, and much more!

That’s not all! You can also choose from various themes and colors to quickly transform the look of your business document with a couple of clicks at any time. Talk about a time-saving feature!

3. Easy Collaboration for Teams

Does your organization or team have one central place for all of your business documents? Imagine all of your colleagues working off of one system to collaborate, share knowledge, and access information to get their work done? Bit.ai can make this dream come true!

Bit’s workspaces, help keep you and your team in sync by keeping your documents organized around teams, projects, clients, etc. This helps to make sure that the team members who need access can obtain access and those that don’t can be removed easily.

One of the best things about Bit is that no matter where your team is, with real-time collaboration and powerful co-editing, you can create business documents effectively from anywhere in the world!

4. Efficient Sharing and Document Tracking

Okay so your business documents are ready, but how do you share them and evaluate how people are responding?

With Bit, you can create trackable links to understand how users are interacting with your documents.

These links will provide real-time insights and inform you how much time someone spent reading your business document, how far they’ve scrolled, and much more.

Talk about having a smarter understanding of audience engagement levels!

5. Fully Responsive Business Documents

All of Bit’s documents are fully responsive, so whatever you create, you can rest assured that they will look just as beautiful on every device.

Regardless of whether your audience accesses your document through shareable links on an iPhone, iPad, or desktop computer, everything will look perfect!.

Don’t worry, you can finally leave those days of micro text and pinching and zooming behind!

Oh, and yes, the interactivity of Bit documents will still be top-notch and well-retained! 😃

6. Client Portal

What if you want to share multiple documents with login and authentication access for your clients, vendors, or contractors?

Well, you don’t have to worry about going back and forth via messy email chains and wasting valuable time because of Bit’s client portal feature!

You can easily invite your clients, vendors, contractors into your workspaces through guest access. Guests can be granted two types of access to documents: read-only or comment-only.

This way you can communicate in a hassle-free and organized manner with all your clients!

It’s Just the Tip of the Iceberg!

With Bit, your business documentation process will not only become super smooth and streamlined, but it’ll also be a fun engaging experience for your teams!

And like there weren’t already enough reasons for you to choose Bit, you can get started with a free account for up to 5 members.

Don’t miss out on giving Bit a spin – it’ll be worth it!

Our team at bit.ai has created a few awesome business templates to make your business processes more efficient. Make sure to check them out before you go, your team might need them!

Conclusion

Poor documentation is often worse than no documentation at all.

Sooner or later you’ll realize that business documents are a must-have to safeguard the interests of your business. We hope this blog post helped you understand why you need business documents in the first place.

Now that you know how to create business documents, use Bit.ai as a tool to make interactive business documents and save them in one smart collaborative place. With Bit’s robust features, business documentation becomes a breeze.

Don’t forget to tweet us @bit_docs and let us know about your experience in creating business documents with Bit!

Further reads:

9 Most Successful Business Models You Should Know About! (With Examples)

Types of Documents Every Business Should Create!

9 Project Documents You Must Create For Your Project!

9 Powerful Document Editors You Should Use This Year!

Business Requirements Document (BRD): What is it & How to Write? (Steps Included)

Letter of Authorization (Authority Letter): Definition, Examples & Steps!

Top 9 Virtual Data Room Providers in 2022

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Business Documents: Definition, Types, Benefits & Steps to Create Them!

What are Business Documents? (Definition)